Adults Stay Clear…Trend for ADULTS to drink breast milk is 'dangerous' and 'increases risk of catching HIV, hepatitis and syphilis', doctors warn.
Boom in sales of human breast milk with prices of up to £50 ($78) a pint
People believe health benefits it provides babies could help boost
fitness
Touted as latest 'superfood' and posted either fresh or frozen
But experts warn it is dangerous and can spread deadly viruses
A growing market in
the online sale of human breast milk is creating a serious health risk, doctors
have warned.
British experts are
concerned that the booming craze for breast milk - which is bought by adult
fitness fanatics or those who have chronic diseases - could spread
life-threatening disease.
An increasing number
of adults are drinking breast milk, convinced that the health benefits it
provides to infants could boost their fitness and immune systems.
Internet forums match
buyers with breast-feeding mothers who have excess milk to sell.
Fetching £50 a pint
or more, the milk is offered either fresh or frozen, and is often available by
post.
UK doctors warn that
the unlicensed breast milk market is posing a growing danger to health.
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British doctors have
warned buying human breast milk online, thinking it can benefit your health and
fitness levels, is wrong, adding the practise of adults drinking breast milk is
dangerous
Writing in the
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, they call for regulators to make it
clear buying milk online is not safe.
‘The latest
supplement – touted as completely natural, free-from and a ‘super food’ – human
breast milk has emerged as a recent craze among adults,’ they said.
‘Online forums are
replete with posts boasting about the immune, recovery, nutritional and muscle
building benefits of human milk.
‘For those seeking a competitive edge, this
milk is supposed to deliver significant returns.
‘A “clean” super
food, it is purported to lead to ‘gains’ in the gym, to help with erectile
dysfunction, to be more digestible and to contain positive immune building
properties.’
But the experts, led
by Dr Sarah Steele of Queen Mary University of London, said there is no
evidence to back the claims.
Nutritionally, there
is less protein in breast milk than cow’s milk, and clinical trials do not back
the claim that adults can enjoy the health benefits experienced by brestfed
babies.
More seriously, the
doctors say human milk can be hazardous - spreading viruses such as hepatitis B
and C, HIV and syphilis.
Because the milk is
not pasteurised, it is also full of germs.
‘Research into breast
milk bought online identified the presence of detectable bacteria in 93 per
cent of samples,’ the authors wrote.
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Experts warned adults
who drink human breast milk risk catching viruses including HIV, pictured under
the microscope, Hepatitis B and C and syphilis
Dr Steele said:
‘While many online mums claim they have been tested for viruses during
pregnancy, many do not realise that serological screening needs to be
undertaken regularly.
‘Sexual and other
activities in the [post-pregnancy] period may expose the woman expressing to
viruses that they may unwittingly pass on to consumers of the milk.’
Many women who cannot
breast feed their babies are eligible to get other mothers’ milk from regulated
milk banks.
Dr Steele said that
while milk banks are safe to use - with donors carefully screened - adults are
not eligible to use them, so instead turn to the internet.
‘Buying online
potentially exposes the consumer to bacteria, viruses and contaminants that
render this not a “clean super food” for performance nutrition or
supplementation.’
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