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Breast milk is a storehouse of nutrients which helps nourish and strengthen the tender infant against a host of infections. However, there is one lesser-known ingredient in breast milk that stands out. They are known as human milk oligosaccharides (oh-lee-go-sack-a-rides) or HMOs. While they might sound and seem straight out of a science textbook, but this ingredient is a magical key when it comes to boosting your baby’s immunity.
About HMOs
We have known for centuries that breast milk is highly beneficial for babies. However, in 1990, an unidentified carbohydrate in breast milk was credited for the different stool composition of breastfed babies when compared to babies fed alternatives. Cut back to now, research has identified this carbohydrate to be HMOs.
Breast milk has two types of carbohydrates – lactose and oligosaccharides. HMOs are these oligosaccharides, essentially carbohydrates that are very unique to breast milk. This type of carbohydrate is the third most plentiful component, after lactose and fat, in breast milk. To give a perspective, one of the major difference between breast milk and cow milk is this ingredient. HMOs are practically absent in cow’s milk.
These components are really interesting as there are more than 1000 different types of HMOs present in breast milk and each mother secretes a unique set of HMO based on her genes. However, majority contribution of HMOs comes from 2-Fucosyllactose or 2′-FL. Studies have shown that HMOs play many different, beneficial roles in the baby’s body.
Benefits of these HMOs for the young baby
When the young baby drinks mother’s milk, he/she ingests a good quantity of these HMOs too. Unlike other nutrients that are digested and absorbed, HMOs resist digestion in the stomach. This means they reach the intestine of the baby intact wherein they become fodder for the growth of good bacteria. By various mechanisms, these HMOs despite resisting digestion help in boosting the young baby’s immunity.
How do these HMOs, which don’t even get digested, work in boosting the immune system of the developing baby?
The immune system of the just-born baby is very immature and can be easily attacked by infectious agents from the air and the surroundings. The mother here plays an important role in transferring immune boosting factors through breast milk. HMO are one of the factors that has been known to boost your baby’s immunity.
HMOs help boost the immunity in babies in four ways:
1. It directly binds to virus/bacteria and inactivates them. For any bacteria or virus to cause an infection, they have to first ‘bind’ or ‘attach’ to the gut cells. Instead of healthy gut cells, they bind to HMOs and get excreted.
2. It helps train the intestinal cells to identify these disease-causing agents. HMOs are biologically active molecules which do more than just feeding the good gut bugs.
3. It boosts the growth of good bacteria because only a selected set, namely the highly beneficial Bifidobacteria, can use them for growth.
4. And finally, HMOs help in keeping the intestinal cells healthy due to the above 3 points.
HMOs are uniquely present in breast milk. Since milk alternatives lack them, alternate food sources for non-digestible complex carbohydrates such as GOS (galacto-oligosaccharides) and FOS (fructo-oligosaccharides) are also added to milk alternatives. To give a perspective, these GOS and FOS are naturally present in the foods we eat. Banana, onions, garlic, artichoke, whole grains are among the food sources. So, they are found to be safe for consumption.
Now, due to technological advances, the most abundant form of HMO i.e. 2′-FL has been isolated and added to human milk alternatives. They are generally recognised as safe (GRAS) because of the well-researched, pre-approved technology used to produce them, However, before starting anything, the mother should check with her paediatrician who could guide her on these nutrients and how it can benefit her baby’s immunity.
The author is senior consultant neonatology in Madhukar Rainbow Children’s Hospital, Delhi
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