It is well known that breast milk offers beneficial compounds that help a newborn to thrive and that can help protect him from various conditions later in life. A new study has found that the amount of these beneficial compounds varies depending, in part, on how active the nursing mother is. Exercise was found to increase the amount of protective and beneficial compounds in breast milk, helping to promote a baby’s lifelong health.
Several previous studies have linked healthy mothers with healthier children; Also, breast milk is known to offer health benefits that babies don’t get from formula. The latest study from Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center explored the possible connection between these two things, and found that exercise has a direct impact on the composition of breast milk.
The key to the findings is that the health benefits of the offspring of the healthiest mothers are not genetic, but are based on the breast milk they receive. This was determined by giving the newborn pups of sedentary laboratory mice breast milk from mice that were active during their pregnancy. Puppies were found to be healthier than mice that received breast milk from sedentary mothers.
However, the study was not limited to mice alone, as the researchers also collected activity data using trackers from around 150 pregnant and postpartum women. Mothers who took more steps per day were found to have higher amounts of 3SL in their breast milk, a compound that is strongly related to protective health benefits.
This does not mean that the greater amount of the compound is the result of a particular intensity of exercise: the researchers say that even moderate exercise, such as taking a certain minimum number of steps a day, can ultimately result in healthier children. The health benefits associated with the compound include reduced risks of developing obesity, heart disease, and diabetes later in life.
