Monday, October 17, 2011

the chemistry of breastfeeding

In a spirit of interest about the chemistry of breastmilk I ask the following question: Why is it that baby humans digest human breastmilk more efficiently than they digest cow's milk? I really wonder how much the nutritionists know about this in terms of the actual digestive path. I bet there is a nutritionist or scientist out there who knows.

It could possibly be related to the structure/function arrangement of the proteins in the milk. I'm guessing that the structure of the human milk proteins match more of the active sites of the digestive path of a baby human. Has anyone ever looked at these proteins in that level of detail?

I know that my baby human intakes breastmilk and excretes a byproduct very different from that of the formula-fed babies I meet. The exact chemistry involved here is fascinating. I'll have to research a chemistry-nutrition specialist who can map it for me.