Nutritional supplements and mother’s milk composition: a systematic review of interventional studies

Study answer

What this study found

Overall, maternal vitamin/mineral supplementation can alter breast milk composition, with stronger and dose-dependent effects observed for vitamins than for minerals. Effects are more pronounced in colostrum than in mature milk. Vitamin A supplementation generally increases retinol and related carotenoids in milk; Vitamin D supplementation tends to raise 25(OH)D in milk. B vitamins (B1, B2, B6, B12) and vitamin C often increase their respective levels in milk, though some trials report no significant changes for certain B vitamins. Vitamin E supplementation raises alpha-tocopherol in…

Study & population

Systematic review of interventional studies in lactating women (postpartum).

Key limitation

Large heterogeneity across studies with varied designs, dosing, supplement forms, measurement methods, and sample collection; many studies lacked randomization or blinding; small sample sizes; potential biases; no meta-analysis performed.

View full study detailsView sourceOpen PDF

Original abstract