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Interesting article. I love the idea of growing breast milk in labs in lieu of formula. We truly are living in the future we imagined as kids. I wonder if the composition of breast milk fluctuates for the adult nurser in the same way, but obviously not as critical as for a baby. Thanks for sharing.
You’re very welcome, and I agree about the science it’s fascinating.
As to breast milk composition (and taste), from experience I can relay it changes depending on the woman, what she ingests and how her body processes it. The milk can go from very sweet and creamy to somewhat bland and thin with faint hints of what she had to eat and drink, with many pleasant variations between those bookends.
Yes, I know about the changes with diet. Apparently, absolut vanilla makes it taste like ice cream. Lol. Also, I’ve heard spicy foods can make the milk spicy. But, in the article it discussed the composition of the breast milk fluctuating with the needs of the baby, which is amazing!! I just wonder how that fluctuation works with an adult or if you’re just pumping.
You have my curiosity going as well; and if the composition changes similarly between adults, then it’s another ode to the wonders of human physiology – women in particular.
Thank you ES for the article. My favorite and most interesting part of the article was suggesting there is an actual exchange of information to the infant about the mothers own experience and the environment. Fascinating, some sort of breast milk telepathy. I know when I was breast feeding my children I felt a shared knowing with them. Breast is best!
Come to find there are a LOT of articles highlighting the dynamic composition of breast milk given the health status of the mother and child and the signaling involved, this was particularly interesting:
“… when a baby suckles at its mother’s breast, a vacuum is created. Within that vacuum, the infant’s saliva is sucked back into the mother’s nipple, where receptors in her mammary gland read its signals. This “baby spit backwash,” as she delightfully describes it, contains information about the baby’s immune status. Everything scientists know about physiology indicates that baby spit backwash is one of the ways that breast milk adjusts its immunological composition. If the mammary gland receptors detect the presence of pathogens, they compel the mother’s body to produce antibodies to fight it, and those antibodies travel through breast milk back into the baby’s body, where they target the infection.”
This may lend credence to Effervescent1’s musing.
Breast milk and science are both awesome! I enjoyed learning more about the dynamic composition of breast milk. Thanks Ethereal Skies!
You’re very welcome!
That article about the saliva backwash is one of the best breastmilk articles I’ve ever read @etherealskies Thank you for sharing!
Once again proving how women are still a deep mystery, even in the realms of advanced science.
Historically feminine mystery has been the source of shame, danger, and incredible abuse to women. On ABFH I think we have a little island of reverence and respect for that mystery, which makes women feel safe. A very important feeling.Fascinating stuff. When I read about this a year ago I was surprised and then surprised again at how I was surprised.
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