Breast Feeding And The Risk Of Diabetes
Breast-feeding has served us well.
Through thousands of years of evolution it has provided humans with a kick start for life. As a natural process, it seems logical that it would have health benefits above those of bottle-feeding, and research suggests that this is indeed the case. Not only is the long term health of the breast-fed baby enhanced, in terms of reduced risk of obesity and long-term disease, but the breast feeding mother appears to benefit also by gaining less weight than if she had not breast-fed.
Now another benefit appears to be added for the breast-feeding mother. Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (2005;294:2601-2610) has shown that lactation is associated with improved glucose and insulin functioning. The take up of glucose into the body’s cells through the secretion of insulin is vital to prevent excess accumulation of sugars, and hence type 2 diabetes. The current research suggests that breast-feeding may reduce the risk of type 2 in young and middle-aged women, a group which is particularly prone to this during and after childbirth.
4>Calculate your diabetes riskTo calculate your risk of diabetes complete the Lifestyle Medicine Diabetes Risk Measure.
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