Woman's milk is a specific product of the mammary gland and is a complex liquid that contains substances in solution, emulsion and colloid dispersion.
Those in solution are represented by:
- sugars: lactose and simple sugars (oligosaccharides). Lactose is the predominant sugar in quantity;
- mineral salts: sodium, potassium, chlorine, calcium.
- water-soluble vitamins (water-soluble);
- whey proteins (whey proteins), such as albumin (a transport protein of many substances that circulate in the blood) and immunoglobulins (antibodies), which form a yellowish and viscous secretion called "colostrum".
The substances in emulsion in women's milk are:
lipids and fat-soluble vitamins (soluble in lipids), which are A, D, K, E.
Those in colloid dispersion I'm:
represented by an "other protein called casein.
In breast milk, whey proteins prevail over casein in quantity.
Oligosaccharides are important because they contribute to the growth of the intestinal bacterial flora, specifically resident in the colon, of the newborn. This flora has particular characteristics: it contains lactobacilli and bifidobacteria (the same as yoghurt), which are anaerobic bacteria (they grow well in air-free environments).The characteristics of the feces of a breast-fed baby are due precisely to the intestinal flora of the colon, which prevents the phenomena of putrefaction in this area, namely:
- the acidic odor: different from the fetid odor of proteins digested by the intestinal bacterial flora, which characterizes the faeces of the infant fed with artificial milk, which then resemble those of the adult;
- the emission of faeces with a much higher frequency (6-7 discharges per day) compared to the bottle-fed child;
- the golden yellow color of the faeces at the moment of emission, which then become greenish because they oxidize in the air.
Bifidobacteria and lactobacilli also provide an anti-inflammatory and anti-infective action because they counteract the growth of gram-negative bacteria and clostridia (other bacteria harmful to the intestine). As a result, breastfed babies have the advantage of rarely getting sick from gastrointestinal phenomena while bottle-fed babies often have frequent enteritis. Finally, it has been seen that bifidobacteria and lactobacilli have the function of nutrient exchangers: some nutrients that are not digested in the upper portions of the gastrointestinal tract for various reasons, once they reach the colon, are metabolized by these bacteria, which have the property of transforming them into substances that can be "exchanged" with others, then absorb anyway.
Breast secretion, which begins after childbirth (but exceptionally already before), passes through three phases and, consequently, also the distribution of the components of breast milk changes during the phases of breastfeeding:
in the first 5 days the colostrum is produced, from the 5th-6th to the 10th day the transition milk, and from the 10th to the 20th day the mature milk.
Colostrum was once mistakenly called "witch's milk" or even "rotten milk", so much so that for centuries doctors have argued, always erroneously, that breast milk should be avoided for the first 7 days because it would not be nutritious. . In fact, colostrum has been seen to be a fundamental element, because it is a defense milk, rich in immune elements. It is a yellowish, viscous secretion and contains a large amount of immunoglobulins, especially type A, which have a remarkable ability to protect against infections, especially intestinal ones. Furthermore, colostrum is rich in albumin, an "other extremely useful protein as a transport of numerous substances (drugs, hormones, etc.), mineral salts, white blood cells, and low in lipids and lactose. Colostrum has opposite characteristics to those of mature milk, because the latter is rich in sugars (lactose) and low in proteins (0.9%, against 2.8% for colostrum). The importance of colostrum has long been known also in veterinary medicine: in animal husbandry, calves are fed with artificial milk (for the lowest cost), except for the first 7 days, in which colostrum is used because it is rich in defensive substances.
As the months go by, milk continues to maintain its nutritional properties, even if its quantity tends to decrease physiologically; after 6 months a woman produces on average 500 cc per day, which is an insufficient quantity to cover the energy needs of the child. Therefore, you can continue to give milk even after 6 months, but no longer as an exclusive element of the diet, so it must be integrated with other foods.
Other articles on "Woman's milk"
- colostrum
- breast milk and cow's milk
- Characteristics of breast milk
- Adapted milk
- Milk below
- Growth milks
- Special milks
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