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Individualized Reconstitution of Human Milk Microbiota: A Feasible Approach in Real-World Settings
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Centering human milk composition as normal human biological variation.

Elizabeth A Quinn1

  • 1Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.

American Journal of Human Biology : the Official Journal of the Human Biology Council
|January 12, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Human milk composition varies significantly across populations, challenging the notion of static milk. Understanding this biological variation is crucial for human evolutionary studies.

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Area of Science:

  • Human biology
  • Evolutionary anthropology
  • Human evolution

Background:

  • Human phenotypic variation is central to biology and anthropology.
  • Human milk composition is often viewed as static, influenced by commercial infant formula and cow's milk.
  • Limited research outside Western, well-nourished populations underestimates human milk's biological variation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze research on breast milk composition, metabolic programming, and maternal body composition.
  • To highlight the necessity of global studies for understanding human milk phenotypes.
  • To advocate for anthropological perspectives in human milk research.

Main Methods:

  • Review of published literature on human milk composition.
  • Analysis of studies on developmental metabolic programming.
  • Examination of maternal body composition research.

Main Results:

  • Current research often overlooks biological variation in human milk.
  • Anthropological approaches are vital for understanding milk's adaptive significance.
  • Human milk composition contributes to human biological variation.

Conclusions:

  • Biological anthropology can investigate human milk variation using evolutionary theory and advanced biology.
  • Challenging biomedical framings that privilege Western, well-nourished populations is essential.
  • Research must move beyond normative assumptions about infant feeding.