We all know that breast milk is a living and intelligent food, and thanks to the various studies that have been carried out, we know the many benefits that it has for babies , such as providing acquired immunity and reducing the risk of sudden death and liver disease.
Now, a new study has found that breastfeeding a baby, even only during the first days of life, can be beneficial for blood pressure in infancy , something that could even prevent cardiovascular disease in adulthood.
Published in the Journal of the American Heart Association , the study analyzed information related to the feeding of 2,400 babies , collected in questionnaires of their caregivers and in the medical history of each one. Of all those babies, 98% were breastfed at some point and only 2% were never breastfed.
Of the total number of children who were breastfed, 78% were exclusively breastfed for six months or more, while 62% were breastfed for at least three months. A small percentage (4%) of babies who were only breastfed during their first days of life were also included.
After concluding the study, it was found that when they reached three years of age, children who were never breastfed had higher blood pressure than those who were breastfed , regardless of the time they were breastfed, so this benefit is They get even those babies who were breastfed for a short time.
This difference in blood pressure in breastfed children was present in all of them, regardless of differences in the health and lifestyle of the mothers, or whether they had received other complementary foods.
According to the researchers, the key to these benefits is in the colostrum , and although they explain that every drop counts and the longer a baby is breastfed the greater benefits it receives, this particular first milk, known as liquid gold, is responsible of shaping many developmental processes during the newborn stage.
Because the study was observational, they clarify that although this demonstrates the important role of breastfeeding in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases in both the baby and the mother, more analysis is needed to understand how the mechanism responsible for achieving this difference in blood pressure, as well as continuing to examine the bioactive components of colostrum.
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In Babies and more | The composition of breast milk at each stage of growth: thus adapting to the needs of the baby, Breastfeeding reduces the mother’s risk of long-term cardiovascular disease
