PureHMO® Prebiotic Powder | 87.75g

No. It is produced via a complex fermentation and precise purification process and results in a powder that is molecularly identical to the HMO that is in human milk. All the benefits without any human milk involved.

Yes. Research has shown that many people with lactose intolerance can tolerate up to 12 grams of lactose in one sitting, which is approximately the amount in one cup (230 ml) of milk. Layer Origin Nutrition recommends a HMO serving size of 2.0 grams to start— therefore — even people with with lactose intolerance should be well below the limit of what they can tolerate, if they follow the recommended dosage.

Believe it or not, it doesn't make a difference either way. This is because the HMO will not be digested the way that food would be digested. HMO makes its way undigested through your body down to the lower intestines, where it becomes the food for probiotic bacteria. So take HMO with food or without food. Either way is fine!

Prebiotics like HMOs benefit gut health by providing fuel for the cells lining our intestines, strengthening the intestinal barrier, and preventing leaky gut. HMOs also benefit gut health by promoting SCFA production and stimulating the growth of healthyBifidobacteria.

Yes, this is likely, because HMOs increaseBifidobacteriaabundance, which are healthy bacteria that help break down food, absorb nutrients, and fend off unhealthy bacteria that might interfere with digestion.

No, neither the PureHMO® capsules nor the powder contains calories because they are made up of non-digestible carbohydrates.

Human milk oligosaccharides, "HMOs" for short, are complex carbohydrates composed of simple sugars such as glucose, galactose, and fucose. They are the third most abundant solid component in breast milk, after lactose and fats. They are a component of human breast milk and are a class of molecules that are actually indigestible yet play a hugely important role in the composition of the milk [2].

Scientists first identified a large fraction of non-lactose carbohydrate, which they called gynolactose in the 1930s [3]. Its role remained unknown until the 1950s, when it was identified as the same entity as the bifidus factor [2]. Chemical and biological breakthroughs later uncovered hundreds of these factors, of different lengths, which appeared to be there to feed the baby’s gut bacteria. This realization inspired the field, and research into the newly renamed 'human milk oligosaccharides' quickly advanced. By 2000, researchers discovered more than 100 HMOs, which provide food for Bifidobacterium and other bacteria species. The prebiotic effect of HMOs was proven, but it wasn’t the full story [1].

By 2016, HMOs were in most name-brand baby formulas. Over the next five years, they would begin to appear in supplements meant specifically for adults. 

Inulin is a type of prebiotic that is not digested by the gut and can help digestive health. Similar to HMO, inulin has also been shown to boostBifidobacteriaand SCFA activity. However, unlike HMOs, inulin is not found in human milk and has not exhibited the same benefits to cognitive, immune, and metabolic health. Plus, inulin does not prevent pathogens from binding to the intestines as HMOs can.

GOS, or galactooligosaccharides, are also bifidogenic (Bifidobacteria-boosting) prebiotic compounds but are not molecularly identical to the HMO found in human milk. GOS does not act as decoys against harmful bacteria and has not been clinically proven to reduce IBS symptoms or support cognitive function in the same way HMOs do.

While you do not have to combine HMO prebiotics with probiotics, it can definitely help support gut health. This combination, known as a synbiotic, provides both the healthy bacteria our guts need and the fuel for these bacteria to thrive (the prebiotic).