Germinated-soy milk as a healthy diet to induce high antioxidant enzymes in breast milk

Abstract

Thehigh metabolism rate in breastfeeding mothers causes oxidative stress that depresses the Catalase (CAT) and Glutathione Peroxidase (GSH-PX) activities. This study aimed to explore the effects of Germinated-Soy Milk (GSM) on CAT and GSH-PX activity in plasma and breast milk, and Body Mass Index (BMI) of breastfeeding mothers. The subjects were fifty breastfeeding mothers, with 0-6 months feeding period, with the age of 20-35 years, good health condition, and signed the informed consent. They were divided into 2 groups with 25 women for each group. Group I had GSM as the intervention, and group II had a placebo, all interventions were conducted for 2 months. The blood and breast milk samples were drawn intravenously at the baseline, the first and the second month after the intervention. The activities of CAT and GSH-PX in plasma and breast milk and BMI were measured. The average activities of CAT in plasma (P=0.005) and breast milk (P=0.019) were significantly increased as well as the GSH-PX activity in plasma, but the BMI was decreased (P<0.05). The GSM increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes in breast milk higher than in plasma and was able to immediately normalize the body weight. GSM is a recommended healthy diet for breastfeeding mothers.