Some mamas become very concerned with how much fat is in breastmilk and how much calories in breast milk, and other of you here might just be curious “why is my breast milk so fatty,” or how to increase fat in breast milk. Let’s discuss all of this plus, if there is not enough fat in breast milk and nutrition of breast milk now!
Nutrition of Breast Milk
There are many remarkable components in breast milk, such as:
- Live cells
- Antibodies
- Enzymes
- Probiotics (good bacteria)
- Vitamins
- Minerals
- Proteins
- Hormones and hormone-like substances
An array of components in breast milk make it antimicrobial, antibacterial, anti-fungal, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory.
How Much Fat is in Breastmilk?
The contents of breast milk include:
- 87% water
- 7% lactose
- 1% protein
- 4% fat
Fat content in colostrum = 2-3g/100mL (or approximately 0.8g/oz) [1]
Fat content in mature breast milk = 4-5g/100mL (or approximately 1.2g/oz) [1]
Since breastfeeding is biologically normal for years of the infant’s life, after 1 year of lactation, breast milk significantly increases in fat and energy contents compared to women who had been lactating for a shorter time.
This occurs when breastfeeding beyond 12 months.
Important functions of fat in breast milk include:
- Providing energy
- Providing essential fatty acids and long chain poly-unsaturated fatty acids
- Supplying cholesterol
- Aiding in the transport of fat soluble vitamins
- Providing bioactive components
As mentioned, fat in breast milk is crucial for breaking down fat soluble vitamins for absorption. Fat soluble vitamins mean they must be dissolved in fats.
These fat soluble vitamins include vitamins A, D, E, and K.
The fat in breast milk is:
- Triglycerides (98%)
- Phospholipids (0.8%)
- Cholesterol (0.5%)
How Much Calories in Breast Milk
Calorie content in breast milk = 75kcal/100mL (or 22kcal/oz) [1]
But remember, more calories does not equal more healthy for babies. The same goes for children and adults as you already know!
In our society in America, many health professionals are too quick in not trusting breast milk and breastfeeding, and jump to other forms of supplementation or fortification.
Even using these things as a “safety net” is not without potential consequences.
Researchers do not know how safe fortification and formula supplementation is long-term compared to optimizing breast milk volume, fat, and occupational therapy support if needed for those babies who need extra support to breastfeed.
A baby growing too big too fast is not good for their underdeveloped systems (gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and more) compared to growing at a slower rate and being smaller, as normal, breastfed babies are compared to formula fed infants.
Not Enough Fat is in Breastmilk?
Firstly, research shows us that baby’s breast milk intake is the only thing that has been correlated with infant growth and it doesn’t seem to matter increasing or worrying about how much fat they are getting.
Still, the fats that are present in your milk (without having to increase or worry about them!) are significant due to long-range studies of breastfed infants, reporting more advanced development at 1 year, 8-10 years and 18 years of life compared to formula-fed infants [2-4].
The fat in your breast milk is crucial for your baby’s optimal growth and development. But, unless your baby is not gaining enough weight, you should never have to worry about how much fat they are getting.
Every mother’s milk is unique to exactly what her baby needs. Some mothers will have more fatty milk than others and that is just what their babies need.
Even if your baby is preterm, the breast milk you make for them is unique to ensure their optimal growth and development.
Preterm breast milk has a different composition for the first 5-7 weeks after birth. It is higher in protein, fat, and electrolytes compared to mature breast milk in infants born at term (at least 37 weeks gestation).
What is Foremilk and Hindmilk?
The fat content of your breast milk tends to gradually increase during a feeding on the breast.
This fattier milk is referring to as “hindmilk” however there isn’t technically another type of breast milk.
Foremilk (the less fatty breast milk) and hindmilk are just breast milk that come out at different times because of the pressure of breast milk built up in the breasts when it’s time for another feeding or pumping session.
How to Increase Fat in Breast Milk
Research has found that changing your diet has not been shown to have any increase to the amount of fat in breast milk.
Check out Does Your Diet Really Affect Your Breast Milk Quality and Supply?
If your baby is having trouble gaining properly doing these tips can really help support/pick up your baby’s weight gain.
These are two easy things you can do before considering to pump more, buy donor milk, fortification, or formula:
- Hands on breastfeeding/pumping
- The breast shake
1. Hands-on breastfeeding/pumping
One study looked at mothers who combined hand expression with using an electric breast pump and they found they had increased their daily volume by 48%! [5].
The same effects (or even better) can be seen in breastfeeding.
It is just more difficult to measure breast milk volume by weighing a baby before and after feedings to conclude these results found by looking at output in bottles.
Still, we know that babies are the best at extracting breast milk compared to any pump.
Therefore, combining hands on pumping with nursing at the breast is hugely beneficial if your baby needs more milk!
Women who use hand expression:
- Have breast milk higher in fat and calories than only pumping milk
- Have more breast milk output on days 1 and 3 of baby’s life
- Produced the most milk through week 8 of baby’s life
Check out this post on The Benefits of Hand Expressing and How to Do It here!
Plus, don’t forget to hand express in close proximity of your infant if not while they are breastfeeding to optimize oxytocin, and therefore higher breast milk volume.
