Consumption of extra virgin olive oil during pregnancy increases the level of antioxidants in breast milk and

Extra virgin olive oil represents the main source of fat in the Mediterranean diet.

From left to right, Rosa M. Lamuela-Raventos, Francisco J. Pérez-Cano, Blanca Grases-Pintó i Sonia Zhan-Dai (above), i Anallely López-Yerena, Anna Vallverdú-Queralt i Maria J. Rodríguez-Lagunas ( under).

The results support evidence that a diet with extra virgin olive oil can modify and even increase the content of these bioactive compounds in breast milk with potential benefits for infant health.

Consumption of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)—a product with widely recognized benefits for our health—increases the levels of phenolic compounds in breast milk and can cross the placental barrier, reaching offspring. This was revealed in a research conducted by a team from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Science, the Research Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety, Universitas Brawijaya (INSA-UB) and the Center for Biomedical Research on Obesity Physiopathology and Nutrition Network (CIBEROBN). . The results of the article, which was conducted on mice as a model study, have been published in the journal Food Chemistry.

This conclusion supports the fact that a diet enriched with EVOO can modify or even increase the content of these bioactive compounds in breast milk with potential benefits for infant health. The research, which was led by experts Maria J. Rodríguez-Lagunas and Anna Vallverdú-Queralt, is part of the Internal Research Promotion (FRI) program among young researchers of INSA-UB.

This competitive call, which aims to increase collaboration between different research groups in the institute, aims to promote the development of original and innovative research projects and wants to promote young researchers to become the lead researchers of the project.

Transmission of phenolic compounds

Breast milk is the best source of nutrition for babies because it contains essential nutrients and bioactive factors (hormones, antibodies, microorganisms, stem cells, etc.). Moreover, it provides many short and long term benefits for both mother and baby, and regarding the latter, reduces the incidence of infection and the risk of suffering from metabolic diseases in the future.

EVOO is a major source of fat in the Mediterranean diet, but to date, the fact that the phenolic compounds of this product can be compounded in breast milk and available in infants remains unknown. As part of this preclinical study, the team discovered this fact after analysis to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the levels of phenolic compounds and their derivatives in biological samples in pregnant animals and their offspring after six weeks of daily intake of EVOO.

The results showed that food-derived phenolic compounds—particularly those from EVOO—reach the maternal systemic circulation. Furthermore, they detected many phenolic compounds and their derivatives in breast milk. Surprisingly, it should be noted that some phenolic compounds and their metabolites were detected in higher concentrations in the plasma of the offspring than in the plasma of the mother.

“Until now, several studies have explained that the composition of breast milk can be influenced by biological and environmental factors exposed to the mother, such as the mother’s diet. Therefore, nutritional interventions during pregnancy and lactation can have an impact on the quality of breast milk, and consequently, on the health of the infant. Therefore, our findings shed light on the importance of maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation, and they provide the basis for future studies on the impact of phenolic compounds on maternal and infant health”, conclude the study authors.

Reference article:

López-Yerena, A.; Grases-Pintó, B.; Zhan-Dai, S.; Perez-Cano, FJ; Lamuela-Raventos, RM; Rodríguez-Lagunas, MJ; Vallverdú-Queralt, A. «Nutrition during pregnancy and lactation: New evidence for the vertical transmission of extra virgin olive oil phenolic compounds in rats». Food Chemistry, May 2022. Doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.133211

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