Breastmilk and baby's gut health, the big picture

Born from an entirely protective environment where mother's body tends to baby's every immune nutritional need, breastfeeding transitions the newborn safely into childhood. Nutrition is truly only a portion of breastfeeding's role. Along with significant neurological and hormonal provisions, there are multitude immune-protective factors. A major, but seldom considered, portion of baby's protection from illnesses, and the continued health of the child, comes from the early establishment of optimal gut flora.

In this World Breastfeeding Week post on API's blog, APtly Said, API Editorial Review Board member and award-winning author Linda Folden Palmer, DC, gives an overview of how our choice to breastfeed can affect baby's health not only through childhood but long into adulthood -- via gut flora.