Wholesome and healthy nutrition is vital for breastfeeding mums. After all, your baby gets the nutrients he needs to grow from your breastmilk. A varied diet is good for your baby, as it will introduce him to a range of healthy flavours through your milk. Your doctor will also recommend vitamins during lactation. Traces of everything you eat and drink end up in your breastmilk, so you do need to choose well when nursing.
What diet is best for breastfeeding mothers?
Continue with your pregnancy efforts to have a balanced and healthy diet when you’re breastfeeding. Your baby will get his nutrition from your breastmilk, so eating well is important. A balanced diet includes:
- Starchy foods, such as rice, bread, potato (aloo), wholewheat rotis, oats (jaee), semolina (suji) and pasta. Choose wholegrain or multi-grain varieties of cereal-based starchy foods for added nutrients and fibre.
- Dairy produce, such as low fat milk, cottage cheese (paneer), curd (dahi) or yoghurt. Talk to your doctor about what to eat if you are lactose intolerant.
- Protein, such as lentils, pulses, eggs, fish and lean meat.
- Plenty of fruit and vegetables.
- Good fats which can be found in nuts and seeds.
If you’re underweight, poorly nourished or follow a restrictive diet, your doctor will recommend you see a nutritionist to fine-tune your diet.
Vegetarian and vegan breastfeeding mothers might be concerned about whether their babies will get all the necessary nutrients. But you might have already found alternative protein sources that are healthy for you and your baby.
Still, if you have any worries, speak to your doctor. You may also be advised additional supplements to make up for any nutrient shortfall.
Do I need to eat more while I’m breastfeeding?
You may have come across conflicting advice about extra calories when you’re breastfeeding. But it’s hard to say whether you need extra calories every day, because so much depends on:
- your pre-pregnancy weight
- how much weight you gained during pregnancy
- how active you are
- how your metabolism works
- how frequently you’re breastfeeding.
As with pregnancy, be guided by your appetite, and eat when you’re hungry.
It’s normal for your body to lay down fat stores during pregnancy to help you prepare for breastfeeding. Breastfeeding your baby can help to convert these fat stores into energy for making milk.
Will my breastmilk supply decrease if I don’t eat enough?
One of the wonders of breastmilk is that it can meet your baby’s nutritional needs even when you’re not eating perfectly.
But, just because your occasional dietary lapses won’t harm your baby doesn’t mean that you won’t suffer.
When you don’t get the nutrients you need, your body draws on its reserves, which can eventually deplete. In addition, you need strength and stamina to meet the physical demands of caring for a new baby.
If you regularly miss meals, or if your diet is too low in calories or relies on one food group at the exclusion of others, it could affect the quality and quantity of your milk.
There may be times when eating is the last thing on your mind, or you simply forget to eat. But you need to keep up your energy levels when you’re a new mum.
Do I need to drink extra water to maintain my breastmilk supply?
You only need to drink enough to satisfy your thirst while breastfeeding.
Also, the exact amount of water you need depends on many factors, including your size, activity levels, and even the weather conditions where you live.
You may have been told that you should drink lots of water to keep up your milk supply, but in reality drinking lots of water, or indeed going a bit thirsty, won’t affect the amount of milk you make. Your body is good at regulating its reserves to keep your milk supply going.
However, bear in mind that during breastfeeding, your body releases the hormone oxytocin, which makes you feel thirsty. So it’s a good idea to keep a glass of water, coconut water, buttermilk (chhaach), or fresh juice close by when you nurse your baby.
Always drink clean, boiled or filtered water to avoid waterborne infections. It is best to carry a bottle of water with you when you go out.
If you are used to having aerated drinks to quench your thirst, it’s best to avoid these while breastfeeding. They contain just empty calories and no nutrition. You could instead substitute it with healthier drinks such as lassi, coconut water, buttermilk, fresh fruit and vegetable juices or lemonade (nimbu pani).
If you’re worried about whether you’re getting enough to drink, check the colour of your urine.
If it’s pale-coloured, you’re getting plenty to drink. If it’s dark yellow, or smells strongly, or if you feel lethargic or faint, you may be dehydrated. In which case you should drink more water.
Which nutrients are important during breastfeeding?
When you’re recovering from giving birth and feeding your baby, you need a variety of nutrients. The following are especially important for you:
- Iron: It’s important to keep your iron levels up. Include iron-rich foods in your diet. Vegetarian sources (called non-haem iron) include pulses, sprouts, dry fruits, and green leafy vegetables. Non-vegetarian sources (called haem iron) such as lean red meat, fish and poultry. Eggs are also a good source of iron.
- Calcium: Eat at least three daily servings of calcium-rich foods such as milk and other dairy products, fish, dark green leafy vegetables, almonds, or calcium-fortified foods like cereals, juices, soy and rice beverages, and breads.
- Vitamin D: Is important for bone growth and overall health and also helps your body absorb calcium. Sun exposure helps your body produce vitamin D, but many women don’t get enough sun to make an adequate amount. Other good sources are oily fish, red meat, egg yolks, and fortified breakfast cereals also provide some vitamin D.
- Vitamin C: It helps your body to absorb iron better. Citrus fruits, Indian gooseberry (amla), guava (amrood) and papaya (papita) are good sources of vitamin C.
- Vitamin A: Carrots (gajar), eggs, sweet potato (shakarkandi), dark leafy greens, pumpkin (kaddu), red capsicum (laal shimla mirch), peas (matar), tomato (tamatar) and mango (aam) are rich in vitamin A.
