Health and Nutrition During Breastfeeding (Beyond The Basics)

During pregnancy a woman has to face many types of weaknesses, different mood swings, cravings and many suffer from extreme nausea along with vomiting. All this doesn’t allow them to eat well or have a balanced diet during pregnancy causing many deficiencies which follow when you start nursing your baby.

Your health has already been compromised and it’ll further deteriorate if you don’t take care of yourself and the nutrition you are consuming. Breastfeeding is a great responsibility because this is the soul meal of your baby and you want to make sure to give her/him the best from it. That’s why you need to be concerned about your own health and diet.

Consuming a balanced diet will not only help you make better milk but will also help you feel better mentally and physically. Breast milk is a combination of fully nourishing and protective compounds that are essential for your baby’s growth and development. No doubt, this natural gift takes a lot of your energy to produce it.

If you want a steady milk supply along with good quality milk, you should try some breastfeeding supplements which will help you in both ways. Here are some good points to be noted while you are nursing your babies about your health and nutrition.

1-Increase your calorie intake

While you’re nursing your baby, you might experience a spike in your hunger and thirst levels higher than usual, which is absolutely normal. This is because your body is continuously working to produce milk and so it requires extra calories and higher levels of specific nutrients to make good quality milk.

Therefore, it’s recommended to consume 500 more calories per day to stay fit and healthy. The best option is to go for foods which are rich in macro and micro nutrients like protein, calcium, vitamin A, B, C, D, E, zinc, selenium, magnesium, selenium and many others. Avoid all kinds of junk and processed foods, instead, go for healthy snacks like from Milky Mama who are offering many nutrient rich lactation treats which helps in steady milk supply and maintain energy levels too.

2-Nutrition and milk composition

This milk is magical, it has everything in it that a baby needs for the first six months of their life. In addition, this milk composition and nutrition levels change throughout the lactation period, in order to meet the baby’s need and demand.

No formula milk or cow milk can match this nature’s gift. The first milk is rich in antibodies and is watery in consistency that can be easily digested while the milk that comes later is more thick, higher in fat content and is much more nutritious. This helps in baby’s growth, development and healthy weight gain. The composition of breast milk consists of 87% water content, 3.8% fat, 1.0% protein and 7% carbohydrate which provides 60 to 70 kcal/100ml. 

3-Your fluid intake

As mentioned earlier, 87% of the human milk is based on water and so your body requires a good liquid intake in order to maintain a good supply of milk. It’s better to consume water everytime you feed your baby, drink when you’re thirsty and also if you notice a smell or dark color of your urine, which means your body is getting dehydrated and you need to drink more liquids, actually water which is the best drink.

You can also consume fresh fruit juices, vegetable smoothies, milk and even your coffee and lactation drinks, all included in your fluids. So we can’t suggest how much water or other liquids one should be having, but the bottom line is that you must be vigilant about your daily liquid intake.

4-Foods and drinks to avoid

Though it has been advised several times to have balanced diet while you’re pregnant or nursing your baby, we don’t talk much about foods and drinks that must be avoided or limited so they won’t have any negative impact on baby’s health because what you eat passes on to your breast milk either in big or small amounts.

Like caffeine is commonly used by everyone in the form of teas, coffee or chocolates too. However, consuming them in larger amounts can make your baby over active, fussy and restless. Likewise, consuming huge amounts of alcohol has the same side effect along with a risk of organ failure of the newborn too. Similarly, fish is considered a healthy food but few fish have higher mercury content with contaminants in it, so exclude swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish to be on the safer side.

Conclusion

A healthy mother can feed a baby better and can take care of him/her properly. Your diet reflects your health and quality of milk too, so always have a balanced diet avoiding all kinds of junk and sweets. You can also have breastmilk supplements to increase your milk production and give your body those extra calories. Enjoy this nursing period and do your best!