Breastfeeding can often lead to confusion, even under the most favorable circumstances. With the abundance of research available and varying viewpoints among health experts and fellow parents, it becomes challenging to discern which guidance to follow.
A new study has debunked one of the long-standing misconceptions in the field of nutrition. The study’s findings challenge the commonly held belief that a vegan diet has a direct impact on the levels of vital nutrients such as vitamin B2 and carnitine in maternal breast milk, which are crucial for the optimal development of infants.
According to the study, conducted by Amsterdam UMC and presented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (ESPGHAN), a vegan diet does not affect the concentrations of crucial nutrients, such as vitamin B2 and carnitine, in maternal breastmilk.
Contrary to the belief that animal products are necessary to obtain sufficient amounts of vitamin B2 and carnitine, the study found no significant difference in the concentrations of these nutrients between vegan and omnivorous mothers.
This study utilizes a method that segregates a sample into its constituent components and examines their mass, effectively questioning the prevailing notions suggesting that vegan diets lack comprehensive nutrition. Moreover, it challenges the assumption that breastfed infants born to vegan mothers face an elevated susceptibility to vitamin B2 or carnitine deficiencies.
Over the past four years, the population of vegans in Europe has witnessed a twofold increase.
“The maternal diet greatly influences the nutritional composition of human milk, which is important for child development,” remarks Lead researcher Dr. Hannah Juncker.
“With the rise of vegan diets worldwide, also by lactating mothers, there are concerns about the nutritional adequacy of their milk.
“Therefore, it would be important to know if the milk concentrations of those nutrients are different in lactating women consuming a vegan diet.”
Vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin, plays a crucial role as a co-factor for enzymes involved in various biological processes. Insufficient levels of vitamin B2 in infants have been linked to anemia and neurological problems, as demonstrated in previous research.
Carnitine is primarily responsible for energy metabolism in the body. Inadequate carnitine levels in infants can result in low blood sugar and potentially lead to dysfunction in the heart and brain. Research has indicated that individuals following a vegan diet may have lower carnitine intake and plasma concentrations compared to those following an omnivorous diet. Some studies even suggest that certain lactating women may need to increase their consumption of animal products to prevent deficiencies while breastfeeding. However, this recent study suggests that the impact of a maternal vegan diet on these two vital nutrients in breast milk may be less significant than previously believed.
Although the current study found lower serum free carnitine and acetyl carnitine concentrations in mothers adhering to a vegan diet, there was no notable difference in the concentration of carnitine in human milk between the study groups.
The findings of their “study suggest that vitamin B2 and carnitine concentrations in human milk are not influenced by consumption of a vegan diet. These results suggest that a vegan diet in lactating mothers is not a risk for the development of a vitamin B2 or carnitine deficiency in breastfed infants,” adds Dr. Juncker.
“This information is useful for breastfeeding mothers and also for donor human milk banks, which collect milk for provision to premature infants who do not receive sufficient mother’s own milk.”
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