- DHA: This is important for the overall brain development of your little one and can be found in nuts like almonds and walnuts, avocados, olives and flaxseeds.
Do lactating mothers need to take any supplements?
You’ll need to take supplements for iron, calcium and vitamin D while breastfeeding.
You would have been taking them during your last trimester, and your doctor will adjust your dose according to your needs, health and eating habits while breastfeeding.
Don’t take any supplements, even herbal and natural ones, without consulting with your doctor first. Some of these can get into your breastmilk and may contain ingredients unsuitable for young babies.
If you do take supplements, remember they can’t make up for poor eating habits. It’s always important to eat a well-balanced, varied diet.
What are the foods and drinks to avoid while breastfeeding?
Traces of what you eat and drink can get into breastmilk. So if your baby is sensitive to a particular food, it’s possible that your breastmilk may upset his tummy.
There are a few foods and drinks you’ll want to steer clear of while you’re breastfeeding. Certain fish that are high in mercury, some herbs, and soy and cow’s milk, if your baby develops an intolerance to them.
Learn more about what foods and drinks to avoid while breastfeeding.
You should also give up smoking and alcohol, and limit the amount of caffeine you drink.
Also, if you need to take any medication even if it is over-the-counter cough syrups or herbal medication, it is best to consult with your doctor to ensure that it does not affect your breastmilk.
Is it normal to lose your appetite while breastfeeding?
Exclusively breastfeeding usually gives you a big appetite. Many breastfeeding mums feel extra hungry, which makes sense: Your body is working nonstop to produce breastmilk for your growing baby.
Sometimes it may be that you’ve forgotten to eat or are too tired. If you can’t eat full meals, try eating several small meals during the day, with healthy snacks in between. This is a good way to get the nutrition you need and keep your energy levels up.
However, if you don’t feel like eating regularly and you feel low most of the time, you may need extra help and emotional support.
Women who have postnatal depression sometimes lose their appetite. If you’re finding it a struggle to eat, talk to your doctor.
Do lactating mothers need special foods to improve the quality of breastmilk?
Your body is efficient at making breastmilk that’s just right for your baby. You don’t need to eat any special or different foods while you’re breastfeeding, just do your best to follow a healthy, balanced diet.
Traditionally, breastfeeding mums are given a special diet during their confinement and while breastfeeding. A lot of these foods include dried fruits, ghee and sugar.
These high-calorie foods usually were meant to supplement the khichdi diet that mums traditionally follow after birth. But if you are eating a varied and normal diet, you don’t really need the extra ghee and sugar.
Dried fruits and nuts are healthy and often used in most traditional confinement foods. But again, have them in moderation. Avoid having nuts and dried fruit in ghee-laden, fried or sugary preparations. Instead, try putting some nuts or dried fruit in your porridge (daliya) or a fresh salad.
You can also have a handful of nuts as a light snack. This way, you can have them without the extra calories.
Still, if you’d like to have traditional confinement foods, you can reduce the calorie count by eating smaller portions. Also, some recipes could work well with little or no ghee.
What should I eat to increase my breastmilk supply?
If you’re eating well, your body will effectively produce all the milk your baby needs.
Anything you eat or drink to increase breastmilk supply and help with milk letdown is called a galactagogue (or lactagogue).
Herbs like fenugreek (methi), fennel seeds (saunf), garlic (lehsun), cumin (jeera), sesame (til) and dry ginger powder (saunth) have long been used as galactagogues, but it’s unclear whether they’re effective.
And although there’s no solid evidence that any foods will increase your milk supply, it won’t hurt to try, as long as you eat these foods in moderation.
Don’t count on galactagogues, though. Focus on stimulating your breasts to produce milk, because lack of breast stimulation is the most common reason for low milk supply.
Read more about traditional remedies to increase breastmilk supply.
Also, talk to your baby’s doctor if you’re worried that your baby isn’t getting enough breastmilk.
Can the flavours I eat change the taste of my breastmilk?
It’s true that a fraction of what you eat goes into your milk supply.
In fact, if your breastmilk sometimes tastes different because of your diet, your baby may be happier to try new tastes when he starts eating solid food.
If you eat a lot of garlic, it can affect the taste and smell of your breastmilk. One small study found that the infants of mothers who ate garlic tended to feed for a longer time, suggesting that babies may like the flavour of garlic in breastmilk. However, the study was too small to draw any meaningful conclusions. And some mums say that their baby gets colicky if they eat a lot of garlic.
Try to go by based on trial and error and always try small portions of food. If you’ve eaten a specific food and you find that your baby is getting fussy about breastfeeding, skip it for a few days and see if there is any difference.
Does dieting and losing weight affect breastmilk production?
It is natural to lose weight in the postpartum period especially while breastfeeding. When eating a healthy diet and exclusively breastfeeding many women are able to lose most of their pregnancy weight in the first six months.
That said, it is recommended that you lose about 500 grams per week as this will not affect the quantity and quality of your breastmilk.
You can start some moderate exercise like walking after your postnatal check at about six to eight weeks.
It is best not to follow any fad diets to lose weight in the postpartum period as your body is still recovering.
Bear in mind that you will need to keep up your strength as a new mum. Trying to do too much after giving birth may slow your recovery and make you feel even more tired. This is especially the case if you have had a cesarean or are recovering from a difficult delivery.
