Nutritional Lipids

Fat is an important component of human milk, delivering approx. 50-60% of the energy an infant requires. As well as this, the fat in human milk supplies the baby with valuable nutrients, such as essential fatty acids, fat-soluble vitamins and cholesterol. This fat has a specific structure, to ensure that it is properly absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract upon digestion ⁶³Innis, S. M. (2011). Dietary triacylglycerol structure and its role in infant nutrition. In Advances in Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.3945/an.111.000448 ¹²⁴Ramírez, M., Amate, L., & Gil, A. (2001). Absorption and distribution of dietary fatty acids from different sources. Early Human Development. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-3782(01)00211-0. Specifically, long-chain saturated fatty acids (LCSFAs) like palmitic acid are primarily positioned in the sn-2 position on the glycerol backbone of triglycerides ⁵⁴Hageman, J. H. J., Danielsen, M., Nieuwenhuizen, A. G., Feitsma, A. L., & Dalsgaard, T. K. (2019). Comparison of bovine milk fat and vegetable fat for infant formula: Implications for infant health. International Dairy Journal, 92, 37–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idairyj.2019.01.005.

Human milk fat and bovine milk fat show many structural similarities, in both the profile and distribution of fatty acids over the sn-1, sn-2 and sn-3 positions ⁵⁴Hageman, J. H. J., Danielsen, M., Nieuwenhuizen, A. G., Feitsma, A. L., & Dalsgaard, T. K. (2019). Comparison of bovine milk fat and vegetable fat for infant formula: Implications for infant health. International Dairy Journal, 92, 37–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idairyj.2019.01.005. As a result, adding the right amount of dairy lipids to infant formula can help to: optimise fat composition and structure, support fat digestion and absorption ⁹³Manios, Y., Karaglani, E., Thijs-Verhoeven, I., Vlachopapadopoulou, E., Papazoglou, A., Maragoudaki, E., Manikas, Z., Kampani, T.-M., Christaki, I., Vonk, M. M., Bos, R., & Parikh, P. (2020). Effect of milk fat-based infant formulae on stool fatty acid soaps and calcium excretion in healthy term infants: two double-blind randomised cross-over trials. BMC Nutrition, 6(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40795-020-00365-4 and deliver energy and nutrients.