Curvy Body, Newborns’ Brains and Breastfeeding
According to two recent reports in The Sunday Times and Daily Mail there is a good reason, from a human evolutionary perspective, why women may need fat and their curvy bodies.
In line with the work of Will Lassek, and his research team from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, discussed in these reports, the ‘fat banks’ in female hips, thighs, and buttocks may provide the essential support for the development of newborns’ brains by means of breast-feeding.
As the babies’ brains triple in size during the first years of life, Dr. Lassek argues that in women 2/3 of fat is stored in hips and legs, a process accelerated during pregnancy, and the fat in these areas is a “depot for building a baby’s brain”.
According to the researcher “you need lots of fat to make a nervous system, and the fats in these areas are also enriched in DHA (docosahexaenoic acid)” which is an omega-3 fatty acid and a primary structural component of the human brain and cerebral cortex.
Furthermore, Dr. Lassek believes that “women’s extra fat is lost during breast-feeding, when it is needed for their baby’s brain”. Will Lassek, MD is professor of epidemiology at the graduate school of public health at the University of Pittsburgh.
William D. Lassek and Steven Gaulin also co-author the book Why Women Need Fat, discussing why, in some cases, fat might be important to health, why do many women get fat after childbirth, thus breaking the cultural myth that “all fat is bad for you.”
Read more:
dailymail.co.uk
slideshare.net
