Breastfeeding: less is more.

In a very detailed study Han and colleagues followed over 50 children from birth on, who were fed either human milk, casein or soy based formula. In the end growth and zinc levels were measured. During the entire study each child was followed to estimate zink intake by weighing breastfed children before and after feeding and by collecting feeding records for the others. After initiation of solids intake was measured and zinc intake from those foods estimated. Zinc concentrations of human and formulas were determined. All children grew according to normal standards for Korean children and in all children mean serum zinc concentrations were similar. Zinc levels were lowest in human milk and decreased further over the duration of lactation. Zinc levels in both formulas was higher than declared for on the labels. Nice to know, but do we know now, exactly? That human is perfect just as it is! People often assume that human milk is deficient in one or another nutrient. But this study shows that it is formula that has loads of extra stuff in it, just to make sure enough is taken in. Just imagine how much more energy it will cost a child just to digest this all! Breastfeeding: less is more.
Han Y-H, Yon M, Han H-S, Kelley E. Johnston KE, Tsunenobu Tamura T, Hyun T: Zinc status and growth of Korean infants fed human milk, casein-based, or soy-based formula: three-year longitudinal study. Nutr Res Pract, 2011, 5(1):46-51