When the amino acid glutamate was added to a typical cow’s milk formula, researchers found that babies drank significantly less of it and showed no signs of being hungry. Human breast milk has naturally high levels of glutamate, a building-block of proteins, but cow’s milk, which is used to make most infant formulas, has less of it.
"What food is fed may be at least as important as how it is fed," said Gary Beauchamp, director of the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, who worked on the study. Thirty parents and their infants participated in the research, which is published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The babies, who were less than four months old, were bottle-fed two consecutive formula meals a day in a laboratory setting over three days.
Infants drank one of three formulas during each first meal: regular cow’s milk formula; cow’s milk formula with added glutamate; or so-called hydrolyzed formula, which contains broken-down or predigested milk protein. Hydrolyzed formulas, which also have high glutamate levels, are typically given to babies who have bad reactions to whole protein.
Researchers allowed the infants to drink formula at the first meal until they indicated they were full. When the infants showed they were hungry again, they were given a second feeding of cow’s milk formula.
Parents fed their baby at their customary pace, starting and ending only when the baby signaled hunger or satisfaction with cues such as sucking on hands or turning away from the bottle. They were unaware of what type of formula their baby was getting.
During the first meal, the infants drank significantly less hydrolyzed formula and cow’s milk formula with added glutamate compared to when they got regular cow’s milk formula, leading researchers to conclude that even on formula, babies may know to stop eating when they’re full.(Online News pk)
