A study of 349 mothers in the United States has revealed how diet, genetics and biological processes contribute to the composition of human breast milk. Researchers analyzed hundreds of milk metabolites and found that maternal diet was the strongest contributor among the maternal factors examined. Coffee and caffeine intake were associated with compounds linked to coffee consumption, while citrus intake correlated with proline-betaine, a metabolite associated with citrus fruits. The team also identified genetic variants linked to specific milk metabolites and connections between gene expression and metabolite levels. The findings highlight the complexity of breast milk composition, but the observational study did not establish whether these differences affect infant health.
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