Nutrients 2017, 9(2), 146; doi:10.3390/nu9020146
Fructose in Breast Milk Is Positively Associated with Infant Body Composition at 6 Months of Age
1
Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, 2250 Alcazar Street, CSC 200, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
2
School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
3
Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 11 November 2016 / Revised: 6 February 2017 / Accepted: 8 February 2017 / Published: 16 February 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Fructose and Glucose: The Multifacetted Aspects of their Metabolism and Implication for Human Health)
Abstract
Dietary sugars have been shown to promote excess adiposity among children and adults; however, no study has examined fructose in human milk and its effects on body composition during infancy. Twenty-five mother–infant dyads attended clinical visits to the Oklahoma Health Sciences Center at 1 and 6 months of infant age. Infants were exclusively breastfed for 6 months and sugars in breast milk (i.e., fructose, glucose, lactose) were measured by Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and glucose oxidase. Infant body composition was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at 1 and 6 months. Multiple linear regression was used to examine associations between breast milk sugars and infant body composition at 6 months of age. Fructose, glucose, and lactose were present in breast milk and stable across visits (means = 6.7 μg/mL, 255.2 μg/mL, and 7.6 g/dL, respectively). Despite its very low concentration, fructose was the only sugar significantly associated with infant body composition. A 1-μg/mL higher breast milk fructose was associated with a 257 g higher body weight (p = 0.02), 170 g higher lean mass (p = 0.01), 131 g higher fat mass (p = 0.05), and 5 g higher bone mineral content (p = 0.03). In conclusion, fructose is detectable in human breast milk and is positively associated with all components of body composition at 6 months of age. View Full-TextKeywords:
breastfeeding; breast milk; maternal programming; added sugars; fructose
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Goran, M.I.; Martin, A.A.; Alderete, T.L.; Fujiwara, H.; Fields, D.A. Fructose in Breast Milk Is Positively Associated with Infant Body Composition at 6 Months of Age. Nutrients 2017, 9, 146.
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