New research on even more benefits of breastfeeding

New article up from the New York Times detailing the latest research in the benefits of breastfeeding.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis are studying the individual components of breastmilk to determine their specific functions. They have found that the sugars in human milk contain a specific microbe that helps line the intestinal walls of an infant and help ward off disease.

This particular strain of bacterium, a subspecies of Bifidobacterium longum, protects infants from others strains of bacteria that would make an infant ill. Humans do not naturally process the sugars, which make up about 21% of breastmilk, but the bacteria is specially designed to do just that.

They have also found that harmful bacteria will bind to the sugars in breastmilk and will then be flushed out of the baby's system as waste.

“Everything in milk costs the mother — she is literally dissolving her own tissues to make it,” said Dr. Bruce German, “Finding that [milk] selectively stimulates the growth of specific bacteria, which are in turn protective of the infant, let us see the genius of the strategy — mothers are recruiting another life-form to baby-sit their baby.”

The research also suggests what breastfeeding advocates have been striving toward for decades, that mother's milk could be extremely beneficial to premature babies. They also suggest it may be good for the elderly.

Dr. David Mills noted that each component of breastmilk may hold biological significance, updating the previous notion that some elements just pass through with no effect. His quote finishes the article: “So for God’s sake, please breast-feed.”