Breast milk provides the nutrients babies need – as well as additional components, like hormones and signaling factors, that strengthen their immune system to fight infections and support gut development. Breast milk from mothers with excessive weight has been associated with increased concentrations of signaling compounds (hormones, proinflammatory cytokines, and oligosaccharides) compared to breast milk from mothers with normal weight which may impact infant growth and development. To explore if these signaling compounds found in the breast milk of mothers with excessive weight can be modified by diet, investigators at the ACNC examined a dietary intervention in thirteen healthy, exclusively breastfeeding women with excessive weight. Diets designed to meet the Dietary Guidelines for Americans were provided to participants at no cost. Study participants experienced improved healthy eating index scores, a measure of diet quality, and a loss of body fat after the dietary intervention. Concentrations of carbohydrate, fat and protein did not differ in the women’s breast milk following the intervention, however, several components associated with higher weight, including leptin and inflammation signaling molecules, were lower following the intervention, and therefore, infant intakes of these compounds were lower following the intervention. This study showed, for the first time, that adherence to a diet designed to meet the Dietary Guidelines for Americans improves dietary quality and body composition in women with excessive weight and modulates their breast milk composition, as well as their infants’ intakes. These findings support that improving maternal dietary quality during lactation may promote both maternal and child health. Longer intervention studies examining dietary interventions impact on maternal health, breast milk composition, infant growth, and infant
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