Improve Your Diet while Breastfeeding

A caring mother wants to give her baby only the best; therefore, you need to carefully monitor your nutrition during the period of breastfeeding. It is also important if you want to lose weight without harming the child. 

Your child should receive all the necessary elements with milk while avoiding foods that could harm fragile health. Mom’s diet should be designed with enough energy to maintain her health and meet the child’s needs. During this period, foods that promote prolonged lactation are recommended. 

Let’s look at what you can eat while breastfeeding and what you cannot. Stay with us and find out all the details of breastfeeding support & benefits for your diet.

Description: You know that breast milk is the best nutrition for the baby. But what about mom’s diet while breastfeeding? We will answer several important questions about nutrition during this period of life. 

A caring mother wants to give her baby only the best; therefore, you need to carefully monitor your nutrition during the period of breastfeeding. It is also important if you want to lose weight without harming the child. 

Your child should receive all the necessary elements with milk while avoiding foods that could harm fragile health. Mom’s diet should be designed with enough energy to maintain her health and meet the child’s needs. During this period, foods that promote prolonged lactation are recommended. 

Let’s look at what you can eat while breastfeeding and what you cannot. Stay with us and find out all the details of breastfeeding benefits for your diet.

General rules of the breastfeeding diet

During breastfeeding a newborn, there is no need to adhere to a special diet; the main thing is that your diet is balanced. It should include many fruits and vegetables, whole grains, such as oats, brown rice, various cereals, and whole-grain bread. These foods, along with potatoes, couscous, and pasta, include a lot of starch – an essential energy source.

Besides, you require lean proteins, which are found in eggs, chicken, fish and beef, legumes, lentils, and healthy fats found in avocados, nuts, olive oil, seeds, and fatty fish like salmon or mackerel. Fatty fish is very beneficial for your well-being and baby’s growth, but you should not eat more than 2 servings per week (about 140 g)during breastfeeding diet, as it may contain harmful impurities. We recommend you to find maximum information about foods to avoid while breastfeeding and why, and learn all the details.

The daily rate of nutrients

A woman aged 18 to 29 with average weight should receive approximately 2,200 kcal per day with food. During lactation, the mother needs additional energy: 500 kcal in the first six months of breastfeeding, 450 kcal – starting from the seventh month of lactation.

The main source of nutrients is carbohydrates; the need for proteins and fats is much lower. Essential minerals include calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iodine, iron, and zinc. Foods should be rich in useful while breastfeeding vitamins A, C, E, PP, D, folic acid, and other B vitamins.

Nutrients, vitamins, and minerals are part of all foods, but not all can be consumed during lactation. A mom should choose only those that do not contain harmful additives and, at the same time, give everything the baby needs.

Allowed Breastfeeding foods

Porridge

Almost all cereals can be included in the diet: barley, oat, buckwheat, pearl barley, corn, and rice. You can cook with water or milk, and it is better to refrain from instant cereals. Such cereals undergo processing, which kills vitamins and fiber. Besides, instant cereals often contain harmful additives – flavors, sweeteners, etc.

Vegetables

Nursing mothers need to eat many vegetables – these are important sources of complex carbohydrates and vitamins. They are recommended to stew, bake, but do not fry. When frying, toxins and carcinogens are formed, which reduce immunity and damage mothers’ and child’s health.

Fruits and berries

Breastfeeding diet includes about 300 grams of fruit/berry per day. The healthiest and safest fruits are bananas. They can be eaten raw, but not more than once per day. Apples are recommended to be baked, after peeling. You can also eat dried fruits. You can’t eat citrus fruits, strawberries, raspberries: these products are strong allergens. You can introduce new fruits into the diet from the fourth month every two days and observe how the baby will react.

Meat and fish

Only lean meat is recommended; you can eat any fish. The intake of tuna and exotic fish species (shark, king mackerel, etc.) should be limited. Methods of preparing fish for breastfeeding are only baking and stewing.

Dairy and dairy products

The diet for breastfeeding includes yogurt, fermented baked milk, cottage cheese, sour cream, cheese, milk.

Sweet and flour

It is allowed to eat a small amount of pastry. You can eat cookies, marmalade, marshmallows without chocolate, candy, crackers, biscuit. But when buying sweets, carefully read their composition and choose only those without artificial components. 

Beverages

Proper nutrition while breastfeeding includes some drinks. A nursing mother can drink still water, and starting from the second month – light tea and coffee, and fruit drinks. It is useful to drink special herbal teas that improve lactation. They include lemon balm, nettle, dill, hibiscus, verbena, and other herbs.

Eggs

It is recommended to eat half a chicken egg per day. In this case, monitor the condition of the child, as this product can cause allergic reactions.

Other foods

Seafood, peas, beans, lentils, nuts, and honey can be added to the diet six months after delivery. At the same time, regular use of spices and herbs are allowed for natural birth control.

Breastfeeding while on a keto diet 

Breast milk contains milk sugar, lactose, proteins, and fats. At the same time, fats cover half the calorie needs of a child. And we can say that even at this time, the child is already on a relatively low-carb diet. For milk to be of sufficient fat content, the mother can be on a low-carb, high-fat diet.

The risks of allergies in the child will be less, and it will receive a sufficient amount of nutrients. Besides, if the mother is on a keto diet, her recovery after childbirth will go faster, she will lose extra pounds in a shorter time and restore her hormonal system with a help of the best fiber supplement for keto

There are practically no differences in keto-nutrition during pregnancy from the standard keto-ration and breastfeeding while intermittent fasting. The only thing – in a normal situation, the food intake regimen is 1-2 times a day; it should be 2-3 times a day during feeding. And do not switch to keto nutrition immediately after giving birth; it can affect your well-being. It is best to carry out all adaptations to the diet before pregnancy.

Conclusion

Maternal nutrition, while breastfeeding, should be tailored to individual characteristics. Watch the reaction of your own body and the baby’s body. Even the healthiest foods can be poorly digested and cause allergies, based on which the diet will be adjusted. 

Do not forget that in the first months of life, the baby still adapts to a new type of food, the stomach and intestines are not sufficiently developed. You can eat right, but the baby will have colic and other problems with the tummy. Do not be alarmed by natural reactions: as a rule, they pass in three months.

What does your nutrition while breastfeeding consist of? Please share your experience in the comments below.

Author’s bio: My name is Adam Reeve and I have been a professional personal trainer and fitness instructor for over 10 years. Also, I’m a life coach, wellness writer, and low carb diets, enthusiast.