Prebiotic supplementation of formula milk increases stool counts of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli compared with unsupplemented formula milk in full-term neonates
- Yvan Vandenplas
UZ Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan 101, 1090 Brussels, Belgium; yvan.vandenplas{at}uzbrussel.be
It has been known for many years that oligosaccharides are a substantial component of human milk. Neither other animal species’ milk nor soy milk contains oligosaccharides. Human milk contains more than 130 oligosaccharides that differ substantially (as do all components) over lactation and from woman to woman. As Rao and colleagues state in their introduction, early colonisation is a critical determinant of the permanent gut flora. And oligosaccharides are detrimental to the development of gut flora.
The first choice for infant feeding is exclusive breast feeding. The effect of second-choice infant feeding (infant formula) …
