Goat milk in the diet of children with gastrointestinal functional disorders

Abstract

According to the Rome IV revision criteria, functional gastrointestinal disorders are defined as “disorders of the gut-brain axis interaction”. The expression of symptoms of functional gastrointestinal disorders varies from mild to extremely severe. Their presence causes anxiety of parents, can contribute to a decrease in quality of life, and lead to the formation of immediate and long-term consequences in the form of children’s health disorders. Often, mothers stop breastfeeding their babies, and numerous replacements of formulas are made. The recommendations include behavioral therapy and parental education as the first line of therapy. For correction of nutrition in children with functional gastrointestinal disorders, in the absence of data for intolerance of cow’s or goat’s milk proteins formulas based on goat’s milk may be recommended. In natural goat milk there are 14 kinds of oligosaccharides, and 5 of them are identical to breast milk oligosaccharides. The main serum protein of goat milk is α -lactalbumin. The dominating casein fraction of goat milk as well as breast milk is ß-casein. Relatively high content of albumins contributes to the formation of softer, smaller clots and small loose flakes. On the Russian market, goat milk based formulas include products that meet all standards established for infant formulas. The article contains data on goat milk mixtures with an updated formula of protein component. All the formulas of this mixture have reduced the total amount of protein and increased the content of whey protein fraction. Instead of palm oil coconut oil was added to the mixture, while the fat component has not changed its structure, maintaining 42% beta-palmitate, doubled the content of docosahexaenoic acid. The lactose content has been increased, which makes the carbohydrate profile of the mixes closer to breast milk, where the lactose content reaches 95%. In accordance with modern requirements, there were changes in vitamin and mineral composition of formulas, the content of vitamins D3, C, B6, calcium and iron was increased. The effectiveness of this mixture has been studied in young children with functional disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. By the 4th week of taking the mixture, the number of children suffering from colic decreased by 42%, and regurgitation by 30%, there was an improvement in stool consistency. The mixture can be recommended not only for healthy children, but also for children with functional gastrointestinal disorders.