A study conducted at Harvard Medical School suggests that Breastfeeding not only benefits the baby but could also reduce the mother's risk of type 2 diabetes. The researchers found an association between women who breastfeed for a year and a 15% reduction in the risks of developing the disease.
Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that the "protective" effects on women could last up to 15 years after their last birth.
Previous studies suggest a relationship between breastfeeding and an improvement in insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance. Breastfeeding could be associated with metabolic changes that influence diabetes risks. Both are characteristics that reduce the risk of diabetes, experts say. The Harvard team studied more than 157,000 mothers divided into two separate studies. Milk production requires the mother to use an average of 500 calories each day, the equivalent of running about eight kilometers and this energy expenditure is associated in the short term in Insulin and glucose levels. According to the head of the research, Dr. Alison Stuebe "this study supports the theory that breastfeeding could be associated with major metabolic changes that influence diabetes risk."
However, other research will be necessary to determine the hormonal and biological factors involved.
