Breast Milk Offers Twice the Antioxidant Protection of Formula
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ORLANDO, FL (Reuters Health) Apr 02 - Breast milk, even from mothers who
deliver prematurely, contains twice the levels of antioxidants as commercial
formula, according to a study presented at the Experimental Biology 2001
meeting here.

Dr. James Friel of Memorial University in St. John's in Newfoundland noted
that the lungs and immune systems of premature infants are not as developed
as full-term infants. In an interview with Reuters Health, Dr. Friel said,
"That means that these infants are under attack by oxygen free radicals but
lack ability to cope with that stress." The resulting oxidative stress is
associated with respiratory distress syndrome, hemorrhage, eye disorders and
various other problems.

Earlier studies found that breast milk contains "antioxidant enzymes, but we
thought that the levels of these enzymes may be greater in milk produced by
mothers of premature infants," he said. Dr. Friel also hypothesized that
colostrum "would be particularly protective."

Dr. Friel compared milk from 28 women who had preterm deliveries to milk from
17 women who delivered at full term. The milk was collected at weeks 1, 2,
and 12, he said. He tested the antioxidant protection potency by exposing all
the milk samples to high levels of free radicals.

The result was surprising. "There was really no difference in the antioxidant
protection level from week to week. It was all good," he said. Likewise,
"there was no difference [in the breast milk] between the mothers of
premature babies and the mothers of full-term babies."

Dr. Friel also attempted to enhance breast milk by fortifying it with more
antioxidant enzymes. He also tried the same "fortification" with formula.

He discovered that when he added antioxidants found in breast milk to
commercial infant formula, "the formula offered better protection against
free radicals. But when we added additional enzymes to the breast milk, it
didn't increase the antioxidant protection of breast milk."

He concludes that it is difficult to improve nature, but "commercial formulas
could be improved so that they more closely resemble human breast milk."





Nikki Lee RN, MSN, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CIMI
craniosacral therapy practitioner; childbirth educator
Elkins Park (a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; northeastern USA)
supporting the WHO Code and the Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative

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