Probiotic formula helps reverse cows milk allergy in babies

Mothers often mention they are worried about their newborn having a cows milk allergy. They usually come to this conclusion as their baby has bowel issues, like colic, wind, pain and reflux. It is an ease assumption as there is a lot on the web about it and a Google search will diagnose it as this quickly!

However, I do feel that although it definitely exists it is a conclusion too quickly jumped to. Most of the time with cranial osteopathy treatment, checking the breast feeding mothers diet for aggravating foods, perhaps changing formula (often to NannyCare goats milk formula) and using probiotics I have seen the possible cow’s milk allergy get better.

It is very nice to come across this research showing that even if the newborn does have an allergy then the probiotics can still help.

Research, published in the ISME Journal, suggest that a probiotic supplement could help milk-allergic infants become milk-tolerant. The year-long study included 19 infants, aged 1 to 12 months, diagnosed with a cow’s milk allergy and still receiving cow’s milk protein (mostly from formula). The infants were assigned to receive either a milk protein formula containing the probiotic, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, or a milk protein formula without the probiotic. Researchers took stool samples from the 19 infants at the beginning of the study and after 6 months. They also took stool samples from 20 healthy, cow’s milk formula-fed infants, in order to compare the gut bacteria of allergic and non-allergic babies. After adjusting for factors such as body weight and age, they found that:

Of the infants drinking the probiotic-supplemented formula, 42% of them developed a tolerance for cow’s milk. Infants drinking formula without the probiotic remained allergic.

Compared to healthy infants, milk-allergic infants had lower levels of gut bacteria that produce butyrate—a fatty acid that helps keep the large intestinal lining healthy.

After probiotic treatment, infants who developed a tolerance for milk had more colonies of butyrate-producing bacteria than infants who did not develop a tolerance.

This study is important because it suggests that gut bacteria plays a role in food allergies and that certain probiotic supplements may have a place in allergy treatment.

Probiotic-rich foods such as yoghurt, kefir, buttermilk, and unpasteurised sauerkraut, contain bacteria in the same family as the probiotic supplement used in this study, and researchers are actively exploring their usefulness in allergy prevention and treatment.

Much more information to help your baby can be found in the full Calming Colic book available to purchase on this website.