It is no secret that breastfeeding is the best food we can give a baby during its first months of life. We know that it provides many benefits for their healthy growth and development , and it also protects them against certain diseases or reduces their chances of suffering from them.
But in addition to being a super food that is very good for their development, breast milk also has a great influence on the feeding that the baby will later have, since various studies have found that babies who are breastfed are more likely to accept new flavors .
The studies
Research on the influence of breastfeeding on infant feeding has been studied for many years. Specifically, several studies have analyzed the influence that breast milk has on the acceptance or rejection of new flavors in the diet of babies when starting complementary feeding.
For example, a 2001 study published in the journal Pediatrics tested the hypothesis that flavors detected in amniotic fluid or breast milk influenced the acceptance of foods with similar flavors. In this study, it was concluded that exposure to certain flavors improved the enjoyment of those same flavors during complementary feeding .
Another study conducted in 2007 evaluated the effects of breastfeeding and the mother’s diet on the acceptance of a specific fruit and vegetable in babies four to eight months of age. In it, it was found that the babies of those mothers who had consumed these foods more frequently accepted them better .
A more recent study, published in 2016, looked at the difference between breastfed babies and formula-fed babies in accepting new foods. In it, it was found that children who were fed breast milk tend to eat more vegetables in ablactation than those who were fed formula.
This is how the mother’s feeding influences during lactation
It has been known for a long time that the mother’s diet can pass to the baby through breast milk, and other studies have even been carried out in which the different flavors that breast milk presents are analyzed and that they change according to the food that mom brings .
All these studies confirm the theory that babies become familiar with the flavors of the foods that their mothers consume and that reach them through breast milk , causing those flavors to be later identified by them and, therefore, by them. accept in a better way.
For this reason, it is important that during breastfeeding the mother has a very varied diet , so that the baby knows the greatest number of flavors through breast milk and gets used to them over time. In addition, this helps children to be exposed since they are infants to new flavors, such as vegetables, in a safe way.
We must clarify that, in several of the studies that we have shared, researchers comment that the fact that babies identify those foods that they already knew through breast milk, does not necessarily mean that they will immediately love them .
Yes, they will be familiar and may even accept them more easily, but it is the responsibility of parents to continue offering them frequently and patiently so that they continue to become familiar with them and end up accepting them.
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