The short-term impact of dietary fat and sugar intake on breast milk composition: A clinical trial protocol.
BACKGROUND
Breast milk is uniquely designed for the infant and contains the key nutrients and bioactive factors required to support optimal infant health and development. While previous studies have reported that maternal obesity can influence milk composition, whether this relationship is driven by maternal or dietary factors remains unclear.


AIM
The aim of this study is to assess the impact of test meals varying in fat and sugar content on post-prandial concentrations of macronutrients and metabolic hormones in the breast milk.


METHODS
This open label crossover study will include 25 lactating women. On the three days of the intervention, women will be randomized to receive a breakfast meal with a fat and sugar content consistent with the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating (9 g fat, 25 g of sugar) or a breakfast meal containing higher levels of fat (28 g fat, 18 g of sugar) or sugar (5 g fat, 56 g of sugar). All breakfast meals will be similar in composition (cereal, milk, yogurt, toast and spread) and matched for total energy content. This study will measure breast milk concentrations of metabolic hormones (leptin, insulin, adiponectin, ghrelin and glucagon-like peptide-1) and macronutrients in the following 12 hours.


RESULTS AND CONCLUSION
The results of this study will provide novel direct evidence of the impact of variations in dietary fat and sugar content to alter the macronutrient and/or metabolic hormone concentrations in breast milk. Data on the effect of maternal diet on milk composition is critical given the established importance of nutritional exposures in early infancy for an individual's life-long health outcomes.
['Leghi|Gabriela E|GE|https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4315-7169', 'Netting|Merryn|M|', 'Muhlhausler|Beverly S|BS|']
D052242:Adiponectin D001315:Australia D062408:Breakfast D018592:Cross-Over Studies D004032:Diet D004041:Dietary Fats D000073417:Dietary Sugars D002149:Energy Intake D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007774:Lactation D020738:Leptin D039382:Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena D008895:Milk, Human D000078622:Nutrients D011247:Pregnancy D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
breast milk composition macronutrients hormones lactation diet Maternal nutrition