Breastfeeding Prevents Diabetes | Risk of Diabetes, Benefits of Breastfeeding, Breastfed milk medicinal values

Posted on January 3, 2008 in Diabetes FAQ

Yes. Breastfeeding can prevent the onset of Diabetes. Women who breastfeed their child, do not suffer from Diabetes at a later stage. The more she breastfed, the less risk of Diabetes. If she is already suffering from Diabetes during pregnancy, then breastfeeding would not have any impact.

Lactation reduces the risk of Diabetes Type 2 in young and middle-aged women as glucose homeostasis is improved. Breastfeeding is not only beneficial to the mother but also to the child. It lowers the blood glucose levels and weight in the mother.

Breastfeeding acts as a protective shield both to the mother and child, as it prevents Diabetes. Weight loss occurs in the mother when she breast feeds, which means that her chances of suffering from obesity are less and she would experience less risk of Diabetes. The child is also protected and in case the mother does not develop Diabetes then the child will also not suffer from it or at least the risk will be less. Benefits to the mother and child are higher if the breastfeeding is for a longer duration. How is this possible? Let us have look at various observations made by several researchers on the benefits of breastfeeding in preventing Diabetes, to understand this phenomenon better.

Benefits of Breastfeeding in Preventing the Onset of Diabetes

A.M.Stuebe in his article Duration of Lactation and Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes which appeared in JAMA ( Journal of the American Medical Association 2005,Nov 23: 294(20) 2601-2610 ) has observed, based upon a study, Nurses Health Study, that women who breastfed for six months and then occasionally for a while faced less risk of suffering from Diabetes Type 2

Salynn Boyles in her article Breastfeeding May Lower Diabetes Risk highlights the analysis, based upon 7 studies, that appeared in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2006 that breastfeeding in infancy reduces the risk of Diabetes Type 2. Researcher Christopher G Owen, Phd, according to her, has also expressed similar views

Lactation prevents weight gain, in fact, causes weight loss in the mother , implying that she will not suffer from obesity, thus reducing the risk of suffering from Diabetes Type 2

Breastfed Milk also builds up resistance in the child and the latter may not develop Diabetes

The longer the women breastfed the greater the protection for both the mother and child from Diabetes

As back as 1996, a Chilean study, on Diabetes Type 1 also claimed that breastfeeding for three months would reduce the risk of Diabetes

Gimeno and de Souza in 1997 in Diabetes Care, Vol 20, No. 8 held the view that even a shorter span of 7 days of breastfeeding did act as a protective shield as compared to cow’s milk

Research conducted on children in Sweden and Lithunia, within the age-group of 0-15 years, as quoted by Unicef, also states that breastfeeding acted as a protective shield to young babies and children from risking the onset of Diabetes

Research on native Canadian children, also quoted by Unicef, shows that breastfeeding reduces the risk of Diabetes Type 2

A mother should breastfeed according to the above- mentioned researches, to prevent the onset of Diabetes in both the mother and child. Breastfed milk keeps both Diabetes Type 1 or Diabetes Type 2 away or at least it minimizes the risk of acquiring them.

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Can Breastfeeding Prevent Diabetes?

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