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Nourishing Your Baby

Nourishing Your Baby

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Young mothers are often conflicted about the sort of food they should feed their babies when the little ones are ready to be shifted to a semi-solid diet. This confusion is especially enhanced by the constant influx of clashing information they receive from both online and traditional resources.

Through countless studies, it is evident that a baby’s diet influences the bacteria in their gut which in turn affects the gut-brain axis. [1]

What is Gut-Brain Axis (GBA)?

The gut-brain axis is a complex network of bidirectional communication between the gastrointestinal tract (the gut) and the central nervous system. The brain and gut are connected physically and biochemically and they may even influence each other’s health. [2][3]

Your baby’s gut has millions of neurons that send messages to the brain through nerves in the nervous system. An infant’s gut is also connected to their brain by the activity of neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters control your baby’s overall mood and behaviour. For example, a neurotransmitter called serotonin controls the feelings of happiness and contentment. [4]

A large proportion of serotonin is produced by the gut and its production is stimulated by millions of microorganisms living there. [5]

Additionally, GABA (Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid), anotherneurotransmitter, is produced by the gut bacteria and regulates your baby’s emotions of fear and anxiety. [6]

While planning your little one’s diet, it’s crucial to keep in mind that the purpose of your baby’s introduction to solid foods is to strengthen the beneficial effects of microbes in the gut-brain axis. Probiotics and prebioticsnourish the good bacteria in your baby’s gut.

What are Probiotics?

The World Health Organization established that Probiotics are “live microorganisms that confer a health benefit to a host.” [7]

Simply put, probiotics are living microorganisms that support or enhance the favourable bacteria in the gut. A baby’s gut has a combination of beneficial and harmful bacteria. Probiotics are friendly bacteria that help decrease the pathogenic bacteria and strengthen your little one’s digestive and immune systems. [8]

Probiotics may reduce your baby’s stress by promoting a healthy gut microbiome, which can influence brain function and mood through the gut-brain axis.

Mammalian studies haveshownthat feeding mice a probiotic reduced the amount of stress hormone in their blood.[9,10]

Probiotic Foods:

Yogurt is a good option when it comes to weaning food for infants. Regular yogurt intake by children aged 4 months to 2 years boosts beneficial microbes and is linked to a decreased risk of developing food sensitivity. [11]

Yogurt helps withthe treatment and prevention of diarrhoea. In a study conducted on 80 infants aged 6-24 months, the ones receiving yogurt experienced significantly reduced frequency of diarrhoea, fewer days in hospital, and significantly more weight gain than the controls. [12]

Consumption of yogurt by infants is also linked to a significant decrease in the activity of harmful bacterial enzymes. A study carried out on 39 infants aged 10-18 months showed that the introduction of yogurt into the diet of healthy infants caused a decrease in the activity of β-glucuronidase which is a bacterial enzyme that can limit the excretion of chemicals from the body such as medications and environmental toxins. [13]

A study published in Clinical & Experimental Allergy foundthat infants who are given yogurt as a regular part of their diet in their first year of life have a lower eczema and allergy risk. After observing 390 infants over one year, researchers discovered that eating yogurt daily by age one decreased eczema and allergy in babies by up to 70% [14].

You can add yogurt with any combination of berries or fruits such as mashed bananas into your toddler’s diet.

What are Prebiotics?

Prebiotics are foods that contain a non-digestible ingredient that stimulates favourable growth and activity of probiotic bacteria in the human body [15]. Their relationship with the overall health of babies has been an area of increasing interest in recent years.

Gut microflorause prebiotics to obtain energy for survival and propagation which modifies the microflora composition and function [16, 17].

Prebioticsdegradation produces short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) such as butyrate, acetate and propionate which are released into the blood stream, affecting metabolism and integrity of vital organ systems [18, 19].

Furthermore, prebioticsboost immunity by balancing populations of beneficial and pathogenic microorganism in the gut and activating immune system[20, 21, 22, 23]. For example, Propionate, a product of prebiotic breakdown, aids T helper 2 cells and macrophages in the airways, as well as dendritic cells in the bone marrows [24, 25].

There is a multitude of studies that support these claims. A randomized controlled study examining the effects of a paediatric weaning food supplemented with a type of prebiotics on infants aged 4-24 months showed a reduced occurrence of Diarrhoea-associated fever in infants who were fed prebiotics compared to the infants who were fed the formula only. The duration of disease and incidence of febrile seizures also decreased in this group [26, 27].Another study published in the Journal of Physiology And Pharmacology showed that feeding formula supplemented with prebiotics to healthy infants was associated with an improvement in gastric emptying and bowel motility [28].

Prebiotics reduce the risk of immune diseases such as atopic dermatitis in infants. A study conducted on 259 infants showed a beneficial effect of prebiotics on the development of atopic dermatitis in a high-risk population of infants [29].Further, prebiotics may reduce the risk of allergic conditions such as eczema in infants [30].

But the real question is: How can you include Prebiotics in your baby’s diet without using, sometimes expensive, supplements?

Several fruits and vegetables such as garlic, onions, bananas, apples, and wheat among others are a good source of prebiotics.

Garlic

Garlic functions as a prebiotic by encouraging the growth of Bifidobacteria in the gut and inhibiting the growth of pathogens [31].

You can add a dab of garlic to your selection of mashed vegetables and feed it to your little one.

Onions

Onions have an abundance of inulin, as well as fructooligosaccharides (FOS) [32].FOS improve composition of gut flora and aid in fat breakdown.

Bananas

Bananas are also a source of Inulin. Green, or unripe, bananas are also a good source of resistant starch, which has prebiotic properties [33,34].

Apples

Pectin is a soluble fiber that is found in apples and has prebiotic properties.Butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid that feeds good gut bacteria and reduces the number of bad bacteria, is increased by pectin [35].

Flaxseeds

Flaxseeds are a great source of prebiotics and antioxidants. The fiber in flaxseeds helps regular bowel motions and the growth of good gut bacteria.

Wheat Bran

The tough outer covering of the wheat kernel, known as the bran, is brimming with fiber and other minerals.Additionally, it has been demonstrated that wheat bran contributes to an increase in Bifidobacterium, which softens stools in healthy adults with delayed digestion [36].

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are rich in dietary fibres and oligosaccharides, which are important prebiotic substances. These components facilitate the growth of healthy gut bacteria, which in turn has a positive effect on the overall health of your baby [37].

Peas and Pulses

Peas and pulses are excellent sources of fiber that help with the mobility of your young one’s GIT. They are also rich in resistant starch that has prebiotic qualities.

Conclusion

It is well known today that good gut health goes hand in hand with the overall health and it is true for all ages.

A study conducted on 65 infants, 37 of whom were affected with colic showed that in babies with colic, faecal calprotectin, an important marker of gut inflammation, was elevated. The gut microbiota of colicky infants showed reduced levels of the beneficial bacteria such as Bifidobacilli and increased levels of harmful bacteria [38].

A disruption in the balance of healthy gut microbes can also result in abdominal pain, bloating and constipation in infants. A study published in Nutrients revealed that Infants and toddlers with functional constipation had significantly lower levels of Lactobacilli in their stools compared to controls. [39]

Your baby’s gut microbiota plays a critical role in developing the immune system, digesting food, and protecting against pathogens. To maintain these microorganisms in a healthy state, you can include foods that are rich in probiotics and prebiotics in your young one’s diet. This might seem daunting at first but it’s a small price to pay for the long-term health and wellbeing of your child. We hope this article conveyed to you the importance of keeping yourself up to date with the latest research findings about your baby’s nutrition because a baby’s happy tummy makes a happy mummy!

References:

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