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The reset hypothesis: lactation and maternal metabolism

Alison M Stuebe1, Janet W Rich-Edwards

  • 1Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7516, USA. astuebe@med.unc.edu

American Journal of Perinatology
|November 26, 2008
PubMed

For maternal metabolism, pregnancy ends not with delivery, but with weaning. In several recent epidemiological studies, authors have reported an association between duration of breast-feeding and reduced maternal risk of metabolic disease. These findings parallel data from animal models showing favorable changes in metabolism associated with lactation. During gestation, visceral fat accumulates, and insulin resistance and lipid and triglyceride levels increase. These changes appear to reverse more quickly, and more completely, with lactation. In this article, we review animal and human studies regarding the effects of lactation on adiposity, lipid, and glucose homeostasis. We hypothesize that lactation plays an important role in "resetting" maternal metabolism after pregnancy.

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