We know that breast milk is the best food we can give our baby during its first months of life, as it provides many benefits for healthy growth and development, and also helps protect and reduce the risk of certain diseases. But the benefits of breastfeeding are not only for the baby, but also for the mother.
Through new research, we add another benefit of breastfeeding for mothers, as it was found that Breastfeeding reduces the risk of the mother suffering from cardiovascular disease after menopause.
The results of the study, conducted by the University of Athens in Greece and will be published soon, were announced during the annual meeting of the European Endocrinology Society (ECE) held in France a few days ago.
In it, it was found that women who had breastfed their babies were less likely to have any long-term heart disease, and the longer they had breastfed, the lower the risk of suffering from them.
In Babies and more Breastfeeding is good for the mother's heartTo reach this conclusion the health of the heart and blood vessels of 283 women who were in menopause was analyzed, and measures were taken in relation to the amount of time they had breastfed, which varied from one to 80 months.
After adjusting certain factors such as their weight, age, cholesterol levels and other habits, they found that the women who had breastfed had less arterial stiffness and atherosclerosis (a disease in which fat and cholesterol are deposited in the wall of the arteries).
The researchers will continue to investigate to find out why this happens, but for now they believe it is because during breastfeeding there are higher levels of the hormone prolactin, thought to help reduce the risk of diabetes, a risk factor for heart disease.
This is not the first study in which it is found that breastfeeding helps reduce cardiovascular diseaseWell, some years ago we shared the results of one carried out in China, in which it was found that women who were breastfeeding had a lower risk of having heart attacks and strokes.
With these studies, we can continue to verify the benefits of breastfeeding not only in babies, but also in mothers, as well as helping to reduce postpartum depression and reduce the risk of breast cancer, Breastfeeding helps improve mothers' heart health.
