Vitamin B-12 content in breast milk of vegan, vegetarian, and nonvegetarian lactating women in the United States

Background: The nutritional profile of human milk varies significantly between women, and the impact of maternal diet on these variations is not well understood. Objective: We analyzed breast-milk vitamin B-12 concentration and vitamin B-12 supplement use pattern among women who adhered to different dietary patterns: vegan, vegetarian, and nonvegetarian. Design: A total of 74 milk samples, 26 from vegan, 22 from vegetarian, and 26 from nonvegetarian breastfeeding mothers, were analyzed. Results: The prevalences of low vitamin B-12 ( 0.05). Conclusions: Almost 20% of our study participants were classified as having low breast-milk vitamin B-12 concentrations (