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Are you worried about early menopause? Do you believe breastfeeding is kinda embarrassing and unnecessary? This new study will tell you how pregnancy and breastfeeding can help delay fast aging.
An interesting study conducted in January 2020 discovered that women who get pregnant at least once in their life or breastfeed their child for a limited time experienced menopause after 45 years.
Let’s take a look at what this means for you.
Details About The Study
This research was done by a Ph.D. student Christine Langton at the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s School of Public Health and Health Sciences. She set out to find how these two important events in a woman’s life can help with graceful aging.
She assessed data from 108,000 premenopausal women aged between 25 to 42 years. During this extensive study, Langton monitored their breastfeeding habits and pregnancies up until menopause.
What Were The Findings?
- Being pregnant for at least six months helps delay menopause symptoms.
- The more pregnancies you have, the better for your body.
- Moms with 3+ pregnancies who breastfed their babies for 6-12 months had 32% lower risk of early menopause than those who only fed for 1 month.
- Compared to women who were never pregnant, conceiving 2 times decreased chances of menopause signs by 16%.
- On the other hand, getting pregnant 3 times lowers risk by 22%.
The research findings also align perfectly with the recommendations by WHO (World Health Organization). They recommend mothers to only breastfeed their babies for at least 6 months to one year.
Learn more in this new research.
#womenshealth #pregnancy #menopause #breastfeeding
Benefits of Delaying Menopause
Early menopausal symptoms can wreak havoc on your heart, bones, and sexual health.
Not to mention, menopause brings significant mental health issues and stresses, including mood swings, depression, and frustration.
Many women experience terrible night sweats and lack of sleep as well.
So if you start aging prematurely (before 45 years), you might develop various permanent and irreversible health conditions. It’ll affect your overall quality of life!
Read More: Severe Sweats & Hot Flashes Increase the Risk of Heart Diseases in Menopausal Women
Why is Breastfeeding Important?
Exclusive breastfeeding means that your baby’s main source of food is breast milk.
So how can exclusive breastfeeding delay menopause?
An increase in breast milk production releases a hormone called prolactin and stops releasing FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) and LH (luteinizing hormone).
These hormonal changes decrease the monthly shedding of ova (female eggs) — also called periods. Naturally, menopause occurs at a later age!
That’s why breastfeeding for over a year or more during several pregnancies can significantly delay your menopausal symptoms.
How Can Pregnancy Delay Menopause?
The scientists found that the more often you’re pregnant for more than 6 months, the better it is for your body.
Scarily enough, they discovered that women who’ve never been pregnant showed signs of menopause before they reached 40 years of age!
Plus, if you exclusively breastfeed your babies each time, you can further delay menopause.
In short, breastfeeding and pregnancies can help with healthy aging and delaying menopause. If you prefer formulas over breast milk, hopefully this study would convince you to switch to a more natural option.
