2023-07-30 03:41:00
A study has been published that myo-inositol in breast milk helps newborn brain development. / Courtesy of Adobe Stock
A study has found that micronutrients in breast milk help newborn brain development. It may help to improve the nutritional content of newborn formula used when breastfeeding is not possible.
A research team at Tufts University announced a study that found that myo-inositol, found in human breast milk, helps in brain development in newborns. Myoinositol is a sugar molecule found in a variety of foods, including beans and citrus fruits. The findings were recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The research team analyzed breast milk samples collected in Mexico City, Mexico, Cincinnati, USA, and Shanghai, China. They found that myoinositol was high in breast milk during the first month of lactation, when synaptic neural connections formed rapidly in the newborn’s brain. Myoinositol content was not related to other environmental factors such as mother’s ethnicity. Further experiments using a rat model showed that myoinositol strengthens brain connectivity during brain development by increasing the size and number of synaptic connections between neurons.
Newborns can more easily transfer nutrients from food to the brain from the blood, making them more sensitive to dietary factors. “Human breast milk can change dynamically to support the various stages of neonatal brain development,” the research team said.
Previous research has also found that levels of myo-inositol in the brain decrease as infants grow. The degree of increase or decrease in this number is also related to brain disease. In adults, patients with depression and bipolar disorder had lower than normal levels of myoinositol in the brain, whereas patients with Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s had higher than normal levels of myoinositol. The research team said, “There is still insufficient research to recommend that adults consume more myoinositol.”
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