breastfeeding
Breast milk contains lauric acid, which is antiviral,
antibacterial, can heal tissue and
contains analgesic properties
other coconut products on a regular basis, had significantly higher levels of lauric acid in their breast milk. If you’re pregnant and want to increase
the levels of lauric acid in your breast milk for when you give birth and begin to breast- feed, then it’s a good idea to consume coconut oil on a daily basis. Tis will ensure that, as your body begins to store fat in anticipation of lactation, the excess lauric acid stored within your fat supply will be incorporated into your breast milk as you start the process of lactation. Foods which contain lauric acid include:
Coconuts:To obtain the full benefits of lauric acid from coconuts, try cooking in coconut oil, adding coconut milk to curries, or blending shredded coconut in protein shakes or smoothies. Coconut oil is roughly half lauric acid, so it has about six and a half grams per tablespoon.
Palm kernel oil: Lauric acid is also present in high amounts in palm kernel oil. In fact, the fatty acid ratio in palm kernel oil is very similar to that of coconut oil. Make sure you get palm kernel oil though, as regular palm oil contains very little lauric acid.
Milk:As we’ve said, human breast milk has the highest levels of lauric acid in any milk, but cow's milk and goat's milk are also good sources. Lauric acid makes up just under three per cent of the total fat in cow's milk and just over three per cent per cent of the fat in goat's milk. „
> Well, breast milk contains lauric acid, which is antiviral, antibacterial, can heal tissue and contains analgesic properties. A World Health Organization (WHO) report from 2006 - 'Breastfeeding or breast milk for procedural pain in neonates' - concluded that: 'Tere are sufficient reasons to believe
why breastfeeding or feeding breast milk should provide pain relief for procedural pain in neonates. Breast-feeding or breast milk feeding involves the presence of a person who cares for the baby. It involves holding the baby closely, which helps in moderating the painful experience. Tere is also skin-to-skin contact with the caregiver and, additionally, breast milk contains agents that have analgesic properties or can be endogenously converted into analgesic substances. Breastfeeding or breast milk feeding is a natural way to achieve analgesia and, unlike sucrose, does not have any
adverse effect on successful breast-feeding.' One of the ‘agents’ referred to in the
WHO report is lauric acid. Studies have shown that if a pregnant woman’s diet does not contain sufficient levels of lauric acid, then her breast milk will contain only around three per cent lauric acid. But, when a pregnant or lactating woman adds foods rich in lauric acid to her diet, the levels of lauric acid in her breast milk increase by as much as three times! But how do you ensure that your own
levels of lauric acid are sufficiently high to pass the benefits on to your baby? Well, you may have become aware
recently of the increased interest in - and health benefits of coconut oil, which is actually a rich source of lauric acid. Indeed, a study, which was published in
the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1998, concluded that breastfeeding women, who consumed coconut oil and
DID YOU KNOW? On the Island of Dominica in the Caribbean, it is custom for the Carib Indians to ‘welcome’ a new infant with a ceremony that takes place approximately three weeks after its birth. Part of this ceremony involves women gathering at the new baby’s home and, after a brief naming ceremony, pampering the baby with ritualistic massages. These massages, which continue for the greater part of a week, and which take place three times a day, are all centred around the use of coconut oil. The women begin the massages by
rubbing coconut oil into the soft spot on the top of the baby’s head and then work their way down its body. Small amounts of coconut oil are also sometimes fed to the baby.
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