Breastfeeding Link to Weight Loss
Mothers who breastfeed are far more likely to regain their slim figure for years into the future and be able to wear those great clothes that go with a great figure.
This of course is also dependent on them maintaining a sensible way of eating and avoiding the current temptation to load up on high refined carbohydrate based foods and sugary or sweet snacks and desserts.
Lower Chance of Weight Gain
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have released results of a new study that highlights that even as little as one month of breastfeeding can prevent the onset of weight gain in moms well into the future and the possibility exists for that to continue for the rest of their lives.
The American Journal of Medicine, in their September issue carries the published results of the study which also reveals that breastfeeding can lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
In fact the study revealed that for women who did not breastfeed, as many as one in four developed type 2 diabetes and had almost twice the risk of developing diabetes than women who did breastfeed their children or those that never gave birth.
According to Dr. Eleanor Bimla Schwarz who led the study, women store lots of fat in their bodies throughout their pregnancy with the expectation that they will use it up through breastfeeding.
In the study, Schwarz learned the breastfeeding history of more than 2,000 women who were aged between 40 and 80. She then measured their BMI (Body-Mass Index) and took their waist measurements.
She discovered that on average, mothers who were breastfeeding had a 37 inch waist size, whereas on average mothers who did not breastfeed had a waist of 38 inches. She turned up evidence to show that older women who for decades had not been pregnant were still more likely to be slim if they had breastfed, even for just a month or so.
Diabetics
As for diabetes, this often occurs in people that have excess weight centered around their waistline instead of in other parts of the body. This is better known as visceral fat (or belly fat) and is what the body creates when storing excess sugar that is not used up or metabolized by the muscles and organs.
Belly fat can be dangerous when it accumulates in larger quantities as it surrounds the major organs and produces and secretes its own hormones to fool the brain into craving more high sugar foods to feed it while also being linked with certain forms of cancer.
It seems that healthier people have their mass better distributed with fat accumulating more evenly around thighs and bottoms. So focus on eating a healthy, whole food diet and avoid attracting that belly fat!
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Posted on Sat, 04 Sep 2010 in News | 1 Comments
1 thoughts on "Breastfeeding Link to Weight Loss"
Dorothy says:
Someone I know visits your blog frequently and recommended it. I'm glad I found it as being a nursing mom, this is just the kinda thing I love to read about. Of course breast feeding is good for the mommy as much as for the baby in so many ways. After all it was how nature intended it to be!