Study Shows Breastfeeding For 6 Months Can Reduce The Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes In Women

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Study Shows Breastfeeding For 6 Months Can Reduce The Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes In Women

IWB Post

January 17, 2018

According to Hindustan Times, a US Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine published findings from a three-decade US study of more than 1,200 American women.

It showed that women who breastfed for six or more months had a 47% reduction in their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes when compared to those who did not breastfeed at all. While for women who breastfed for six months or less had 25% reduction in diabetes risk.

Erica Gunderson, a senior research scientist with Kaiser Permanente, said, “We found a very strong association between breastfeeding duration and lower risk of developing diabetes, even after accounting for all possible confounding risk factors.”

Erica added, “The incidence of diabetes decreased in a graded manner as breastfeeding duration increased, regardless of race, gestational diabetes, lifestyle behaviors, body size, and other metabolic risk factors measured before pregnancy, implying the possibility that the underlying mechanism may be biological.”

According to researchers, breastfeeding unleashes protection via hormones that act in the pancreas by controlling blood insulin levels and blood sugar.

H/T: Hindustan Times

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