Breastfeeding feeds the human microbiome

Here are links to two articles describing just one of the amazing properties of human milk - how it uniquely feeds the microbiome residing in our gastrointestinal tract.  Perfectly designed to nourish our bodies and set us up for our normal pattern of growth.

(1) The New Yorker article "Breastfeeding The Microbiome

(2) The AAAS article "The Infant Gut Microbiome"

image (from article #2) depicts the variations in gut microflora that can occur

with both type of birth and type of feeding method