Is the taste of milk related to diet?

In addition to the fact that breast milk is beneficial to children's growth and intelligence, researchers have recently discovered another benefit of breast milk: the taste of breast milk depends on the food consumed by the mother, and breast-fed children are more willing to try different foods after weaning, with more diversified tastes.

Breast milk taste

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark conducted a test to explore the relationship between the food eaten by mothers and the taste of breast milk. The results show that the taste of breast milk changes slightly when mothers eat different foods.

The researchers invited 18 lactating women to give each one a capsule with a special flavor, including licorice, caraway seeds, mint and bananas. Within 8 hours after taking the capsule, the researchers collected samples of breast milk and analyzed the effect of the capsule on the taste of breast milk.

The results showed that the two flavors were quite obvious in women's breast milk two hours later after taking Glycyrrhiza flavor capsules and Geluziwei capsules. Mint flavor capsules are effective in about 6 hours. But banana flavor capsules have never affected the taste of breast milk.

"I read a research report that if mothers drink carrot juice during lactation, breast-fed children will prefer to eat carrot-flavored food after weaning," the British "Guardian" quoted helene Gauzner, the head of the research, as saying on the 24th. "So I was inspired and decided to study the influence of my mother's diet on the taste of breast milk."

Baby taste

Gauzner and his colleagues did another test to explore the influence of breast milk taste on children's taste. It was found that children who received breast-feeding with coriander flavor liked to eat food with coriander flavor more than children who drank ordinary milk when they grew up.

"The mother's diet does affect the taste of breast milk," Gozner said, "but it doesn't mean that if the mother eats an apple pie, the child will know that it is the taste of apple pie and like it, because the mother's diet will change, so ... the child will get used to the change in the taste of breast milk."

The researchers concluded that breast-fed children are more willing to try different foods and accept different tastes after weaning.

Gauzner's research report published in the British weekly New Scientist also analyzed the milk produced by different manufacturers and confirmed that the taste of these milk was slightly different.

Long-term effect

Danish researchers said that there were few previous studies on the taste of breast milk. However, some pediatricians and breast-feeding advocates insist that the taste of breast milk can not only provide children with taste enjoyment, but also be of great benefit to their health.

"Being willing to try different flavors of solid food after weaning is good for children's future health," Gauzner said. "If breastfeeding is impossible, I suggest that mothers try to feed their children different kinds of milk from different manufacturers to get them used to different tastes."

"Now, we already know that a mother's diet affects the taste of breast milk," said Nicholas Stadhle, assistant professor of pediatrics at Philadelphia Children's Hospital. "If we can do more research on the relationship between breast milk taste and children's eating habits, it will have a great impact on pediatric nursing in the future."