Many thanks Catherine for your post about the fat in breastmilk and the
references,

"There are at least two problems with this assumption.
The first is that to establish this mothers breastmilk fat content it would
be necessary to measure fore and hind milk content from every feed from both
breasts for 24 hours together with her milk production.

The second is that there is a wide variation in normal fat content (eg:
29g/L/breast vs 62g/L/breast/24hours with both mothers having thriving
babies) Research has shown that the average fat content is also hugely
variable not only in the short term (between feeds) but also in the long
term (over the course of lactation) and is of little value in assessing
energy intake of a breastfed infant. In fact research has shown that the
only variable so far correlated with infant growth is the volume consumed.
Fat content has not been shown to be correlated to infant growth in
exclusively breastfed infants."

I also think it important that we look at the whole picture.  We can have a
very placid baby, who conserves his/her energy and gains easily.  And we can
have a very active baby, who sleeps little and is constant motion.  Activity
level makes a difference in how that infant gains or does not gain.  Thus one
cannot just look at a sample of human milk and it's fat content and determine
that this is the problem.  How the body utilized that fat is an important
consideration.

The same principle must be considered when looking at toxins in human milk.
The huge variability of fat in human milk, makes it difficult to make
comparisons about toxin levels.  Human milk is a live, dynamic substance.  Using it as
a guide to determine whether or not to breastfeed is a huge mistake because
one is not looking at the total picture.  Determinations of health and
well-being of infants cannot be based on one laboratory test of a substance that is so
variable.
Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC



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