Chrono Nutrition and Breast Milk: The Link

Introduction

Believe it or not, the body is always on schedule, even when humans are not. Amazingly, the body is regulated by a circadian clock. When a mother breastfeeds her child, it develops an information system about the feeding hours in the child's brain. The child is often demanding enough if the feeding time is delayed. However, such communication needs to be improved in bottle-fed infants using previously stored breast-pumped milk. Studies have also shown that irregular feeding time affects the child's sleep, physical activity, and development.

What Is Chrono-Nutrition?

Everyone knows that the body follows a particular circadian rhythm or biological clock. Such rhythm is linked to routine activities like the sleep-wake cycle, exercise, metabolism, body temperature, hunger, food, and mental processes. Chrono nutrition studies food and its effect on the body's circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythm depends on a person's genes and other external factors.

What Causes the Unhealthy Chrono-Nutrition Cycles in the Body?

The change in the body's circadian rhythm is affected by factors such as:

• Irregular eating times.

• Infrequent eating styles, eating less and more at times.

• Sleep-wake cycles.

• Poor infant health.

• Disruption of the biological clock in the body.

Women unable to breastfeed their babies can adapt to breast milk banks. Since the composition of milk changes over the day, the mother can customize the milk, preferring milk induced during the morning hours after a healthy breakfast. Such selective milk categories can be used to feed sick infants as this provides the best immunological benefits.

How Does Chrono-Nutrition Affect a Breastfeeding Baby?

Chrono nutrition affects the child more excellently. The child has followed a nine-month circadian behavior of the mother while in the womb. This rhythm is drastically disturbed after the delivery. The food is substituted for the mother's breast milk. The components of breast milk change according to the hours of the day. The immunity of the child lowers with the composition of milk.

Does the Composition of Milk Change Over the Day?

Most infants drink their mother's milk both during the day and at night. The distribution of amino acids, minerals, and other nutrients in milk varies day and night. Such variation in the composition of the mother's milk alerts the child's demand. Amino acids are required for DNA synthesis and to control the growth of the cells. Tyrosine, methionine, phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and glycine are some of the neuroactive amino acids that are at their peak during the day. Breast milk contains hormones like cortisol that give the body cognition, induce hunger, and help in the body's metabolic activity. The function of the cortisol hormone is high during the day. At night, compounds like melatonin and tryptophan help digestion and cell restoration and put the baby back to sleep.

What Does Zeitgeber Mean in Chrono-Nutrition?

As discussed earlier, chrono nutrition is affected by genes and other external factors. Such external factors that interfere with the natural food clock are called zeitgebers. These act as external catalysts to scale up the body's circadian rhythm. Zeitgeber factors include temperature, time, climate, medicine, eating, drinking pattern, sleep cycles, and environment. For example, daytime is when humans indulge in more activities, prepare food and eat. Nighttime is used for rest. These external factors are the zeitgeber affecting chrono nutrition. These activities, in turn, affect the metabolic activity of the body.

What Are the Health Benefits of Following Proper Chrono-Nutrition in a Baby's Life?

Following the proper feeding habits in infants leads to a lot of benefits, such as:

• It provides good sleep to the child.

• The child is more active and awake during the non-sleeping hours.

• The proper growth and developmental milestones are achieved early.

• The microbiome flora of the gut is balanced.

• It helps the body fight against pathogens.

• Improves the respiratory, digestive, and circulatory functions of the child.

• Breast milk helps neutralize toxins by increasing the body's free radicals. They act as opsonins by engulfing the pathogens like bacteria and viruses.

• The first milk or colostrum also contains phagocytes that help to kill harmful microorganisms.

• The circadian rhythm is transferred through milk from a mother to the child. Breast milk contains hormones like glucocorticoids and melatonin, which cause such circadian transfer.

How Does Breaking Chrono-Nutrition Cycles Affect the Body?

Irregular eating habits cause developmental problems in children. If the body follows a disorganized timetable in eating habits, it can slow down the body's metabolism. Even when a small amount of food is taken, it becomes difficult to burn those calories. This leads to increased body deposition of fat, calories, and carbohydrates. As a result, the individual starts gaining more weight.

How Can the Chrono-Nutrition Cycles Be Regularized?

A diligent, constant effort to adopt a healthy lifestyle helps build positive chrono nutrition cycles in the body. Some of the healthy practices followed are:

• Begin a day with a stomach-filling healthy breakfast.

• Avoid skipping meals.

• Follow a regular timetable for diet.

• Eat dinner early, between 5 to 7 pm.

• Avoid late-night eating habits.

How Can Chrono-Nutrition Awareness Programmes Be Promoted?

Breastfeeding is a fundamental human right. It should be kept under societal pressure. Hence, various healthcare programs should be implemented to create awareness, such as:

• Encouraging breastfeeding practice in public.

• Implementation of lactation rooms in workplaces and public places.

• Opening up more human breast milk banks for incapable mothers.

Conclusion

A timely breastfed infant is hypothesized to have a more capacitated circadian biology. Studies have shown that chrono nutrition plays a significant role in alerting the baby's time of day. It allows the proper growth and development of the child. A balanced chrono nutrition improves one's health and helps in building immunity. Children who are directly breastfed follow the maternal circadian rhythm. Therefore, it is always advised to breastfeed the baby due to its multiple chrono nutritive effects. A dysregulated chrono nutrition can affect all the normal functions of the body.