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Lactation Diet

, medical expert
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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For the baby, the main benefit of breast milk is not only in its quantity, but also in quality. The level of protein in human milk does not depend on nutrition, but fats and carbohydrates can depend on the mother's diet.

Diet in lactation should be healthy and provide the female body with the necessary substances, since during this period the mother's body needs them as much as possible.

It is also important that the diet of a woman was diverse and consisted of vegetables, fruits, dairy products, milk, meat.

But do not overeat or abuse some products, because with the beneficial substances in the baby through breast milk can get dangerous, which can trigger colic, increased gas production, allergic reactions in the child (honey, citrus, chocolate, smoked products, spicy foods, etc. .).

Also, do not abuse confectionery, grapes, because such food causes fermentation in the intestines and disrupts peristalsis.

trusted-source[1], [2], [3], [4], [5]

The essence of the diet for lactation

Breast milk is considered to be the ideal food for a newborn baby and to date specialists have failed to create a mixture that could completely replace breast milk.

Milk contains all the substances most important for the growth and development of the child, it contains special proteins that help to form the immune system and reduce the risk of allergic reactions, infectious diseases, diabetes, hinders the development of childhood obesity.

Unformed digestive system of newborn babies easily cope with breast milk, in addition, this nutrition has a beneficial effect on the condition (physiological, emotional, etc.).

Breastfeeding is useful not only for the child, but also for the mother, as it helps to restore the baby as soon as possible after the birth. When feeding the woman's body produces a special hormone - oxytocin, which restores the tone of the uterus and improves blood circulation.

By nature, only 2% of women are unable to feed, but the amount or quality of milk does not depend on the shape or size of the breast.

In order to have a sufficient amount of good nutritional value of milk, a woman is recommended to a special diet for lactation.

Diet lactation for weight loss

Lose weight immediately after the birth of a child is almost impossible. In the first 2-3 months, food can not be limited, since the body needs strength to recover.

For gradual weight loss, special attention should be given to proper nutrition and easy (as far as possible) physical exercises.

Diet in lactation is needed not only to reduce weight, but also to produce the right amount of milk with all nutrients.

A strict diet during feeding is excluded, in this case, a frequent (5-6 meals a day) meals in portions up to 250 g. In day it is necessary to drink a sufficient amount of water (up to 2 liters per day), as well as fresh juices, tea with milk, decoctions and infusions of herbs (fennel).

Milk and sour-milk products must be consumed necessarily, but skimmed or with a low level of fat.

Also, one should not forget about fruits and vegetables that will help accelerate the process of weight loss, adjust the digestive system and charge the body with energy for a day. Preference should be given to fish and porridge.

From the diet you need to remove (or maximally reduce) fatty, smoked, salted, sharp, as well as those products that can provoke an allergy in a child, partly replace sweets with dried fruits.

The approximate menu of a nursing woman can be as follows:

  • For breakfast, whole wheat bread or toast, yogurt, cottage cheese.
  • Before lunch, you can have a snack with fruit salad and drink tea with milk.
  • For lunch, fish or vegetable soup, salad with fresh vegetables, boiled egg, carrot juice freshly squeezed.
  • For a snack salad with cheese, bread with bran.
  • For dinner, a casserole of vegetables, fruit, juice or tea.

trusted-source[6], [7], [8], [9], [10]

Diet to increase lactation

In some cases, the baby may miss the mother's milk, and to increase lactation you can try to adjust the nutrition.

Every day a woman needs to eat sour-milk products, vegetables, fruits, meat.

It is necessary to limit products such as chocolate, nuts, coffee, citrus, honey, spicy dishes (including garlic, onions), which are not only strong allergens, but also can worsen the taste of milk.

To increase the production of milk, the lactation diet should include certain foods that contribute to this. First of all, it is tea, herbal infusions, carrot juice, dietary meat broths, sour-milk products (cottage cheese, fermented baked milk), watermelon, buckwheat, oatmeal, cedar, walnuts, almonds (limited, as allergy or increased gas formation in the baby is possible) .

For example, for breakfast you can sit oatmeal with dried apricots and a few walnuts. After 3-4 days, the milk will be much more.

trusted-source[11], [12], [13], [14], [15]

Diet to improve lactation

First of all, it is worth saying that lactation depends on the amount of liquid drunk - a woman who is nursing should drink at least 2 liters of water. Also, the taste and quality of milk can be improved by using fresh juices from carrots, currants, teas (black, green), herbs (fennel, melissa, oregano).

Diet in lactation to improve the quality of milk should necessarily include oatmeal, which also improves blood circulation and normalizes blood pressure.

From oat flakes you can cook not only porridge, but also various pastries - cookies, cupcakes (you can also use oatmeal).

Garlic can spoil the taste of milk, and the child can refuse to eat, but in small amounts it helps improve the process of lactation. Garlic can be added to ready meals, for example, in meat or salads.

Carrots are a source of beta-carotene and carbohydrates, which contributes to the production of milk. In the diet, you can include fresh carrot juice or a salad with carrots.

A few nuts per day will help improve the quality of milk and make it more nutritious for the baby. They contain fats and antioxidants, it is better to give preference to raw or slightly roasted nuts, without salt, spices and other flavoring additives.

Sesame seeds also improve lactation. They can be added to salads, sprinkled with pastries or mixed with sugar and eat as a dessert.