2. The Breast Shake
The ‘breast milk shake‘ breaks the milk free from the milk ducts and gets the fat into the earlier part of the feed.
As mentioned, the fatty milk is typically at the end of a feeding, especially with an oversupply that has a great amount of pressure built up in the breasts when it is time to feed again.
In your breasts, the fat lines the inside of milk ducts and might stick there a bit.
So, if you shake the breast prior to feeding, you may be able to release some of that fat to get a higher proportion of it during the entire feed.
How to do the breast shake:
- Do one breast at a time for 30-60 seconds.
- Take both of your hands on each side of the breast and it around with up and down motions.
- You may even use your knuckles and tips of fingers. Or knead up towards the nipple as well.
Fat Enzymes in Your Breast Milk Protect Your Baby
Your baby needs this enzyme from only your breast milk! Or… mountain gorilla milk, I guess?
Breast milk contains lipase, which is an enzyme, that helps digest fat/breaks down fat into fatty acids and glycerol.
Check out this blog post all about frozen breast milk with high lipase, which can give it a metallic, soapy smell and taste once defrosted.
Bile salt-stimulated lipase is only found in human breast milk and milk from mountain gorillas.
This has an antiprotozoal action. For example, it kill diarrhea-causing bacterias such as, Giardia.
All babies are born with an underdeveloped gastrointestinal system, making components of human breast milk incredibly protective against viruses and harmful bacteria that can cause life-threatening diarrheal diseases [6].
Myth: “You Need to Time Feedings to Ensure Your Baby is Getting Enough Fat”
To ensure optimal growth and development and adequate intake of breast milk, mothers should never feed on a schedule or limit the number of minutes the baby can be nursing.
Never worry about the fat or calorie content in your breast milk unless you are working with a lactation consultant and pediatric practitioner who both agree that your baby is needing more weight gain and nutrition.
i.e. your baby is not gaining enough weight, or is preterm, or low birth weight and needs some extra short-term support.
Even if you need to focus on increasing fat and calories in your expressed breast milk, this should never be a thing that lasts forever. It should be pretty short-term. In most cases, 1-2 months. Other cases, may be even less than a month.
Furthermore, research has found that there is no difference in your baby’s net fat intake according to if they nurse from one or both breasts each feeding [7].
Some babies even do better on only one breast per feeding. Although for newborn, preterm, or low birth weight infants, you should always offer the other side to ensure they are full.
Does Sunflower Lecithin Increase Fat in Breast Milk?
Taking sunflower lecithin has been recommended to treat or prevent clogged ducts. Dr. Jack Newman says this helps thin out breastmilk to make it flow out more easily. But, keep in mind, it does not increase your breastmilk supply.
Therefore, sunflower lecithin also does not increase fat in breast milk either.
For more information on sunflower lecithin and clogged ducts, check out Prevent Clogged Ducts with These 5 Tips.
High Fat Breast Milk
You may be questioning, “why is my breast milk so fatty?“
If your pumped breast milk has sat in a bottle in your fridge for a while, you’ll notice a thicker layer of milk at the top of the bottle. This is the fatty breast milk and it is completely normal for it to separate after some time. Gently swirl the bottle to combine before feeding or just leave it as is!
As mentioned earlier, you breast milk is uniquely fit to meet your baby’s needs and is ever-changing every day and with every feed even!
If your baby is preterm or over 12 months of age, research has found that breast milk at these times is universally higher in fat.
Other than these times, every baby will have different needs. So, it’s normal if your breast milk is higher in fat than another mama’s might be!
Questions or Comments on How Much Fat is in Breastmilk?
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below👇🏻
Talk soon, mama!
– Katelyn Lauren
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References for “How Much Fat is in Breastmilk”:
[1] Hamosh 1991, p. 118; Jelliffe & Jelliffe 1978; Lawrence 1999, p. 108, 305, 738.
[2] Lucas, A., Morley, R., Cole, T. J., Lister, G., & Leeson-Payne, C. (1992). Breast milk and subsequent intelligence quotient in children born preterm. Lancet (London, England), 339(8788), 261–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/0140-6736(92)91329-7
[3] Lucas, A., Morley, R., Cole, T. J., & Gore, S. M. (1994). A randomised multicentre study of human milk versus formula and later development in preterm infants. Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition, 70(2), F141–F146. https://doi.org/10.1136/fn.70.2.f141
[4] Horwood, L. J., & Fergusson, D. M. (1998). Breastfeeding and later cognitive and academic outcomes. Pediatrics, 101(1), E9. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.101.1.e9
[5] Morton, J., Hall, J. Y., Wong, R. J., Thairu, L., Benitz, W. E., & Rhine, W. D. (2009). Combining hand techniques with electric pumping increases milk production in mothers of preterm infants. Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association, 29(11), 757–764. https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2009.87
[7] Kent, J. C., Mitoulas, L. R., Cregan, M. D., Ramsay, D. T., Doherty, D. A., & Hartmann, P. E. (2006). Volume and frequency of breastfeedings and fat content of breast milk throughout the day. Pediatrics, 117(3), e387–e395. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2005-1417
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