Drinking for two.
I’ve always wondered what life would be like if we had twins. Specifically, what the early days would be like - having to change two dirty bottoms, breastfeed two babies, cope with two colicky little ones at the same time. Would we dress them the same? Give them rhyming names?
Maybe if I were in the habit of drinking plenty of milk, I’d have had a chance to find out! Researchers from the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York investigating why the rate of twin births in the United States rose by more than 75% between 1980 and 2003 found that:
…eating animal products, in particular dairy foods, boosts the production of a protein called insulin-like growth factor (IGF) in women. The scientists say the protein promotes the release of eggs by the ovary, increasing the chance of two or more eggs being fertilised at the same time.
Rest of the article here.
Of course the occurrence of twin pregnancies is also attributed to other factors, e.g. heredity, fertility treatments or sheer coincidence. But it’s interesting to note that diet could also have something to do with it.
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POSTED IN: Mothering
2 opinions for Drinking for two.
Angela Ng
May 21, 2006 at 11:54 pm
Another possibility I can think of is the hormones in the milk? What do you think?
Jean Angus
May 22, 2006 at 9:36 pm
Definitely a possibility. The study does mention that there has been an increase in use of growth hormones in the dairy industry.
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