Here's another guest-post I did at FTA...again, lots of comments at the link. -Tim

The Importance of Human Breast Milk for Gut Microbiome Development

December 22, 2013 by Richard Nikoley 83 Comments

Here's a little guest post from Tim "Tatertot" Steele.
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When you start looking at RS and gut bugs, here's a connection I recently came across that I will be exploring further for merit.
In human breast milk, there are hundreds of compounds called Humans Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOS). There are also hundreds of bacterial strains present in breast milk, presumably through the entero-mammary pathway. This combination of pre and probiotics results in rapid structure of the newborn's gut to favor almost exclusively probiotic strains of bifidobacteria and lactic acid bacterias.

The HMOS have a unique cell structure in that they display "ligand mimicry." Any pathogenic microbe, and most non-pathogens, that encounters these HMOS will attach themselves to the HMOS—and not the epithelial cells of the small intestine. This prevents small bowel infections, diarrhea, etc... and is one reason why newborns are so bulletproof. These HMOS don't all get digested by bacteria; some enter the blood and urine streams where they further scrub pathogens from the baby.
Here's where I make my point: RS displays the same ligand mimicry as seen in HMOS.
I've never seen that in a study specifically, and doubt it's in any, but it's undeniable in my view. When RS is added to a colony of vibrio cholera growing in a petri dish, within 2 minutes, the vibrio leave their attachment to the agar and become attached to the RS granules. It also works with several other studied pathogens.
Bifidobacteria also display an affinity to attach to RS. Since everything wants to attach to it, it acts like a rapid-transit to the large intestine where bifido thrives and pathogens can be dealt with. I am really convinced that there is something special going on when one consumes 20-40g/day of RS. This seems to be the amount needed to make sweeping changes to the gut microbiome and turn the gut into the piece of art it is supposed to be.
References: