Breastmilk Lactose: The Key to Infant Weight Gain?
Read time | 5 minutes
Jump onto any breastfeeding related Facebook group for longer than 5 seconds, and you're sure to find a post where someone is asking or commenting about the fat content of their milk.
"How do I make my milk fattier?
Photo credit: Shavelle9691
(Insert photo) "Is there any fat in my milk?
Or the worst one of all:
"I am going to start supplementing with formula because my milk doesn't have enough fat in it and baby isn't gaining enough."
My heart breaks when I see these types of posts, and it's a sad situation because their concern over milk fat isn't isn't their fault.
People have told us our who lives that fat makes us fat. Therefore it's a logical jump that to chunk up our babies all we need to do is get more fat into our breast milk.
Main causes of slow weight gain
Baby's weight gain issues are generally due to low milk volume intake and not due to fat content.
There's a myriad of reasons why a baby might struggle with transferring milk, and many times, nay most times, it's not due to a supply issue. Breastfeeding challenges are like a snowball, as time passes, more problems join the party making the problem larger and larger. By the time you realize there is a significant issue, there are usually many things to address. And as mentioned above, generally speaking, the primary culprit is baby had or continues to have a hard time transferring.
Amount of fat in breast milk
Fat is an essential property in breast milk. It makes up roughly 3-5% of the composition of your breast milk, about half of the total calories your baby gets and provides approximately 44% of their energy needs. Between birth and six months of age, your baby will take upwards of 21.42 gram of fat per day!
Lactose- the paramount milk constituent
Breastmilk is greater than the sum of its parts, and would not be the optimal food for babies without the complex interplay of components. But, due to the attention put on fat as being the KEY FACTOR in infant growth and fat gain, I thought it might be good to get to know lactose a bit.
Lactose is the predominant carbohydrate in human milk and human milk has the highest concentration of lactose than any other’s species milk.
Lactose is made directly in the mammary gland, so it's not impacted by diet in ways that DHA is for example.
With 6-7 g per deciliter of milk of lactose, breastfed infants consume a high carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight ratio . Remember, how fat only made up about half of babies' caloric and energy needs? Lactose is not far behind, providing 40% of the calories your baby needs.
Impact of Lactose on infant health
Lactose is broken down into glucose and galactose, so that's it's easier for baby to use for essential aspects of growth and development. Therefore, Central Nervous System (CNS) development, the development of intestinal microbiota, innate immune response, and essential mineral absorption all rely on lactose.
Additionally, it confers unique metabolic advantages to include a metabolic homeostatic role in babies. The role of lactose doesn't stop there. Harmful bacteria in a baby's gut is held in check, and beneficial bacteria can grow as a direct result of lactose.
For those who are concerned about their baby's weight gain, it may be reassuring to know that studies found that glucose concentration was positively associated with infant fat mass, relative weight, and lean mass. Meaning lactose may play an important role in weight gain.
The reality is we don't yet know all the contributing factors in milk that influence baby's weight gain. Research results indicate that there are factors other than what is in breast milk that affects growth patterns and rapid weight gain during infancy.
Lactose’s Bad rap
I feel that lactose has gotten a bad rap due to the concern over "foremilk" and "hindmik" and the possibility of lactose overload. We've created this narrative that lactose is terrible and that if we can jam pack our milk with fat, then our babies will thrive. Adult issues with cow's milk resulting in lactose intolerance, too, has people thinking that their babies' specific symptoms may be due to lactose intolerance. Babies, outside of those that have a confirmed case of Galactosemia, have no issues with lactose. It's a component of milk that has many significant roles and in my view, should be praised for all its hard work.
When babies struggle to gain weight, it can be very concerning for parents and health care providers alike. This post is in no way an attempt to dismiss the concerns of those experiencing this specific struggle. The sooner that we can clear up the misinformation surrounding slow weight gain, specifically when it comes to things like fat amount and the like, the sooner we can work on identifying the underlying causes of any weight gain difficulties.
If you or someone you know is having breastfeeding challenges to include but not limited to having a slow to gain baby, please seek help. I provide affordably priced lactation visits that can take place online, at your convenience, in the comfort of your own home. To read more about online visits and the services I offer, check out the FAQs and Service pages.
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