Oxidant/antioxidant balance in breast milk: its correlation with maternal dietary patterns and psychological performance
Oxidant/antioxidant balance in breast milk: its correlation with maternal dietary patterns and psychological performance
Samira Karbasi,1,*Asghar zarban,2Afsane Bahrami,3
1. 1Student Research Committee, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran 2. 3Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran 3. Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran
Introduction: Human milk composition is dynamic and can depending on various maternal variables like as psychological structure, diet and nutritional condition. Improving these nutrition practices during gestation and breastfeeding is critical for enhancing health outcomes for both mothers and infants. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between oxidant/antioxidant balance in breastfeeding mothers with dietary patterns (DPs) identified using principal component analysis (PCA), and psychological performance.
Methods: Milk samples were collected from 700 mothers, who were selected from 4 different regions through a random cluster sampling. Total antioxidant status (TAS) of milk samples were assessed using ferric reducing/antioxidant power assay (FRAP), 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals, malondialdehyde (MDA) and thiol assay. The milk total concentrations of total protein, calcium (Ca) and triglyceride were estimated with using commercial kits. A validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) that comprised 65 food items and this was used to determine major dietary patterns in this group, using PCA. Depression, anxiety, quality of life (QL), general health (GH) and cognitive ability were obtained using reliable and valid questionnaires.
Results: Two major DPs were identified: “healthy” and “unhealthy”. The healthy pattern was characterized by a high intake of vegetables, fruits, fish, low fat dairy products, whole grains and nuts and the unhealthy pattern, was determined by high intake of sweetened sugary beverage, high-cholesterol diet, red meats, poultry, processed meats, sweets. Subjects with highest tertile of healthy DP had higher scores of milk DPPH and thiol, compared to those first tertile healthy DP (p<0.05). Milk Ca and thiol was significantly lower in the third tertile of unhealthy DP versus the first tertile (P<0.05). Mothers in the healthy DP group had significantly higher cognitive ability, QL scores compared to unhealthy DP group (P value <0.05). On the other hand, anxiety, depression and total GH were positively linked by the unhealthy DP and inversely linked by the healthy DP (P value <0.05).
Conclusion: Our findings show which adherence to a healthy DP identified with high consumption of vegetables, fruits, fish, low fat dairy products, and whole grains is linked to a higher milk oxidant/antioxidant status and lower possibility of psychological disorders in Iranian mothers.