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N-O003 - THE INFLUENCE OF A MATERNAL VEGAN DIET ON CARNITINE AND VITAMIN B2 CONCENTRATIONS IN HUMAN MILK (ID 500)
Abstract
Objectives and Study
The maternal diet greatly influences the nutritional composition of human milk. With the rise of lactating mothers following a vegan diet, concerns have been raised about the nutritional adequacy of their milk. Two important nutrients, vitamin B2 and carnitine, are mostly ingested via animal products. We aimed to investigated the influence of a vegan diet on the vitamin B2 and carnitine concentrations in human milk and serum of lactating women.
Methods
In this case-control study, twenty-five lactating mothers following an exclusive vegan diet were comparted to 25 healthy lactating mothers with an omnivorous diet. High-performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry were used to measure vitamin B2 and carnitine concentrations, respectively. A linear regression model was used to determine differences in human milk and serum concentrations between study groups.
Results
Vitamin B2 concentrations in human milk and serum did not differ between lactating women following a vegan diet or an omnivorous diet. While serum free carnitine (C0) and acetyl carnitine (C2) concentrations were lower in participants following a vegan diet compared to omnivorous women (p<0.0001), human milk concentrations did not differ between study groups.
Conclusions
A maternal vegan diet did not affect human milk concentration of vitamin B2 and carnitine. Breastfed infants of mothers following an exclusive vegan diet therefore are likely not at increased risk of developing a vitamin B2 or carnitine deficiency.