Nutrition is just one small aspect as human milk. It is made up of hormones, digestive aids, neurotransmitters (brain chemicals), and proteins that educate the immune system to develop appropriately. Some of these proteins (alpha1H) have the power to break up tumours into pieces that can be passed in urine and are being investigated as a cancer treatment in adults as a result. Breastfeeding reduces the risk of childhood cancers also.

Breast Milk also contains a variety of bacteria and fibres essential to developing gut filled with anti inflammatory and immune modulating bacteria. Immune modulation and education is essential to reduce the risk of cancers, allergies, autoimmunity, neurodevelopmental problems and mental health problems in the short and long term.

Neurotransmitters and hormones found in human milk include brain chemicals that aid sleep, show what time of day it is, promote feelings of love, happiness, and safety. Next time someone says "oh they are 'just' feeding for comfort, say "yes, isn't that brilliant".

The nutrition aspect of human milk may include familiar vitamin and minerals that you may see on supplements packs of formula bottles; however they are found in human milk in their organic forms. By organic, I mean carbons and hydrogens (organic chemistry) as they exist in foods, nothing to do with organic farming practises. These forms are most usable and digestible to the human body and are found in human milk.

Breast milk ingredients change depending on the time of day, time of year and the age of your baby; it is completely tailored. It also is released in order of importance - fat, then protein and then sugars which aids baby's blood sugar balance. Human milk also tastes different depending on what the mother has eaten, so by eating a varied and healthy diet you are increasing your baby's tolerance of a variety of flavours and helping your baby accept a variety of foods and flavours once weaned.

Human milk could be described as medicine for you baby, because when a baby sucks, any germs in its salvia are detected by the mother's nipple and enters her system so that her immune system can make antibodies to fight the invaders. These are then sent back to her baby via her milk so that baby knows how to fight the germ. It is a wonderous and magical system.

Up until age 1, nutrition makes up a large part of baby's milk and then it switches to becoming more about immune education. Human milk can however contribute largely to calorie and nutritional intake past the age of one; it is just it is more about immune development than nutrition, seeing as baby should now be eating food. This challenges our UK society belief that breastfeeding should end at age 1, when the weaning age naturally is 2 or later. Breast milk just has a different role later on, but a very important one.

If breast milk is this amazing, why are some babies still poorly despite being breastfed I hear you ask? Well, not all breast milk is the same and that's what I strive to education people so that they can get their diet, supplements, emotional and digestive health optimal in order to have a baby with the same level of optimal health.

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