Diet for Breastfeeding Mothers

The next topic will be the diet for breastfeeding mothers. Diet is very important to mothers. Many have argued that if mothers are not eating well, the quality of breast milk will be affected. I would like to clarify here that under normal circumstance, the composition of breast milk won’t be affected greatly by the mother’s diet. Although the composition won’t be changed by the mother’s diet, the volume will be affected when she is not eating well. Therefore, we should still pay attention to the mother’s diet. So what is the thing we need to pay attention to? As we all familiar that breast milk is a type of dairy, as a result, protein is one of the most important nutrients.

Breastfeeding mothers should choose foods contain high protein such as dairy products, eggs, and meat, etc. in a sufficient amount of intake. How about calorie intake? News often reports that the movie star does not take long to get back to her original figure after giving birth.

A special reminder for all mothers: do not be eager to lose the weight after giving birth. That is, do not limit the diet In comparison with the pregnant women, the calorie intake of a breastfeeding mother should be higher than pregnant women. Pregnant women is suggested to increase 300 kcal in their daily diet However, breastfeeding mothers could increase till 500 kcal And at the same time, the longer the breastfeeding is carried out, the better the effect of losing weight. In fact, breastfeeding is quite energy consuming in the mother’s body This is why there is no need to eager to eat low-calorie food in order to lose weight during breastfeeding.

Basic calorie intake should not be lower than 1800 kcal Researches in the past revealed that if the mother’s calorie intake is lower than 1800 kcal, or very low-fat diet, the secretion of breast milk will be affected, and secretion of breast milk will be decreased. It is strongly suggested that do not carry out losing weight at this stage and should maintain normal diet. Furthermore, the volume of milk secretion is around 700-900 ml every day. So it is a water content, a liquid substance. Some mothers might find themselves easy to feel thirsty and we suggests mothers to increase their water intake. For breastfeeding mothers, drink water if you feel thirsty.

Generally, it is suggested to drink plain boiled water, as water is our best choice A lot of mothers might think juice is also a good choice but lots of juice in the market tends to have higher sugar content. Higher sugar content might be involved with too much intake of calorie. Excessive calorie does not benefit mothers. Earlier we talked about having a higher protein diet, and the protein should be in good quality. Some mothers are vegetarians, especially full-vegan. They won’t even eat any dairy products and egg-related products. Please be notify that if the mother is a full vegan vitamin b12 should be supplemented additionally because vitamin b12 is originated from animal food.

Some mothers say that taking care of babies is hard work and very tiring, so can they have drinks with caffeine? Not only coffee contains caffeine, coca-cola, tea, and some energy-boosting drinks also contain caffeine. It is ok to have not over 5 cups of cappuccino for every day. So it is fine to have appropriate intake. However, the timing is quite important. Mothers can observe babies’ daily routine. If the baby tends to wake at night and cry a lot, unsettled and sleep better in the daytime, it is suggested that the mother should drink coffee or tea that contains caffeine in the morning Try not to drink drinks with caffeine after 3 p.m.

Or even no caffeinated drinks after 12 o’clock in the afternoon. Because after you drink it, it takes some time to deliver to the composition of the breast milk. If the baby drinks the breast milk with caffeine in the later of the day, it might increase the possibility of unsettlement at night. If it happens, mothers will sleep worse.