Babies born to breastfeeding mothers who take canola-oil supplements are more likely to have ‘good’ fat, new research suggests.
Canola oil encourages the production of brown fat, which gets broken down to produce heat and stabilise infants’ blood-sugar levels, a UK study found.
Brown fat helps to keep newborns warm and is also used by hibernating animals during the winter.
Canola oil provides babies with fatty acids that promote the activity of cells in brown fat, leading to heat production.
It is a vegetable oil that is made by pressing or heating canola flowers’ seeds.
Breastfeeding mothers who take canola-oil supplements may be more likely to have babies with ‘good’ fat. Known as brown fat, this breaks down to produce heat (stock)
How the research was carried out
The researchers, from the University of Nottingham, analysed 13 ewes that were pregnant with twins.
Five of the female sheep were fed a standard diet of roughage throughout their lactation periods.
The remainder ate this diet alongside a supplement of three per cent canola oil. All of the ewes gave birth at full term.
One of each of the sheep’s offspring were humanely euthanised at one-week-old and their fat tissue was analysed.
The remaining offspring were reared as normal until 28 days when they were also put down, with their fat being assessed.
‘A new way to promote fat to produce heat’
Speaking of the results, Lead author Professor Michael Symonds said: ‘We have uncovered a new way to promote the ability of fat to produce heat and identified how this process can be modulated by the mother’s diet in early life.
‘Using an animal model of adipose tissue development, we uncovered the critical role of maternal diet on modulating the abundance of fat cells into metabolically active brown fat.
‘This means energy can be produced by brown fat rather than being used for depositing more white fat.’ White fat is associated with weight gain.
Results further suggest canola oil only promotes brown fat production in newborns, with its effects in lambs being lost after four weeks.
The researchers add canola oil may have the same effect in humans as sheep, and could be taken by breastfeeding mothers or added to formula.
Additional research may help to combat childhood obesity, they add.
The findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Canola oil is a vegetable oil that is made by pressing or heating canola flowers’ seeds (stock)
Breastfeeding reduces women’s risk of heart disease for up to 15 years
This comes after research released last February suggested breastfeeding reduces women’s risk of heart disease for up to 15 years.
Among women who had a healthy blood pressure during their pregnancies, breastfeeding for six months or longer significantly increases their so-called ‘good cholesterol’ levels, as well as lowering their amounts of circulating fat, a study found.
Feeding naturally also reduces the thickness of the carotid artery, the research adds. This supplies the head and neck with oxygen-rich blood, with wider diameters being associated with stroke.
Lead author Dr Malamo Countouris, from the University of Pittsburgh, said: ‘The study adds to the evidence that lactation is important not just for the baby but for the mother.
‘Breastfeeding seems to be cardioprotective in these women, as evidenced by improved cholesterol and markers of subclinical cardiovascular disease.’
According to the researchers, breastfeeding stimulates the release of the hormone oxytocin, which may play a role in lowering blood pressure.