Solid foods with breast milk might prevent allergies

According to British researchers, babies who are still breastfed and eat solid foods for 17 weeks can prevent food allergies. The researchers discovered that this method is able to teach the immune system that solid food is safe and prevent food-related allergies. The research leader is Kate Grimshaw, a research fellow and allergy specialist at the University of Southampton. “My theory was that if food allergens - those things that infants actually become allergic to - aren't there at the same time as the breast milk, the breast milk can't educate the immune system”, she said. The results of this study were published in the journal Pediatrics. Dr. Vivian Hernandez-Trujillo, director of allergy and immunology at Miami Children's Hospital also participated in this research. Breastfeeding is considered to be beneficial in infants for preventing food allergies but breastfeeding combined with solid foods for 17 weeks is even more advantageous.