Many factors in human milk are thought to contribute to decreasing the risk of diarrhea and gastrointestinal infection in newborns.

Another strategy to decrease gastrointestinal disease is to colonize the gut with “good” bacteria, such as lactobacilli that decrease colonization by pathogens. Infants that are breast-fed are colonized with lactobacilli but the source of those organisms is unclear.

Martin et al used molecular techniques to demonstrate that human milk contains the same organisms that colonize the gut. Thus, human milk is providing the good organisms along with other factors to control overgrowth of bad organisms.

The Journal of P ediatrics December 2003 • Volume 143 • Number 6 Page 754

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