High fat diets, Breast milk, and the affects on babies

            Recent studies are showing that breast-feeding infants instead of formula feeding is the best option for the health of the baby because breast milk can help prevent infections, allergies, and protect against many chronic conditions. That being said, a new study done by Chen et al. found that having a diet of high fats, especially during lactation, can change the activity of messenger RNAs (mRNA) and micro RNAs (miRNA) in the breast milk. Altered RNAs can lead to heath conditions such as cancer heart disease and stroke.

           

            An experiment was done using two groups of pregnant mice, one group had a high-fat diet during gestation, while the other group had a normal diet. New born mice were divided into 4 groups:

            Born to and fed by mothers that had a high-fat diet

            Born to and fed by mothers that had a normal diet

            Born to mothers with a high-fat diet but fed by mothers that had a normal diet

            Born to mothers with a normal diet but fed by mothers that had a high-fat diet

            The results showed that the milk from mothers that had a high fat diet also contained high fat content and also had 1500 mRNA genes and 25 miRNA genes expressed differently than the mother’s milk on a normal diet. This research can potentially show that babies breast fed from mother’s eating a high-fat diet could be at a higher risk for chronic diseases as adults, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

            Therefore, is it ethical to say that breastfeeding is the best choice to feed babies if we are not giving mother’s all the information, especially about their diet? Mother’s would/should follow a diet that is low fat especially during lactation. Is it ethical for doctors to force breastfeeding on some mother’s when their lifestyle isn’t able to support the low-fat diet, and knowing that there could be harmful health affects down the road for the baby? I believe that women should be able to have all the facts, pros and cons, of breast-feeding and formula feeding from their doctor and then be able to make that choice specific to what is best for them and their babies.

“High-Fat Diet May Change Breast Milk Makeup, Affect Baby.” American Physiological Society > High-Fat Diet May Change Breast Milk Makeup, Affect Baby's Health, 21 Nov. 2017, www.the-aps.org/mm/hp/Audiences/Public-Press/2017/76.html.