Breast milk is a natural wonder packed with nutrients. It’s super important for a baby’s first 1,000 days, setting them up for good health in the future.
Although breast milk is the best, some formulas now contain something called Milk Fat Globule Membrane (MFGM), which has many benefits. In this article, we’ll explore MFGM and why it’s important in baby formula.
What is MFGM, and Why is it Important?
Milk Fat Globule Membrane, or MFGM, is a triple membrane structure surrounding the large droplets of triglycerides (fat molecules) in breast milk and other mammalian milk, such as cow’s or goat’s milk.
MFGM is the product of a unique subset of milk proteins, accounting for 3-4% of the total proteins in human milk.
It is filled with bioactive elements that play a crucial role in:
- Promoting Gut Maturation: MFGM fosters a healthy gut, prepping it for advanced absorption and functionality.
- Optimizing Nutrient Delivery: It assures the infant receives critical nutrients necessary for growth.
- Aiding Regulation: MFGM partakes in the control of several cellular events as the baby develops.
- Boosting Immunity: This powerful membrane assists in educating the baby’s immune system, thus strengthening them against potential threats.
Recent studies show that baby formulas with MFGM can help babies with brain development and make them feel more comfortable in their tummies.
Babies on these formulas were better at thinking, talking, and moving by their first birthdays and had softer poops. We can now add cow’s MFGM to formulas thanks to new technology. This helps make them closer to the benefits of breast milk.
Benefits of MFGM for Babies
- Brain Growth: MFGM helps the brain grow and work better. Babies fed with formulas that have MFGM do better in brain tests at 1 year old than those without it. This can also lead to smarter kids in the long run.
- Better Behavior: Formulas with MFGM can help toddlers behave better and control their actions more.
- Fewer Infections: Babies on MFGM formulas might get sick less often. This includes fewer stomach bugs, fevers, ear infections, and mouth germs.
- Stronger Immunity: MFGM boosts a baby’s defense against diseases. It contains something called lactoferrin that stops harmful bacteria from growing in the stomach.
- Nutrition Boost: MFGM makes formulas richer in essential nutrients, helping babies grow stronger.
- Less Inflammation: MFGM can reduce harmful inflammation in the body. It lowers something called interleukin-2, which causes inflammation.
- Good for Long-term Health: Some experts think MFGM in baby foods can lead to healthier blood fats as adults.
- Other Health Perks: MFGM might also lower bad cholesterol and slow cancer cell growth.
Is MFGM Now Included in Baby Formulas?
Yes, Milk Fat Globule Membrane (MFGM) is now included in some baby formulas. In the past, regular formulas didn’t have this. Thanks to recent scientific discoveries, formulas are getting closer to the makeup of natural breast milk. This is because cow’s milk (where this MFGM comes from) is quite similar to human milk. That’s why you’ll now find baby formulas with MFGM in many countries.
What Formulas Contain MFGM?
The two most popular formulas that contain this incredible ingredient are Enfamil Neuropro and Kendamil Organic. Neuropro adds it using advanced chemical techniques, while Kendamil Organic uses whole milk instead of skimmed milk for its formula.
In Conclusion
While breast milk remains unparalleled in its nutritional profile, the understanding and inclusion of MFGM in infant formulas represent a promising step towards ensuring all infants get the best start in life regardless of their feeding method.
As parents and child nutritionists ourselves, our recommendation would be to choose a formula that contains this ingredient because its benefits are too great to be ignored.
References:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27234413/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7996302/
https://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(16)00300-0/fulltext
https://badgut.org/information-centre/a-z-digestive-topics/milk-fat-what-the-mfgm/
https://www.ocl-journal.org/articles/ocl/full_html/2018/03/ocl180019s/ocl180019s.html
We’re Maria and Alberto, a married couple and educators who are nutrition enthusiasts. Even before we had kids, we were already crazy about nutrition.
We’d read scientific articles, watch videos from nutritionists, and spend hours listening to nutrition podcasts.
Today, we continue doing this, but in a different way, as we’ve learned to sift through the noise and trends. Nutrition, like any other field of knowledge, the more you read and learn, the more you develop a comprehensive understanding of reality, and that’s what has happened to us.
Before having our first child, we focused on learning everything we could about child nutrition, using the same techniques we had already employed, backed by our extensive knowledge in nutrition.
Our mission is to help other parents with their children’s nutrition, to help them become the best versions of themselves.
If we are what we eat and drink, which is absolutely true, let’s do it right!
