Certain proteins in breast milk found to be essential for a baby’s healthy gut

More than 320 million years of mammalian evolution has adapted breast milk to meet all the physiological needs of babies: It contains not only nutrients, but also hormones, antimicrobials, digestive enzymes, and growth factors. Furthermore, many of the proteins in breast milk, for example casein and milk fat globule membrane proteins, aren’t just sources of energy and molecular building blocks, but also directly stimulate immunity, at least under preclinical conditions.