2023-05-16 20:50:56
It is already difficult for women to know what to do when they are breastfeeding. How do you make sure your child doesn’t lack anything? This may be even more true for women who eat a vegan diet. One reassurance: a vegan diet, ie without meat, fish and dairy products, has no influence on the content of vitamin B2 and carnitine in breast milk, which are important substances for the development of newborn babies. Researchers from the Emma Children’s Hospital of Amsterdam UMC saw this. PhD candidate Hannah Juncker will share the results this week at a conference in Vienna.
Why did you watch breastfeeding from vegan mothers?
“It is known that nutrition can influence the composition of breast milk. But there is little research on the influence of a vegan diet, while more and more people are eating vegan, an estimated 1 to 1.5 percent of the population. This leads to concern: is the milk of vegan mothers safe? This is not only the case with women, but also with healthcare providers. For example, until recently the Mother’s Milk Bank did not accept milk from vegan women.”
The advice for lactating women who eat vegan in the Netherlands is to see a dietician. The Health Council is yet to issue a new advisory report. In Belgium, vegan food is not recommended for this group.
How was the research organized?
“We have data in Amsterdam on about 3,000 women who breastfed. We extracted the 25 women in this cohort who ate vegan. We compared their milk with the milk of 25 women who ate everything. We also looked at their blood values. Vitamin B2 had the same concentrations in both groups, in the blood and in the milk. Carnitine, which is also mainly found in animal products, turned out to be lower in the blood of vegan women. But the good thing is: it stays up to standard in the milk.”
Why did you specifically look at B2 and carnitine?
“B2 (riboflavin) is an essential vitamin; the body cannot produce it itself, you can only get B2 through food. It is important for the proper functioning of the proteins that regulate all kinds of biological processes in the body. A deficiency can lead to anemia or neurological problems, something that happens very rarely.
“Carnitine, which converts fatty acids into energy, is produced by adults themselves, but newborns mainly get it from food. If babies don’t get enough of it, they can get too low blood sugar. In severe cases, it affects the functioning of the heart and brain.”
B2 is also found in vegetables and grains, carnitine is produced by adults themselves. But what about B12? That is only in animal products.
“B12 could be lower in the milk of vegan women, but few unequivocal studies have been done on this. We found B12 less relevant for this study, because the women in our study with a vegan diet supplemented with this vitamin to prevent deficiencies. Incidentally, half of the vegan women in our study also take B2 supplements. We also saw no difference between the breastfeeding of women who did or did not.”
What actually happens in the body that keeps B2 and carnitine at the right level in vegan women?
“We think that this is regulated in the mammary gland, but we have not investigated the exact mechanism. I am also curious how a vegan diet influences the whole profile of the milk. Think, for example, of vitamin D and zinc.”
What else counts, besides nutrition?
“For my PhD I am researching all kinds of factors that influence breast milk via the mother. Stress can change the composition of breast milk. And during the corona period, we found protective antibodies in the milk in the milk of mothers who had had a vaccination or had been infected.”
A version of this article also appeared in the May 17, 2023 newspaper.
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