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Breast-Feeding the Microbiome

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Re: Breast-Feeding the Microbiome

#21

Post by rafaelm »

matthewmcg wrote: post #3
bllguo wrote: post #2

> “We got eighty litres, collected over two years, from someone random at Stanford University, who said, ‘I have all this milk. Do you guys want it?’ ” Wow... that's quite an amount. So human milk doesn't "expire"? Why does cow milk expire then, and what exactly is expiry in the context of milk?

It is frozen. This can be done for cow milk as well. It changes the taste of cow's milk and (probably) changes the taste of breast milk. It's not commonly done for cow's milk because (1) fresh milk is usually readily available and (2) adults will complain about the taste. With breast milk, the supply is more limited and an infant won't tell you the taste is off (but they might refuse to drink it!).

From my short (3 month experience) , refrigerated milk will take on a "soapy" smell and flavor. From what I've read, this is due to the enzyme lipase and can be removed by heating the milk. My baby will sometimes refuse to drink it at first but then I guess hunger takes over and she downs the whole thing.

Re: Breast-Feeding the Microbiome

#22

Post by spacecop »

serge2k wrote: post #7

I don't understand why HN is so obsessed with gut bacteria. I don't oppose posting it, I just don't understand the fascination.

Having cured all of the physical injuries that one would encounter from having an active lifestyle (knee injuries, head trauma, etc.) we now have more time to focus on things that are more esoteric and only manifest in subtle ways. Cancer, autism, etc. are the problems of the first world, industrialized, and coddled demographic that a site with this title would have.

Re: Breast-Feeding the Microbiome

#23

Post by spacecop »

bbarn wrote: post #12
serge2k wrote: post #7

I don't understand why HN is so obsessed with gut bacteria. I don't oppose posting it, I just don't understand the fascination.

I suspect, from my own anecdata, it's because a great many of us in the field have had gut issues. A lot of us lead lifestyles that aren't necessarily the greatest (although I feel overall that old adage is changing for the better rapidly) and have a deep interest in fixing the problem. Plus, knowing how things work, biological, electrical, whatever.. it all fits the hacker ethos

Finding shortcuts is literally hacking. Let's shortcut our way to good health by reading Wikipedia instead of seeing a doctor. Okay then

Re: Breast-Feeding the Microbiome

#24

Post by cmrdporcupine »

rafaelm wrote: post #21
matthewmcg wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is frozen. This can be done for cow milk as well. It changes the taste of cow's milk and (probably) changes the taste of breast milk. It's not commonly done for cow's milk because (1) fresh milk is usually readily available and (2) adults will complain about the taste. With breast milk, the supply is more limited and an infant won't tell you the taste is off (but they might refuse to drink it!).

From my short (3 month experience) , refrigerated milk will take on a "soapy" smell and flavor. From what I've read, this is due to the enzyme lipase and can be removed by heating the milk. My baby will sometimes refuse to drink it at first but then I guess hunger takes over and she downs the whole thing.

My kids as babies has all sorts of reason to refuse my wife's milk for all sorts of reasons, not that we could ever be certain what it was but it seemed somedays they didn't like what she ate that day, if it was pumped and stored and reheated the temperature wasn't precisely right, etc.

But yeah, in the end when that's all that's on the menu... hunger takes over :-)

Re: Breast-Feeding the Microbiome

#25

Post by xkcd-sucks »

rafaelm wrote: post #21
matthewmcg wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is frozen. This can be done for cow milk as well. It changes the taste of cow's milk and (probably) changes the taste of breast milk. It's not commonly done for cow's milk because (1) fresh milk is usually readily available and (2) adults will complain about the taste. With breast milk, the supply is more limited and an infant won't tell you the taste is off (but they might refuse to drink it!).

From my short (3 month experience) , refrigerated milk will take on a "soapy" smell and flavor. From what I've read, this is due to the enzyme lipase and can be removed by heating the milk. My baby will sometimes refuse to drink it at first but then I guess hunger takes over and she downs the whole thing.

heating before freezing might kill lipase activity, but heating after thawing won't turn soap back into fat

Re: Breast-Feeding the Microbiome

#26

Post by akiselev »

ccallebs wrote: post #16
bllguo wrote: post #2

> “We got eighty litres, collected over two years, from someone random at Stanford University, who said, ‘I have all this milk. Do you guys want it?’ ” Wow... that's quite an amount. So human milk doesn't "expire"? Why does cow milk expire then, and what exactly is expiry in the context of milk?

Cow's milk from the store expires in the manner it does due to the processing. Raw milk eventually turns into yogurt, but is still consumable (and delicious, imo). I'd say they froze the milk in question though, just thought I'd mention it.

The reason pasteurized milk spoils instead of turning into yogurt is the same reason why making yogurt from unprocessed milk is a really bad idea. Milk turns into yogurt instead of curd because of a symbiotic relationship between two bacteria which are added to milk after it has been processed. These bacteria are usually already present in raw milk but we wipe them out so that all of the really nasty stuff doesn't survive (aka botulism and a host of other bacteria that produce toxins).

Re: Breast-Feeding the Microbiome

#27

Post by jacalata »

gus_massa wrote: post #15

> Every mammal mother produces complex sugars called oligosaccharides, but human moth­ers, for some reason, churn out an exceptional variety: so far, scientists have identified more than two hundred human milk oligosaccharides, or H.M.O.s. The second part is very suspicious or at least misleading. I guess that chimpanzees and bonobos have a similar milk composition.

> A study recently published in the Journal of Proteome Research details how human milk has a stunning 1,606 different protein types essential for newborn growth - a cocktail of many key nutrients that other mammals' milk does not boast. By comparison, the mother's milk of rhesus macaque monkeys - one of humanity's closest primitive relatives - boasts only 518 key proteins.

(http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/13528/20150319/human...)

Re: Breast-Feeding the Microbiome

#28

Post by reitanqild »

spacecop wrote: post #23
bbarn wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect, from my own anecdata, it's because a great many of us in the field have had gut issues. A lot of us lead lifestyles that aren't necessarily the greatest (although I feel overall that old adage is changing for the better rapidly) and have a deep interest in fixing the problem. Plus, knowing how things work, biological, electrical, whatever.. it all fits the hacker ethos

Finding shortcuts is literally hacking. Let's shortcut our way to good health by reading Wikipedia instead of seeing a doctor. Okay then

No, not instead of as in "never see a doctor" but rather as trying to be smart about things you can do yourself. For example:

Healthier lifestyle: do you need to consult a doctor to decide to cut down smoking or even stop it? (No) Start exercising? (Most likely, no, thise few who need will likely know.) Changing your diet? (No, unless you are doing something very special.)

Picking up some basic skills also means you can treat smaller issues yourself. I keep iodine solution, painkillers, and wrapping bandages for smaller sprains readily available at home. Leave antibiotica, wounds beyond scratches (could have been infected by tetanus or other nasty stuff) to the professionals.

Re: Breast-Feeding the Microbiome

#29

Post by eli »

rafaelm wrote: post #21
matthewmcg wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is frozen. This can be done for cow milk as well. It changes the taste of cow's milk and (probably) changes the taste of breast milk. It's not commonly done for cow's milk because (1) fresh milk is usually readily available and (2) adults will complain about the taste. With breast milk, the supply is more limited and an infant won't tell you the taste is off (but they might refuse to drink it!).

From my short (3 month experience) , refrigerated milk will take on a "soapy" smell and flavor. From what I've read, this is due to the enzyme lipase and can be removed by heating the milk. My baby will sometimes refuse to drink it at first but then I guess hunger takes over and she downs the whole thing.

This only occurs for a minority of women.
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