A US study has discovered that women who breastfeed their babies lower their risk of developing diabetes.
The experts found that mums who breastfeed for six months or more cut their risk by 47 percent.
"We found a very strong association between breastfeeding duration and lower risk of developing diabetes, even after accounting for all possible confounding risk factors," explained lead author Erica Gunderson.
Over 1,200 women took part in the 30-year-long study. The team said that of the 1,200 women, the mums who didn’t breastfeed their child had a higher chance of developing Type 2 diabetes.
They believe that breastfeeding could potentially release protective effects through hormones that have the power to control blood sugar and insulin levels in the pancreas.
They added that mums who breastfed for less than six months lowered their risk of diabetes by 25 percent.
Erica Gunderson added that the risk of diabetes decreased when the mum breastfed her baby, regardless of her lifestyle, body size, race, gestational diabetes, and “other metabolic risk factors measured before pregnancy.”
Breastfeeding also benefits your tiny tot, with a 2017 study finding that breastfeeding lowers your child’s chances of having asthma attacks.
The study included 960 children, aged between four and 12, who suffered from asthma. The researchers found that the children who were breastfed were 45 percent less likely to experience wheezing, coughing and breathlessness associated with asthma and asthma attacks.
Breastfeeding has a positive impact on both you and your little bundle of joy.
