Rich in illness-fighting antibodies, brain nourishing fatty acids, and easy-to-digest proteins – breast milk has been called ‘white gold.’
The U.S. Department of Health reports that breastfed infants have reduced rates of ear infections, asthma, diarrhea, and sudden infant death syndrome. They are also less prone to developing diabetes, obesity, and arthritis later in life.
Thanks to health advocates, more American women are nursing their infants, and for longer periods of time. But studies have cast a concerning light on the toxins that mothers pass to their nurslings.
A number of pollutants are passed up the food chain, accumulating in the fat of long-lived, large bodied animals. Breast milk is metabolized from a woman’s lifetime fat stores, and contains a portion of her contaminant load.
Pollutants detected in breast milk include DDT, PCBs, bisphenol A, flame retardants, pesticides, and heavy metals. Heavy women accumulate and transmit more chemicals than their leaner counterparts, and pollutant loads increase with maternal age and consumption of red meat, fish, and dairy.
But breast is still best. Miriam Labbok, who directs the Carolina Breastfeeding Institute at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, reports that even in polluted areas, breastfed infants are healthier – with the immunological properties of breast milk likely mediating the impact of pollutants.
It’s great to see folks like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg extolling the benefits of breastfeeding. Now, in the interest of future generations, let’s work to reduce environmental toxins in our food chain.
Web Links
http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.116-a426
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16399607
Photo, taken on March 27, 2011, courtesy of Hamish Darby via Flickr.