6 Benefits of Breast Milk for Adults you need to know

Milk is considered good for each and every person universally and is one of the top 10 Calcium rich foods. Milk is good for your health, it provides calcium to your body and other milk products also have lots of benefits. The most commonly used milk is cow’s milk but there are different regions where people drink the milk of different mammals, such as goat’s milk, camel’s milk, etc. But what most people do not think of is breast milk. Well, it is best for the infants but some adults also consider taking it. And though there has not been any solid research in this area, some claims that there are benefits of breast milk for adults.

These benefits are still controversial and many doctors do not agree on that and thus if you are thinking of having it, do consult your physician before drinking breast milk for any health reason.

Photo Credit: ParentingPatch, Wikimedia Commons

There is no doubt about the fact that breast milk is the best food for your baby’s overall development. The breast milk is custom made by mother for her baby and contains the perfect amount of healthy nutrients required for a proper diet. But, for adults, is drinking breast milk really a healthy alternative? Here we will discuss some of the claimed benefits of breast milk for adults.

Benefit of Breast milk for Babies

We all know about the benefits of breast milk for the babies. The breast milk is adaptive to the baby’s need and the properties contained in the breast milk changes according to the response by the baby.

For example, if a family member is sick, the breast milk that will be produced during that period will contain certain compounds that will work as a vaccine to protect the baby from getting sick. When baby grows, the nutrients in the breast milk also changes to meet his needs. It also improves the immunity system of the baby. Breast milk contains the vitamins and other nutrients that a baby needs.

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Benefits of Breast Milk for Adults

Now, here we will discuss the benefits that you could get from drinking breast milk.

Natural Food

In today’s world, most of the things we eat are factory processed and chemically treated. More and more people are trying to get organic and natural food that they feed their families or themselves. People have become aware that not all the foods that are said to be healthy are actually healthy and they do their own research before eating them. And milk is not an exception.

However, breast milk is all healthy and comes directly without any lab testing or processing. So you do not need to concern about any unhealthy chemicals and hormones when it comes to breast milk.

It can be used to Treat Arthritis

Breast milk could benefit people of older age too. It can be useful in treating conditions like arthritis. Breast milk contains a substance called lactoferrin which is very important to keep the immunity system from overreacting in the babies. But this substance could be very useful for the health of adults as well. It is believed that lactoferrin can be helpful in treating the adults suffering from arthritis.

It can be used to Treat Acne

The breast milk can benefit you without even consuming it. During pregnancy, some mothers suffer from some skin conditions like acne. And after you have a baby, there is not enough time to take care of yourself. It may be a little hard to believe, but breast milk can be used as a facial cleanser. It is the lauric acid in breast milk that helps in treating acne. Just apply breast milk all over the infected areas of the face and get rid of acne effectively and naturally.

It can be used to put on Weight

There are some people who want to put on weight as they are too skinny to look good. And if you are one of them, drinking breast milk can be a pretty good idea. It is known that the babies who drink breast milk have a healthy weight when compared to the babies who are not fed the breast milk. And, so it can be possible for adults too to gain weight with breast milk. And because the breast milk is all natural, there would not be any side effect on your health.

It is good for Building Muscles

There are many people that believe that breast milk has many health benefits for adults. it is claimed that the people who are fitness freaks and want to build a muscular and toned body can benefit from the breast milk. It is believed that drinking breast milk is a good way to put on muscle. The belief is based on the fact that breast milk maintains important hormones and growth factors more than cow’s milk. But it is still a debatable topic whether or not breast milk actually helps people put on muscle.

It can Boost Energy

This has become a new trend and many people around the world are talking about the benefits of drinking breast milk. There are people that claim that by drinking breast milk they have actually increased their energy. Until now, people tend to drink health drinks to boost their energy, but now some people believe that breast milk provides an energy boost and is a natural alternative to artificial energy drinks.

Cautions of Breast Milk for Adults

The benefits we mentioned above are not scientifically proven and are just claimed by a few people that believe that drinking breast milk has been beneficial for them. And following the trend, the numbers of people has also increased that wonder about the possibilities of health benefits of breast milk for adults. Well, before you consider including breast milk into your diet, below are some points that you should be aware of.

1. Many experts and doctors have already said it many times that breast milk is specially designed for babies not for adults. Though it contains natural nutrients that are really very important, it is for the babies and not for adults.
2. These days you can find breast milk available online. It is recommended that you should not consume it as it is considered to be at high risk of being contaminated. The reason behind this is that usually the breast milk sold on the internet are not properly screened for contamination risk and the suppliers are not checked either.
3. Unlike other milk products, breast milk could carry infections from the mother and the problem could be severe as viruses like HIV and hepatitis could be on the list.
4. There are some people that claimed to enjoy the health benefits of breast milk for adults, but most of these benefits are only based on opinion and not on science.

Conclusion

In the end, we want to say that there is no science that suggests that breast milk offers the same nutritional benefits to adults as to the babies. In addition to this, the breast milk that is bought online may contain other pathogens that can cause serious infectious diseases, like hepatitis and syphilis.

There are some diseases that do not show symptoms, so the woman may not be aware of the fact that she is infected with some disease when she sells her milk. So, if you still want to try out the breast milk, make sure you know the source from where the breast milk is coming, maybe your wife.

There are some scientific studies conducted to find out the whether the breast milk is beneficial for adults or not but none of those studies recommend breast milk to be consumed by adults. Now, it is up to you to decide whether you want to wait for a scientific approval to come or you want to try and find out the benefits of breast milk for adults by yourself.