Science Geek Compares Breastmilk and Pasteurized Cow Milk Under the Microscope. The Difference Is Quite Evident

Like the wellspring of love in their hearts, mothers' bodies are magical creations. As a newborn pops out from the womb, it triggers a fascinating process inside the mother’s body producing hormones like estrogen and progesterone. Once the baby comes out, the hormones drop, prolactin activates, and the breasts start producing large quantities of milk. Even though a similar process goes on in a cow’s body, what we get in supermarket milk cartons as pasteurized cow's milk cannot match the power of human breastmilk. In a March 2023 Instagram reel, science geek, Walt (@oneminmicro), concluded the same when he compared human breast milk and pasteurized cow’s milk under a microscope.

“Is human breast milk any different from regular cow’s milk,” Walt asked the viewers while flashing two bottles in front of the camera. One bottle contained breast milk while the other contained pasteurized cow’s milk. He investigated both liquids under a microscope. When it came to cow’s milk, it was definitely more than water, Walt described. He added that this milk also showed traces of particle matter. But when he investigated the droplets of human breast milk, Walt was surprised.

“Compared to the cow’s milk, there is so much more going in the human breast milk,” he exclaimed. Walt said that human breast milk contains something called “maternal leucocytes.” These leucocytes provide active immunity to babies when they develop. Pointing to the footage, he said, that breast milk contains lots of oils and even protein bubbles. The footage also showed cells in the milk that, he said, are important to the microenvironment of a newborn’s stomach. This milk also protects the child from nasty environmental microbes that attack as soon as they come out. “Understanding how breast milk works as more than just a nutrient, can help scientists understand ways to improve the immune systems of newborns,” noted Walt.

A 2021 report by Science Direct explained that human breast milk is “an extremely complex biological fluid that contains all the nutrients necessary for the survival and development of the infant.” The researchers found that “human milk proteins enhanced the stability of oil-in-water emulsions against coalescence compared to cow, sheep, and goat milk proteins employed as macromolecular emulsifying ingredients. The cold-acid-gels of human milk proteins showed a less elastic behavior than the other milk samples, possibly due to the different structure, composition, and size of human casein micelles.”

Another report by the National Library of Medicine explained that human breast milk is a treasure trove of life-supporting nutrients including fat, sugar, minerals, antibodies, neurotransmitters, and protein. In addition to a whey protein called “alpha-lactalbumin,” the milk contains proteins like lactoferrin, lysozyme, and immunoglobulin A. Human breast milk also comes with good bacteria and enzymes that help in promoting digestion. “Breastfed infants absorb fat better than formula-fed infants due to the presence of lipases in human milk that are not present in cow milk,” the report authors wrote. Nutrition is the primary reason why organizations like the World Health Organization endorse breastfeeding at least for the first year of the newborn. 

You can follow Walt (@oneminmicro) on Instagram for interesting science videos about creepy crawlies, bugs, and humans!