Do you want to make more breast milk and lose excess weight at the same time while breastfeeding? Healthy eating helps you to increase your breast milk supply and makes you lose weight, as well. Thus, mothers should know how to eat healthy while breastfeeding.
A healthy diet is important to increase breast milk production
Healthy eating during pregnancy is essential for the development and health of the baby, and new mothers should know that it has importance while breastfeeding for the same reasons.
Breast milk is the most significant nutrient that a baby needs to take during the baby’s growth and development, and mothers need to pay special attention to what they eat to increase breast milk. Factors such as variety and amount of foods that mothers consume, their body stores and psychological status affect the quality and quantity of their breast milk. In addition, breast milk protects infants from many infectious diseases, especially diarrhea; anemia, and diseases that may occur in the later stages. It also positively influences the mother and child bonding process.
Eating a healthy diet affects breast milk quality
Mothers’ nutrient intake affects the breast milk that they produce, and mothers, under any circumstances, can produce enough quality and quantity of milk to support their babies’ development. However, studies show that the breast milk of mothers who have a healthy diet is richer in vitamin than milk of malnourished mothers.
What should we do to get a healthy, adequate, and balanced diet while breastfeeding?
- Daily fluid intake should be about 3 liters (10 to 12 cups), and the majority of it should be water. Mothers can prefer to drink herbal teas such as linden, nettle, and fennel tea; and natural drinks such as milk, unsweetened compote, and fresh fruit juices, as well.
- New mothers need to consume foods like milk, yogurt, and cheese which are rich in calcium per day.
- They also need to eat meat, chicken, fish, eggs, legumes (cranberry beans, chickpea, etc.)
- Fresh fruits and vegetables, which are a rich source of vitamins and minerals, should be consumed regularly at every meal.
- Iron deficiency is a common problem during lactation. Iron in breast milk passing to the baby is an essential element for the baby’s iron stores and blood production. New mothers should consume meat, chicken, fish, eggs, nuts such as walnut and almond; dried fruits such as grapes, apricots, plums, and fruit leather; legumes such as beans, chickpeas, lentils, and kidney; leafy green vegetables and molasses to get iron in your diet.
- They can prefer to eat milk and fruit dessert and ice cream in summers rather than sweets and chocolate. They can also need to eat multigrain bread, rice and, pasta to get enough carbohydrate.
- Drinks such as tea, coffee, and cola should be limited. New moms should know that the caffeine in these drinks can pass into milk if they consume too much of them.
- New mothers should avoid easting salami sausage and foods which contains food additives as soon as possible.
- It is significant that new mothers should have a healthy and balanced diet, away from stress and breastfeed their babies frequently to increase the breast milk supply.