IS BREAST MILK KETO?
As a functional Dietitian, I am not necessarily for or against the Keto diet. I recognize it is a highly effective treatment for certain conditions, while others should stay away from this diet as it poses significant risk to them. How effective (and safe!) it is really depends on your body's physiology and current metabolic state. Metabolic stress, for example, makes the keto diet a dangerous diet for some, while healthy adults may be able to live 'keto-adapted' for months or even years without problems. It may even help to prevent neurodegenerative disease.
However, as I've done some research in order to write my blog post "
Is Keto Safe While Breastfeeding?", I came across the pro-keto argument often that claims "babies are in ketosis" because "breast milk is keto", and therefore, "keto must be the way we were all meant to eat". Naturally, I was intrigued by this and had to dig deeper: Are babies really in ketosis? Is breast milk really 'keto'? Are we all meant to be in ketosis, as the 'optimal' metabolic state?
Super interesting concept, so let's dig deeper!
Breast Milk is High Fat - but not Keto
If you've followed me for a while, you probably already know that breast milk is dynamic in its composition. Things like your diet, age, your weight, the stage of lactation you're in and even the time of day change your breast milk's exact composition. Heck, breast milk even changes during your baby's feeding as milk in your 'hind milk' is higher in fat and fat soluble vitamins compared to 'foremilk', at the beginning of a feeding.
However, there is a 'range' for the macronutrients in your breast milk. Your body will attempt to keep your milk's macronutrient content (the fats, protein and carbohydrates) within a certain range to make sure your baby is growing optimally and not missing out on any of those important nutrients.
Mature breast milk (the breast milk that is produced after the second week postpartum) contains roughly 650 to 700 calories per liter. It contains about 60 to 70 grams of carbs per liter, 35 to 40 grams of fat per liter and only about 8 to 10 grams of protein per liter. Converted into calories, the macro distribution of breast milk is roughly 50 to 53% fat, 38 to 40% carbs and 6 to 8% protein. Colostrum is a bit higher in carbs, higher in protein and lower in fat compared to mature breast milk (
2).