February is Heart Health month in Canada. Leona Aglukkaq is the Federal Minister of Health. She says “Heart Health Month is a time to think about how our everyday choices contribute to the health of our hearts and overall well being.”
Did you know that how you feed your infant is one of those choices? Choosing breastfeeding over formula comes with heart benefits. And choosing formula, like choosing any processed food, comes with risks.
Any breastfeeding mom will tell you that the moments of bonding with her child are heart-melting. But breastfeeding does more than melt the mom’s heart. It makes mom’s heart stronger! And choosing breastmilk over formula means choosing a healthier heart for your child too.
1. Breastfeeding is good for Mom’s heart:
In a study conducted in 2009, researchers found that women who never breastfed were more likely to have heart disease risk factors. Even after they adjusted the data for BMI, family history, socio-demographic factors and other aspects of lifestyle, the results were the same. Moms who lactacted – or breastfed – for 12 months or longer were 10-15% less likely to develop certain risk factors. They were less likely to have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease.
2. Formula can be bad for Baby’s heart:
In another 2009 study, researchers looked at vascular function (how well the cardiovascular system works). They found that the more formula infants were exposed to, the greater their risk of later cardiovascular problems. The longer the child was breastfed, the better their vascular function at ages 11-14.
3. Formula can lead to increased risk for atherosclerosis:
In a 65 year long study, British researchers found that adults who were fed formula were more likely to have thickenings and hardenings of their arteries. Artherosclerois is one of the main contributing factors to heart attacks, as well as other health traumas.
4. Breastfeeding lowers blood pressure:
Researchers looked at a total of 15 studies with over 17,000 children. The research showed that breastfeeding leads to small reductions in blood pressure. Small reductions might not mean much at the individual level. But when looking at the population as a whole the effect is obviou. Breastfeeding could reduce the number of heart health complications.
5. Breastfeeding girls lowers their risk of heart attack:
Heart attack is the number one killer of women. Almost 90,000 women in their late fifties to early eighties were surveyed. Researchers found that those who had been breastfed were less likely to have had heart health complications in adulthood.
6. Formula affects cholesterol levels and can put children at increased risk of heart complications and death as adults:
A number of babies born prematurely in the 1980′s were randomly picked to receive banked breastmilk or formula. Some used this as their sole diet. Some also had some amounts of their own mother’s milk. When researchers followed up with those infants in their teens they found a meaningful effect on cholesterol levels. The more breastmilk an infant received, the better their cholesterol levels and ratios. In fact, the effect was so strong, that researchers believe that breasmilk could lead to a 10-14% reduction in deaths from heart complications.
Other studies have found similar effects on cholesterol levels and other heart health complications in those fed formula as infants.
Holding your baby near your heart to breastfeed protects both mother and child from future heart complications!
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