The goal of this interventional study is to establish a whole food, avocado, as a viable study material to supplement mothers and infants with nutrients that support optimal brain development. Eighty-eight breastfeeding dyads, 3m postnatal, will participate in this study designed to:
1. To document whether lactating mothers will comply in the consumption of 5 avocados a week for 12 weeks. 2. To ascertain the choline, lutein, and fatty acids present in human milk in women who eat avocado. 3. To measure the cognitive advantage conferred to infants whose mothers consume avocados while breastfeeding compared to a non-avocado-eating reference group.
To this end, healthy, lactating women who are 13 weeks postpartum and their infants will be enrolled. Mothers will be provided avocados on a bi-weekly basis and will be asked to consume an avocado a day. Infant cognition will be tested when the infants are 4.5 and 6 months of age. Milk samples and diet data will be collected and assayed on a bi-weekly basis.
Healthy lactating women at 13 weeks postpartum
Planning to exclusively breastfeed to 6 months of age
Gave birth at 38 weeks or greater gestation without remarkable incident
Pre-pregnancy BMI <30
Gestational diabetes
Infant with diagnosis or documented suspicion of developmental delay
Any documented seizure activity in infant
Family history of avocado, latex, or banana allergies
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Lead sponsor
Avocado Nutrition Center
Collaborator