SubscribeFaux News: Breast Milk for Weight Loss
This week while trawling the web I came across an article in a Japanese website that talked about research into Lactoferrin. Apparently daily supplements of lactoferrin led to a significant reduction in visceral fat.
The richest source of lactoferrin is human breast millk or colostrum. After a bit of research I decided the article was to be placed in the dubious tabloid category.
Unbelievably Fox News have actually reported this in their Health news section: Is Breast Milk the Next Diet Fad?
A quick read of the japanese article presents us with some outrageous puns:
Lion plans to commercialize its discovery, hoping that using the breast milk substance to prevent people from getting fat will fatten its bank accounts. Economist Takuro Morinaga predicts lactoferrin could produce a boom from the bust.
More research shows that this is an english translation of an article printed in sleazy Japanese adult magazine Asahi Geino.
Yes, Fox, that really is groundbreaking news.
As to the Lactoferrin - it is a protein with antimicrobial activity found in many secretions - and from cow's milk as well as human milk. Whey protein isolate also contains lactoferrin. A claim of a 22% drop in body fat from lactoferrin supplement seems dubious as best.
At worst it's complete nonsense.
And... in case you are curious. Some people actually sell breast milk.
I wouldn't mind getting breast milk protein; it's the best available for muscle growth.
Reply...Okay, this made me laugh.
ReplyAnd I really want to make the joke that popped in my head... but because most of you will likely be disgusted and not amused, I will not.
I have to laugh at people who sneer at cow's milk, saying that it is produced ONLY for baby cows, and therefore it isn't fit for human consumption. By that reasoning, EVERYTHING except human milk is meant for some other purpose (beans and seeds are for producing new plants, tubers are for food for new plants, meat is for allowing animals to move around while they're alive, fruits are for attracting birds, honey is food for bees, etc etc etc). So while we're praising the merits of human milk, one has to ask, what are all those women of child-bearing age going to consume in order to produce milk for the rest of the human race?
Yes, I realize that this post is in reference to a silly article in a sleazy men's magazine and a breathless report by FOX network that is meant to pass for real medical news reporting. But lots of people are going to take this "info" seriously.
Thanks for the amusing "news" report.
ReplyEven if they could proove it's effectiveness, it isn't going to be a big hit. I think that women who are interested in selling breast milk could not meet the demands of the people who needs weight loss.
ReplyThis reminds me of the joke about 'dihydrogen oxide' being a miracle compound - able to speed up processes, found naturally occuring in large quantities, can't live without it ...
ReplyInteresting "science". My kids got chubby when they were breastfed -- then slimmed down after being weaned!
My friends and I donated our extra breast milk to a infant girl who needed extra. We had spare and it was great to be able to give food to a child who needs it. But, I'd never give or even sell it to an adult (whether it's for a nursing fetish, or to help them lose weight) -- it violates my personal "yuck" factor!
ReplyWell, while the person ingesting the milk would probably gain weight and have a higher IQ (the fats in the human breast milk insulate brain neurons better then anything else) the only person getting thin would be the women aka the milk producer.
Wouldn't it be nice if it were that easy?
ReplyInterestingly, I just learned there are already uses for breast milk besides just for babies in need. From http://www.nationalmilkbank.org/donorinfo_faq.html --
There's no mention of weight loss, though ;-)ReplyThere are also patient suffering from Crohn's and Colitis that use breastmilk to avoid flair ups.
Breastmilk is great for the immune system as it is filled with anti-bodies and is perfectly adjusted to be digested by the human body. It is digested very quickly, hence the chemotherapy patients consumption, (digest before you throw up).
ReplyGood taste prohibits me from saying the things I want to say right now...:-)
Brian
ReplyThis was a fun entry...
FWIW, there's also an organization that collections human milk for distribution to countries where there's not enough: Breast Milk Project Home Page.
ReplyAll i can say is,.....WTF?
ReplyLike what Susan said, most infants slim down after cutting off breast milk. It certainly shows something in the opposite.
ReplyMy children became "chubby" while being breastfed and then began to slim down when they became active, crawling, walking, so on. And they continued to breastfeed.
ReplyActually the only infants that slim down after breastfeeding has stopped are those that are to young to be active by walking and all that good stuff.
Children that are breastfed until naturally weaned and solids are not introduced before 6 months are the children that don't gorw to be fat when older.