The truth about adults who drink breast milk

2024-08-23 08:18:00, Shëndeti CNA

Joe Wicks, famous for encouraging people to exercise during the pandemic, has taught many valuable lessons. His latest trick is surprising and unheard of before. He drinks his wife's breast milk. In a video that quickly went viral, Wicks asks his wife, Rosie, to save some breast milk for him.

“Like natural vanilla milk. The energy and nutrients in it are incredible!” he shows to the camera.

Wicks wouldn't be the first celebrity to talk about the supposed health benefits of breast milk.

Ashley Roberts admitted on "Good Morning Britain" that she tried breast milk when she heard it had lots of nutrients. She compared it to "sweet almond milk."

Kourtney Kardashian, the Instagram star who gave birth to her fourth child in December, told fans she drank a glass of her own breast milk as medicine when she felt sick.

There are many claims about the health benefits for adults who drink breast milk: some bodybuilders have said they drink it to help improve muscle strength (and mothers have made money selling it to them online). Others claim it can treat skin problems like acne, aging and eczema, and even heal cuts. Some say it's great for hair too.

But do these theories have any scientific support? Well, no. There is none.

In a world where we are constantly surrounded by crazy health trends, breast milk may be the oldest in the book.

Amie Alexander, a nutritionist said that breast milk is a "powerhouse of nutrition" for babies, emphasis, here, on the word "baby". There is no scientific evidence to suggest that consuming it or applying it to your skin has any benefits for the adult body. "In breast milk, babies receive much-needed nutrients, antibodies and growth factors that are suitable for growth and development," explains Alexander.

"But when it comes to adults, these nutritional benefits are minimal." The idea that a bodybuilder can gain any muscle mass by drinking a glass of breast milk as a pre-workout protein drink is also a complete fallacy.

Alexander says breast milk contains immunoglobulins, which are antibodies, and lactoferrin, a protein found in breast milk, but these substances are only useful for babies.

"These are only really useful in the infant stage and are unlikely to benefit an adult organism working in that bodybuilding context," she explains.

Breast milk consumption by adults has never been recommended by any official health organization and the World Health Organization actually advises against it.

There are health risks associated with the consumption of breast milk by adults, ranging from infection to microbiological contamination.

"In addition to the fact that there is no evidence regarding its nutritional value, there are also potential health risks such as infections," says Alexander. "Breast milk is a body fluid and is therefore always prone to bacteria or viruses; without proper control, it may become contaminated and therefore unfit for consumption.”

Of course, Joe Wicks wasn't advising his 4.7 million followers to drink breast milk and use it in their feeding routine. But it does teach a lesson about how you should eat./ Adapted from CNA