Letting nature take its course may be the best advice for nursing mothers, according to researchers from UBC Okanagan. Their findings show taking fish oil supplements while nursing may not be beneficial and may even negatively impact babies’ immunity.
The study, published in the ISME Journal, is the first to investigate the impacts of fish oil supplementation on the composition of breast milk and infant gut bacteria.“While maternal fish oil supplementation is widely believed to support infant health, the effect on gut microbiology is relatively unknown,” says senior author Deanna Gibson, an associate professor of biology in the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science. “We demonstrated that supplementation corresponded with an increase in breast milk fats but a decrease in the immune-protective components of the milk. We also observed a change in infant gut microbiology—away from the bacteria normally present.”
Read the full story here: UBC Okanagan News