It has been shown that there is an inverse relationship between salt intake and oxytocin production, and this would lead to a relationship between the appetite for salt and the duration of breastfeeding. And this inverse relationship between oxytocin and appetite for salt can have consequences in the establishment of breastfeeding, given the importance of oxytin in the process.
The destruction of neurons with oxytocin receptors increases appetite for salt, and substances that increase oxytocin secretion have also been shown to inhibit appetite for salt.
To demonstrate the relationship between salt and oxytocin, a prospective study was carried out to test the hypothesis that the greater the appetite for the salt of nursing mothers, and the lower their oxytocin level should be, the more difficult the breastfeeding establishment.
Mothers were asked to attend a Pediatrics consultation with their Newborn nurses if their diet was bland, normal salt or salty and the diet was done. breastfeeding monitoring for more than one hundred days of 299 mother-infant couples.
There were no significant differences between the three groups in terms of parity, weeks of gestation, type of delivery, weight or sex of the newborn. The differences were observed among those mothers who included more or less salt in their diet.
- Early cessation of breastfeeding occurs in 17.6% of mothers who prefer bland food, the lowest rate.
- This, compared to 21.9% of those who prefer a diet with a normal amount of salt.
- Mothers who prefer saltier foods had abandoned breastfeeding by 31.2%.
The results of this observation lead us to ask the authors of the analysis if the manipulation of the mother's usual salt intake can facilitate the establishment of breastfeeding.
And although I believe that many other factors influence this duration, and among the ten steps towards a successful breastfeeding this point is not mentioned in regard to the diet of mothers, it is clear that high salt foods are not healthy and We should avoid them at any time in our lives.
In short, the data obtained for about one hundred days of the baby's life would confirm the relationship: the more salt in the diet, the shorter the duration of breastfeeding. So we know, to the hospital, maybe they better bring us some candy before ham ...
