Breast milk helps babies accept more foods

William Atkins
Saturday, 02 August 2008 19:41

Science - Biology

Danish researchers analyzed mother’s milk and found it varies in its flavor depending on what the mother has earlier eaten. Babies who breastfeed may be more receptive to different types of foods than bottle-fed babies.


Helene Hausner and colleagues from the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) studied eighteen lactating mothers.

They asked each mother to provide samples of their milk before being given capsules containing one of the flavors of banana, menthol, caraway seed, or liquorice. After taking one capsule, containing one of the flavors, the researchers took additional samples of the mother’s milk at regular periods of time.

For one, the researchers found that the flavor within the capsules showed up in the mother’s milk. However, it appeared and remained in the milk for various periods of time.

For instance, caraway seed and liquorice had maximum flavor about two hours after the mother ate them. Bananas, however, could only be detected for the first hour. Menthol was present in the milk samples for between two and eight hours after consumption.

The article summarizing their work appears in the journal Physiology and Behavior.

All four flavors disappeared within eight hours. However, a wide variance occurred in the milk previous to this eight-hour mark. Different flavors take different amounts of time to appear in breast milk.

The results also indicate that babies have different attitudes about food depending on whether they are breast-fed or bottle-fed. Please read on.