Sun newspaper
Saturday 18th February 2017
Mums who breastfeed for more than a year cut the risks cut the risks of developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, research suggests.
When they occur together they are known as metabolic syndrome.
Studies on 4,700 Koreans aged 19 to 50 found those who breastfed for a year were less likely to suffer than those who did five months or fewer.
Those who breastfed for more than two years were even less likely.
Doing my own trial here, neither of my girls were ever breastfed. Doomed to diabetes and heart disease? Family history probably has a bigger influence in my opinion.
I’ve read similar stuff here in the US while pregnant and attempting to breastfeed. The problem with these studies is that it doesn’t account for other variables. First off, mother’s who breastfeed as long as possible, tend to have either more education or simply wish to give their child an edge. They also tend to be baseline healthier. Additionally, the benefits to the baby are also confounded by these same parenting variables. I read a great article in which the authors tried to isolate the benefits of breastfeeding from other variables. It wasn’t possible. Much like the keto studies using non-keto diets and non-adapted participants for too short a period.
