That’s right, one of the main ingredients in breast milk is not digestible by the infant who’s drinking it. Why would a mother put precious energy into making something her baby can’t use? The answer is that HMOs aren’t for feeding the baby, they’re to provide sustenance for his microbiota. The microbiota, with its collection of 25 million genes, has the capacity to digest and extract energy from HMOs. The lactating mom is not just providing for her baby, she is also whipping up dinner for the 100 trillion bacterial guests her baby is hosting.
