Breastfeeding lowers your risk of heart attack.

A new study from Harvard Medical School has found that breastfeeding for two years can reduce the risk of heart attack by almost 20%.

In a study of 96,648 nurses who gave birth between 1986 and 2002, those who had spend at least two years of their lives breastfeeding were 19 per cent less likely to suffer a heart attack than those who hadn't breastfed at all. The difference was independent of any of the usual risk factors for heart disease, such as family history, diet or exercise levels.

One explanation offered by the study's leader, Dr. Alison Steube, is related to the connection between breastfeeding and weight loss after childbirth.  Breastfeeding, she suggests, may help a mother's body switch its metabolism from that of pregnancy back to normal.

Breastfeeding protects your baby against heart disease, too.  A British study from a few years back found that breastfeeding protects children against cardiovascular disease later in childhood.

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