Being a mum of multiple children is hard work, and it definitely takes a toll on our bodies as well as our minds, right?
Well, maybe not as much as we originally thought if this new study is anything to go by, because according to researchers at Simon Fraser University, having more children can actually slow down the ageing process – rejoice!
The study looked at 75 women and the number of children each of them had, testing them over a 13-year period. To monitor the rate of ageing, they examined the women’s telomeres at the beginning and end of the time period.
Telomeres are the protective tips at the end of DNA strands, and longer telomeres are essential for cell replication. Hence, the longer the telomeres, the longer cell longevity, slowing the ageing process.
And the experiment found that women who had given birth to more children had longer telomeres – meaning their cells generally aged at a slower rate.
These finding contradict the popular theory that the higher the number of offspring a woman has, the faster the rate of biological ageing she experience.
Of the findings, the study leader Pablo Nepomnaschy said:
"The slower pace of telomere shortening found in the study participants who have more children however, may be attributed to the dramatic increase in estrogen, a hormone produced during pregnancy.
"Estrogen functions as a potent antioxidant that protects cells against telomere shortening."
So, there you have it. Next time your got a swarm of children running around your feet, you can relax and think - they’re keeping you young!
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