From mother through milk: linking maternal diet, human milk composition and infant health

This project investigated how a mother’s diet may influence the composition of human milk and, in turn, potentially affect infant development. Existing research shows that diet, particularly the intake of different types of fats, can influence the fatty acids in breast milk. 
New data gathered in this project from the MELK and MoSa studies showed that not only fat intake, but overall diet, micronutrient intake, and protein quality may influence different components of human milk. The project also explored whether special sugars naturally found in breast milk (human milk oligosaccharides), are associated with infant development and digestive health.
Overall, the findings highlight that maternal diet may play an important role in shaping human milk.