American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 23, 400-407, Copyright © 1970 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Protein, Lipid, and Fatty Acids of Human Milk from Pakistani Women during Prolonged Periods of Lactation

¹ From The Department of Nutrition, Pakistan Medical Research Center, Lahore, West Pakistan, of the Division of Nutrition, Institute of International Medicine, and Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland 21201

Protein, fat, and fatty acid levels are reported for milk collected from Pakistani women lactating up to 2 years. Protein levels after 6 weeks postpartum stabilized at about 1.2 g/100 ml and changed little thereafter. This was evident when mean values were considered both for all specimens collected at a given interval and for serial specimens collected from the same individual.

The concentration of total lipids varied extensively between individuals and no statistically significant changes were found. A trend toward higher lipid concentrations from 6 months onward was noted, especially when serial specimens from the same individual were evaluated. Fatty acid patterns showed no statistically significant changes throughout the intervals studied and reflected the type of fat in the diet. During the 2nd year of lactation, a trend toward an increased percentage of total fatty acids as myristic acid at the expense of palmitic or oleic acid was observed.

The patterns of fatty acids in milk lipids were intermediate between those of adipose tissue and dietary fat and seemed to reflect the high dietary intake of palmitic acid.