Human milk is a living food that changes to meet your baby’s needs. Some components even change depending on the time of day to support your baby’s sleep or based on your baby’s age, growth spurts, and health. When your baby is sick breast milk increases its infection-fighting cells (e.g. higher concentrations of lymphocytes and granulocytes) regardless of the parent’s symptoms (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22258136/).
Breast milk is truly amazing - custom-made to feed, nourish, and protect your baby. Some interesting facts about human milk:
💛 HAMLET (human alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells) found in breastmilk can single out malignant cells and cause the “cell death” of 40 different lymphomas and carcinomas. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8248127/)
💖 Breast milk contains over 1,000 proteins. Lactoferrin is an iron-binding protein that protects the baby from certain l infections. Lysozyme contributes to the baby's interstitial flora and inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria
🤎 Human milk supports a baby's circadian rhythms (sleep-wake cycle) with melatonin and tryptophan varying their concentration throughout the day
🖤 Stem cells and miRNAs have been found in human milk and may play a role in cell-to-cell communication, immune system regulation, and epigenetic regulation. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5508878/)
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