A fresh look at research that has already been carried out has suggested this as a tactic for protecting the wellness of babies and young children who are unable to drink breast milk.
Breastfeeding is still recommended as the number one way to protect the wellbeing of young children, and it is thought to help protect them against a variety of conditions in later life, including eczema.
Not all babies (or mothers) are able to breastfeed, however, and the research seems to indicate that, in these cases, drinking a formula milk that has been fortified with prebiotics may be an ideal way to help protect them against allergens. Prebiotics are food particles that prompt the body to grow healthy gut flora or bacteria, which work as part of the body’s natural immune system to fight against toxins and allergens.
Changing the gut flora is commonly known to change your immunity, so this theory builds on existing knowledge in order to work out how we can use it to help protect babies against these common childhood ailments.
Previous studies have claimed that there is not enough evidence that putting prebiotics into formula has any kind of effect, but this fresh look at the evidence sees a different picture emerging.
This kind of complementary back up is greatly needed, as around 20 percent of children will develop eczema during their childhood (with 8 percent developing a food allergy and 34 percent developing a respiratory condition such as asthma – both of which could also potentially be helped by the prebiotics).