Mastering the microbiota for a healthy gut: Feeding update

Background and Aims: Our study aims to state the evidence-based effect the implementation of newborn infant nutrition with prebiotics and probiotics has been demonstrated to be effective in changing microflora conformation toward the preferred breast-feeding pattern and inspiring immune reaction.

Methods: Considerable efforts have been made to mimic the composition of human milk by the addition to formula feeding of living bacteria (probiotics), bovine lactoferrin, non-digestible fibers, oligosaccharides (prebiotics), and nucleotides in order to induce a breast-fed-similar microbiota colonization in formula-fed infants, with the final aim to excite the maturation and proper purpose of the immune system numerous studies implemented in the past decades have clearly established the difficulty of gut microbiota configuration and the modulatory conclusion played by a number of endogenous and exogenous factors on it. Kind of feeding in the first months of life seems as one of the furthermost significant determinants of the child and adult comfort, and its defensive action appears to rely mostly on its aptitude to modulate intestinal microflora structure at early stages of life. In recent years, the implementation of milk formula with lactoferrin, prebiotics, and probiotics has been established to change newborns’ microflora structure toward breast-feeding pattern and inspire immune response. Diet has a leading role over other potential variables such sanitation, hygiene, ethnicity, geography, and climate, in shaping the gut microbiota.

Conclusion: No definitive results are available regarding the real health improvement, so that breast milk, whose beneficial health-effects are undoubtedly unique, has to be considered the food of choice for infants in the first 6 months of life. For the same reasons, breast-feeding should be encouraged and, at the same time, new researches are advised in order to better define the composition of intestinal microbial ecosystem and the particular connections amongst diet, children health and microbiota composition.