This week is World Breastfeeding Week. The wonders of breastmilk never cease to amaze me. But recently I learnt that breastmilk contains Ceruloplasmin!
Ceruloplasmin is the most incredibly powerful antioxidant. It is the MASTER antioxidant. To give a little insight into how powerful and complex Ceruloplasmin is, we can look at its amino acid composition. Amino acids are the basic building blocks for tissues, organs, muscles, skin and hair. We know that insulin is a very powerful and critical hormone – it is composed of a whopping 51 amino acids! Well ceruloplasmin is composed of 1046 amino acids!!!
Ceruloplasmin is a copper dependent enzyme that has the incredibly important task of keeping iron under control in our body. Ceruloplasmin is like the busy mother with Go-Go-Gadget arms, eyes on the back of her head, juggling 20 different tasks at once like a champ. When she sees free iron - who is the 3 year old running around with a hammer smashing up the house - she comes to rescue to pick him up and carry him to the red blood cells where he’s supposed to be delivering oxygen, and she busily works at cleaning up and taking care of all the mess and cell damage he’s set off.
Ceruloplasmin is found throughout the whole body - from the blood, to the brain, to the cell mitochondria (the power generator of the cells), and even in our saliva. It is so critical it is needed right there from the very first step of even putting food into our mouth. And now they have discovered its presence in breastmilk!
So what is its role for Bub?
The Big Copper Download
Well, in the final trimester of pregnancy there is a huge download of copper from mother to baby. As adults, we ideally carry about 7mg of copper in our liver. A healthy newborn will have 10x that amount! 70mg of copper in their tiny liver! This should give some insight into just how important copper is to the rapidly developing growth of a small human.
The Big Retinol Download
In order to make that copper bioavailable to use for all those important processes, requires a large amount of retinol – so where does the retinol come from? Breastmilk. A huge download of retinol takes place during those first 18 months of breastfeeding, so that bubbas can then create their own Ceruloplasmin (which regulates a whole series of enzymes, regulates iron metabolism, and is probably the most key element of a working immune system, as well as enabling the most fundamental cellular role – to create energy, and clear exhaust). Until then, Bub relies on Mumma's ceruloplasmin, transferred through her milk.
The Big Iron Download
During pregnancy there is also a large download of iron that happens. Zyklopen is the protein that regulates the transfer of iron from the placenta to the foetus. But Zyklopen is a multi-copper oxidase – so it requires at least 4 atoms of bioavailable copper to function.
So how do we ensure that all these vital transfers occur and result in a happy healthy baby and a happy healthy mother? We follow the Root Cause Protocol to ensure Mumma is tanked up on wholesome retinol, wholefood vitamin C, magnesium, and all the critical resources she’ll need to make plenty of ceruloplasmin and bioavailable copper to take on this mammoth task of nourishing and supporting the growth of a brand new human life.
GORGEOUS PICTURES: PicsArt, Tree of Life breastfeeding art.