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Breastmilk also contains minerals:
-
Sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium
are the major cations in human milk.
Breastfeeding women mobilize bone to supply calcium to their infants.
This may be mediated by parathyroid hormone-related protein
(
Strewler, 2000
).
The bone is replenished during and after weaning (
Specker, 1991
).
Breast milk sodium and potassium are regulated by corticosteroids.
-
Iron is necessary for hemoglobin formation.
Iron in breast milk is present in low amounts but the percentage
of iron absorbed is very high.
Infants older than 6 months of age need another source of iron besides
breastmilk in their diet such as meats, iron-fortified cereals,
or green vegetables (
AAP Breastfeeding, 2005
,
Slusser, 1997
).
A study done in India found that mothers who were severely anemic
(Hemoglobin < 6.0 gm/dL) at the start of labor had significantly
less iron in their breast milk at day 3 and 15 post-partum than women who were mildly
anemic (Hemoglobin 6.1-10.9 gm/dL) or not anemic (Hemoglobin > 10.9 gm/dL).
Severely anemic women may not have enough iron in their breast milk to prevent
iron deficiency in their infant in the first 6 months of life (
Kumar, 2008
).
A study of iron supplementation of breastfed infants in Sweden and Honduras
showed that iron supplementation at a dose of 1 mg of elemental iron/kg/day
from 6-9 months of age significantly reduced iron deficiency anemia in the
Honduran breast fed infants. However, there was no effect on the Swedish
infants. This was probably due to the low baseline prevalence of iron
deficiency anemia in the Swedish infants and to the increased growth rates
of the Honduran infants in the first 4 months of life compared to the growth
rates of the Swedish infants (
Domellof, 2001
).
-
Zinc is found in human milk
and is necessary for enzyme production and activation.
-
Copper, selenium, chromium, manganese,
molybdenum and nickel
are present in small amounts in breast milk.
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