Can women boost probiotic levels in their milk by including them in their
own diet? 

From Wikipedia apparently (I received this second hand): Human milk and the
gut naturally contain good bacteria, but those levels differ for everyone
and *some are actually missing them*. The levels in women's breast milk are
often dependent of [sic] her diet and physiological pH... 

The specific product that raised this question is BioGaia probiotic drops
(Lactobacillus reuteri); BioGaia just signed a contract with Nestle in the
States :(

My concern is people giving the product directly to infants under six months
old, with all the negative implications for the beneficial bacterial gut
environment created by human milk. 

 

It also seems to me that giving probiotics to formula-fed infants would be
of limited use, since the high gut PH environment created by formula would
simply overwhelm the probiotics (it can take 2-4 weeks of exclusive
breastfeeding to re-establish a positive gut environment if even one formula
supplement is given, after all).

Ingrid

LLLC, IBCLC




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