- We all know that breast milk is the gold standard
for infant nutrition and as parents, we
wanna give our babies the very best.
But the reality is, not every mom
can breast feed, and finding a formula
you can trust can be overwhelming.
Will it have the nutrients your baby needs?
Is it a good replacement for breast milk?
So many questions.
Well today, groundbreaking science is
bringing unique nutrients from breast milk
to formula-fed babies for the first time ever.
Joining me this morning to discuss
all of this is Dr. Rachael Buck, a research fellow at the global
healthcare company Abbott, as a discovery scientist
in the field of immune health,
Rachael works on the forefront of infant nutrition.
Good morning.
- Good morning, Olga.
- Thanks for being here.
- Thank you.
- Let's talk first about breast feeding
and the benefits behind it.
- Well I would say, first of all,
as a research scientist and as a mom
of three rambunctious boys.
- You have your hands full.
- I have my hands full.
And I have been studying the benefits
of breast milk for a long time, over two decades to
understand the benefits of breast feeding
and ultimately, how to improve infant formulas.
And breast feeding is so important
for emotional and physical bonding
with your baby, but also breast milk
contains a myriad of nutrients to help babies' immune
system development and optimize health and
development in general.
And it's very important, in fact,
you probably, everybody knows that
breast feeding is the gold standard
and it's referred to as a unique recipe
that is as old as humankind.
And what's so special about breast milk
is that in supporting immune development,
exclusive breast feeding is actually
associated with fewer infections.
- But women who can't breast feed.
And I know a lot of my friends told me,
you know, Olga, I can't do it.
I don't have the time or I just can't
produce enough breast milk.
There are formulas today or there is a
formula with groundbreaking science.
What is this ingredient that's really
changing the way and getting women
a new option, which is fantastic?
- Yes, it's tremendously exciting.
Breast milk is the gold standard of nutrition,
but the reality is that not all moms
can breast feed, and I can speak to that personally.
I couldn't exclusively breast feed my babies,
and so it personally was so important for me
to commit my career to developing
infant formulas as close to breast milk
as possible, and today I'll talk about
a very important molecule, a group of molecules,
called human milk oligosaccharides.
It's a bit of a mouthful.
- [Olga] It's a big word.
- [Rachael] It's a big word, but human milk
oligosaccharides, or HMOS for short,
are so important.
They're abundant in breast milk.
They're slightly more prevalent in protein.
We've all heard of protein.
And that previously, have only been available
to breastfed babies.
So what do they do?
Well human milk oligosaccharides feed the good bacteria
in baby's gut, and that means where
70% of the immune system is found, and that means
human milk oligosaccharides help the gut
and they help the immune system.
And for the first time, Abbott brought
a formula with human milk oligosaccharides
called 2-FL, in Similac, and brought
an infant formula with this molecule
to benefit formula-fed babies.
- And I think it's important to talk about
a study that I know you conducted
where you compared babies who were breastfed
and babies who received Similac.
What did you find?
- Yes, well this was breakthrough research.
In fact, over two decades of research,
publishing in multiple journals and
multiple papers we focused on a very
important molecule called 2-FL and it's the most abundant
HMO in breast milk.
And this molecule, what we showed was that
Similac with 2-FL HMO supports the
developing immune system of formula-fed babies
to be more like breastfed babies.
And it's a significant breakthrough.
It's a very important benefit to,
to give to formula-fed babies to help
the developing immune system more like
breastfed babies, so it's personally
and professionally very rewarding and
meaningful to me and the team.
- And rewarding for moms who know
their babies are getting something very good.
- Yes, very important, because this is
so near and dear to my heart because.
- You're very passionate about it.
- Yes, I'm very passionate because
up until this point, only breastfed babies
could benefit from human milk oligosaccharides,
and now for the first time, babies fed Similac
with 2-FL, formula-fed babies can benefit
from this very important molecule
to support their developing immune system.
And we're committed to helping all babies
thrive and this is a tremendous breakthrough
and a very important benefit for all babies.
- And if you give the moms piece of mind,
a baby, what he or she needs?
- Yes.
- Doctor, where can our viewers go
for more information on Similac?
- For more information on Similac with 2-FL,
they can go to similac.com.
- [Olga] Thank you for your time and
thank you for what you've done.
- [Rachael] Thank you.
- And of course, if you'd like more information on any of this,
you can go to our website, thebalancingact.com.
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