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Some people have become increasingly obsessed with their health and would do anything to live longer and feel better. When it comes to our children, we jump at the chance to offer them the best food possible and this obviously includes breast milk, especially in their first months of life.
However, there are some mothers who are unable to breastfeed, for various reasons. This is why breast milk sold online has become so popular. It is cheaper than the milk provided by regulated banks and it seems mothers are not the only ones who take advantage of it.
In the recent months, it has been reported that even adults consume it. After reading about the benefits of breast milk for the baby’s immunity, some people have decided to give it a try as well. Among these people there are many bodybuilders, cancer patients or fetishists.
However, scientists warned that the milk sold online does not meet clinical regulations and might pose great dangers to human health. Milk can carry viruses that can infect us with HIV, syphilis, Hepatitis B and C.
Thus, an expert from Queen Mary University of London, Dr. Sarah Steele, wrote a paper in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, explaining how the online forums praise the qualities of breast milk, regarding it as a super-food that promises rapid recovery from various diseases, a better immune system and stronger muscles.
“Such purported benefits do not stand up clinically, however. Nutritionally, there is less protein in breast milk than other milks like cow’s milk. Chemical and environmental contaminants are known to make their way into breast milk, just like the food chain more broadly,” Steele wrote.
After analyzing samples of breast milk bought online, she realized that 93 percent of them contained bacteria, mainly because it was not pasteurized and sanitized. Therefore, the milk might contain traces of alcohol, various types of chemicals and milk products that were meant to enhance the quantity of breast milk to gain more profit.
Moreover, Dr. Steele said that the benefits for the adult human body are not as good as advertised. Firstly, the breast milk analyzed contained less protein than milk coming from cows and secondly, it doesn’t have the curative properties that various forums boast about.
Thus, breast milk purchased online poses a threat to human health and people should stop buying it and get their information straight from health professionals.
What is more worrying is that the trend is on the rise and more should be done to regulate the commercialization of such products on the market and inform the population about the risks they might be facing.
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