A vegan diet in women who have just given birth does not seem to greatly affect the concentration of vitamin B2 and carnitine in breast milk.
Does a vegan diet in breastfeeding mothers guarantee the newborn all the nutrients it needs to grow? A recently released Dutch study fits into a question that has long been discussed in paediatrics, providing a partial answer: in the breast milk of new vegan mothers there are concentrations of vitamin B2 and carnitine (essential for the development of the baby) comparable to those found in milk of omnivorous mothers.
The research from Amsterdam University Medical Centers was presented during the 55th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN).
negligible influence. Using an analysis technique that separates the samples into all their essential components and analyzes their masses, the scientists concluded that whether the mothers were given a vegan or non-vegan diet did not appear to affect the concentration of vitamin B2 and carnitine, despite these nutrients being usually present in higher quantities in foods of animal origin.
What nutrients are we talking about? Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) is essential for many biological processes, and as it does not accumulate in the body, it must be taken in regularly through the diet. It is found above all in milk and derivatives, eggs, brewer’s yeast, liver, but also in green leafy vegetables. Its deficiency in children can cause growth arrest and problems in assimilating food, and manifests itself with symptoms such as anemia, muscle weakness, eye problems, tachycardia.
Carnitine is essential for the transport of fats in the mitochondria and therefore for the production of energy in the cells. It is mainly found in meat and to a lesser extent in milk and dairy products. Vegetables and cereals contain traces of it, but the human body can also create it starting from an amino acid (lysine) present in legumes. Its deficiency can lead to too low blood sugar concentrations and heart and brain dysfunction.
How to interpret the study. It is well understood why making sure that these two substances are present in sufficient quantities in mother’s milk is of fundamental importance for those involved in protecting the growth of newborns. In the past, studies on the concentrations of carnitine in plasma had, for example, established that the nutrient was present to a lesser extent in vegans than in omnivores: hence the recommendations to breastfeeding vegan women to temporarily supplement the consumption of animal products to avoid deficiencies in newborns.
However, the new study seems to suggest that a vegan diet does not negatively affect the concentrations of carnitine (and vitamin B2) in mother’s milkregardless of those present in the bloodstream.
The influence of vegan nutrition on attendance of these two specific substances in breast milk may be less significant than previously assumed.
Own milk and donated milk. “These results suggest that a vegan diet in nursing mothers is not a risk for the development of vitamin B2 or carnitine deficiency in breastfed infants,” said Hannah Juncker, who led the study. “This information is useful for breastfeeding mothers and for breastmilk banks, which collect milk to donate to preterm infants who cannot get enough from their mothers.”