The most effective way to improve lactation is eating leaf lettuce. From it you can make a tasty and useful salad with dill or parsley, season with sour cream or butter, if desired, you can add sesame seeds.

trusted-source[16], [17], [18]

Buckwheat diet during lactation

During breastfeeding, doctors recommend adhering to a certain diet, but rich in proteins, vegetables, fruits. From cereals it is better to give preference to buckwheat, rice and corn.

The buckwheat diet is very strict, and it should be respected within two weeks. During the diet, you can eat only steamed buckwheat groats (1 cup of buckwheat pour 2 cups of boiling water, leave for the night), completely eliminated salt, sugar, oil. For the day cooked in the evening the amount of buckwheat should be eaten for 5-6 receptions, it is allowed to drink no more than 1 liter of kefir (low-fat), and you should drink 2 liters of water per day.

Buckwheat diet helps to lose extra pounds (in two weeks it takes up to 10 kilograms).

But, despite all the woman's desire to bring their forms in order, such a diet is contraindicated in lactation.

Nutritional properties of mother's milk largely depend on its nutrition, and buckwheat will give the mother's body the right amount of vitamins and trace elements, and such nutrition within two weeks can harm not only the mother's immature organism, but also the baby.

trusted-source[19], [20], [21]

The menu of a diet at a lactemia

From the first days of feeding a woman is recommended to increase the amount of liquid to be drunk (about 2 to 2.5 liters).

Diet during lactation in the first 10 days:

  • cereals and dietary soups made from buckwheat, rice, corn group, oatmeal
  • lean meat
  • baked apples, bananas
  • rose hips, compote of dried fruits.

Then gradually introduced cottage cheese, yogurt, yogurts, cheese, boiled fish, eggs, pasta (limited),

From the month on the menu you can add homemade jam, dried fruits, nuts, vegetables and fruits (raw).

From 3 months, vegetable juices, pearl barley and millet are introduced, fresh onions, and honey (with tea) is limited.

Contraindicated up to six months of whole milk.

The sample menu can be as follows:

  • For breakfast, oatmeal or buckwheat with boiled veal, green tea with jam
  • You can have a bite of cottage cheese with dried fruits, banana, compote
  • For lunch, lean soup, braised rabbit with vegetable stew, apple, dog rose broth.
  • You can have a snack with boiled quail eggs, boiled beets with vegetable oil, ryazhenka or kefir.
  • For dinner, pasta with cheese, baked fish, pear or apple.
  • Before going to bed, you can drink kefir or yoghurt with dry biscuits.

Diet recipes for lactation

Vegetable stew with pumpkin:

  • 500 g of pumpkin, 1 carrot, 1 onion, green pepper, 2 small tomatoes, celery, greens, sunflower refined oil.

Prepared vegetables washed, cleaned, pumpkin, onions, tomatoes, peppers, celery finely chopped, grate carrots.

Fry onion with carrots, then other vegetables, pour 200-300ml of water and cook until ready, sprinkle a little. When serving, sprinkle with herbs.

Fish baked in foil:

  • Low-fat fish (eg, hake), bulb, carrots, sour cream, salt.

Finely chop the onions and grate the carrots.

Put the fish on foil, lightly salt, grease with sour cream, put onions mixed with carrots on top, carefully wrap and bake for about half an hour at a temperature of 180-2000С.

Diet in lactation is necessary for both a woman and her child. Proper nutrition can help not only to recover from childbirth, normalize the stool (after all, as it is known, many women have problems with stool during pregnancy), but also give their child the most useful food from the first days - their milk.
 

trusted-source[22]

What can you eat?

When lactating, the diet, as already mentioned, should be aimed at ensuring that the mother's body produces enough milk, while making it nutritious and, preferably, tasty.

It is generally believed that during feeding, you can safely consume foods green, yellow - eat in limited quantities, and the red should be completely abandoned.

When lactation is allowed:

  • porridge (oatmeal, millet, pearl barley, buckwheat, rice, etc.)
  • greens (dill, parsley, leaf salad), onions in dishes (fresh only after three months)
  • eggs (better than quail)
  • soups on diet broth
  • a fish
  • Nuts (except pistachios and peanuts)
  • vegetables (fresh, baked, stewed, boiled)
  • bread is not fresh, with bran
  • hard cheese
  • dishes from quail, rabbit, turkey, chicken, veal, lean pork
  • kefir, fermented baked milk, natural yoghurt, cottage cheese
  • fruit
  • pasta (limited)
  • from 3 months of age the mother can enter into her diet honey
  • Fresh juices can be drunk after three months, starting with a small amount
  • compote, dog rose broth, herbal teas (mint, melissa, chamomile, linden) green or weak black tea.

What you can not eat?

Diet in lactation is an important part of the correct development of the baby, breast milk sets the process of digestion, strengthens the immunity of the newborn.

The future health of the baby depends on the proper nutrition of the mother.

Contraindicated to eat during this period:

  • eggs of chicken
  • seafood
  • honey
  • cocoa, chocolate
  • mushrooms
  • exotic fruits (kiwi, pineapple), pomegranates, strawberries, cherries, raspberries, citrus fruits,
  • acute sauces, marinades, pickles, smoked products, spicy dishes
  • canned food, products with dyes
  • radish, radish, sauerkraut, suluguni cheese, cheese
  • beans (can be gradually introduced after six months)
  • carbonated drinks, kvass
  • alcohol
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