Breastfeeding protects women from metabolic syndrome, a diabetes and heart disease predictor

A new study finds that breastfeeding a child may lower a woman’s risk of developing metabolic syndrome, a condition linked to heart disease and diabetes in women, by up to 86 percent. The 20-year prospective study of 704 ethnically diverse women found the protective association of breastfeeding was even stronger for women who had gestational diabetes. This is the first study to measure all components of metabolic syndrome before pregnancy and after weaning.