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1/11 Today we celebrate #NationalBreastfeedingWeek sharing our most recent study published in @jnutritionorg #Azadlab @CHILDSTUDY Happy #Breastfeeding Week! academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/d… 
2/11 Human milk fatty acid composition is associated with dietary, genetic, sociodemographic and environmental factors in the @CHILDStudy. We studied determinants and patterns of milk fatty acids using the fountain of @CHILDStudy data, one of the largest Canadian birth cohorts.
3/11 Our study shows that each mother's milk is unique. Milk fatty acid composition varies largely between mothers – especially for polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) (e.g. 39-fold variation for EPA!). n-3 PUFAs were strongly affected by taking fish oil supplements.
4/11 We found that, on average, Canadian mothers had low levels of milk #DHA (a crucial fatty acid for growth and neurodevelopment) compared to the world mean.
5/11 Our data show that mothers can increase their breastmilk #DHA levels by eating fatty fish or taking a fish oil supplement. Supplementing during lactation had the greatest impact, but supplementing during pregnancy also made a difference.
6/11 We also examined the role of #genetics in determining milk fatty acid levels. Common variants in the Fatty Acid Desaturase genes were very strongly associated with n-6 PUFA levels.
7/11 Next to diet and genetics, we explored the role of several other factors (e.g. lifestyle, health and environment) in fatty acid composition. And, I learned to generate some awesome correlation plots in #R 😊
8/11 Different factors seem to affect different fatty acids. Altogether these factors explained up to 30% of fatty acid variation (so there is lots more research to be done to understand the fascinating variation in #HumanMilk fatty acids – stay tuned!)
9/11 This paper highlights the collaboration of several @CHILDStudy labs as co-authors and collaborators #CatherineField #Azadlab #Duanlab
10/11 Grateful to all families who took part in the study and the @CHILDStudy team. Thanks to our funders @CIHR @AllerGen #ManitobaMedicalServiceFoundation @CHRIManitoba for a small grant to analyze milk fatty acids @canlung for their support through #BreatheasOne fellowship!
11/11 Also grateful to my mentor @MeghanAzad for her continuous support and feedback! Here is the link, you can find the complete text and figures of this paper academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/d…
