How changes in maternal diet impact human milk oligosaccharides and the milk microbio
Previous studies have shown that a high fat maternal diet during gestation and lactation has a long-term impact on the infant's gut microbiome (the community of bacteria living inside the human gut.) This study represents the first step in understanding whether breast milk contributes to this process. In this study, researchers found that specific changes to maternal diet in the same woman (changing fat versus carbohydrate consumption, or changing consumption of specific sugars), is associated with changes in both the milk microbiome and human milk oligosaccharide (a carbohydrate) composition. Given that these two components of breast milk have the potential to alter the gut microbiome of breast-feeding infants, the results of the study suggest that development of the infant gut microbiome may be affected in part by what the mother eats during breastfeeding. "Further studies are needed to delineate if specific changes in maternal diet during breast-feeding alter the inf...