Having More Children Slows Down a Woman's Aging

Want to slow down aging? Then you should have more children-at least that's what a new study claims. Scientists have found that a woman's body ages more slowly when she has more children.

In the latest study, the researchers assessed the number of children born to 75 women from two neighboring indigenous rural Guatemalan communities. In addition, they assessed the length of their telomeres at two time periods 13 years apart.

So what did they find? It turns out that producing a higher number of offspring may actually slow the pace of biological aging.

"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," said Pablo Nepomnaschy, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Estrogen functions as a potent antioxidant that protects cells against telomere shortening."

With that said, the social environment in which the study participants live may influence the relationship between their reproductive efforts and the pace of aging.

"The women we followed over the course of the study were from natural fertility populations where mothers who bear numerous children receive more social support from their relatives and friends," said Nepomnaschy. "Greater support leads to an increase in the amount of metabolic energy that can be allocated to tissue maintenance, thereby slowing down the process of aging."

The findings reveal a bit more about the process of aging and how estrogen may influence women.

The findings are published in the journal PLOS One.

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