Maternal Nutrition during Breastfeeding
When you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, you’re on the receiving end of a lot of nutritional advice. Some say that you need to eat certain kinds of food in order to produce enough milk, others warn that some foods will make the baby refuse your milk, and others tell you that certain types of foods in your diet can be harmful for your baby or reduce your milk production. How can a mother find her way in the midst of all this information?
Over the years of experience with breastfeeding mothers all over the world, LLL Leaders have seen that the best diet for a breastfeeding mother is neither complicated nor expensive. It doesn’t require lengthy preparation, the sacrifice of favorite foods, or any need to eat unusual or strange foods in large quantities. It can also vary with an individual’s own preferences.
A healthy diet offers many advantages that go beyond those that directly affect the breastfeeding baby and mother. The whole family, including the baby who will soon be eating with the others, and reap the benefits as healthy eating habits are established.
In recent years, research has confirmed that even if some nutrients are missing in a woman’s daily diet, she will still produce milk that will help her child grow. There is very little difference in the milk of healthy mothers and mothers who are severely malnourished. For example, if a mother’s diet is lacking in calories, her body makes up the deficit, drawing on the reserves laid down during pregnancy or before. Unless there is a physical reason for low milk production, a woman who breastfeeds on cue will be able to produce enough milk for her baby, regardless of what she eats.
A great deal of attention has been paid to the diet of the breastfeeding mother all over the world. It isn’t really surprising that many cultures make a direct connection between a woman’s diet and the milk she produces for her child, so it is easy to understand why there are so many recommendations and taboos regarding what a breastfeeding mother eats. Some of these ideas do indeed have a basis, while others are the result of cultural attitudes, notions, and superstitions.
Some breastfeeding mothers feel so weighed down with taboos and obligations regarding her diet that breastfeeding can seem too complicated to put up with for very long. Unfortunately, most of the time there is no real reason for these rules to exist. Breastfeeding is a normal stage in the reproductive life of a woman, where just as in all the other stages in her life, her diet needs to be healthy, balanced, and adequate, taking into consideration any specific medical conditions.
What is the ideal diet for a breastfeeding woman?
The ideal diet for a breastfeeding woman is simply the healthiest one for all human beings. In our day-to-day lives, most of us have food habits that are not "ideal," but are still good enough to ensure that we have a sufficient quantity of the right kinds of food. A woman who is not strict with her diet can still breastfeed successfully. It’s important to keep in mind, however, that good nutrition helps a mother maintain her health.
The overwhelming majority of women in the world who breastfeed follow imperfect diets at least part of the time. The concept of an "ideal" diet can vary from different families, cultures, economic situations, religions, and in different seasons. Yet, almost always, all over the world, in different epochs, even in situations of deprivation, mothers produce milk that helps their babies grow well.
In a few words, a healthy diet, both for a breastfeeding mother as well as for most other people, is defined by the terms varied, balanced, and natural. A varied diet is one that includes an assortment of different groups of foods, without excluding any particular one. But even in the case of specific allergies or food intolerance, a diet that includes different types of food and varies from meal to meal, from day to day and from season to season, will help to reduce reactions that might arise with repeated consumption of large amounts of a particular food.
The following are the main groups of foods that should be included in the daily diet.
- Fresh vegetables and fruits (preferably those in season) of all types, eaten raw or cooked;
- Different grains (wheat, rice, corn, barley, millet) preferably whole, in various forms, in the form of whole or broken kernels, as well as semolina and flour (and products made from them including bread and pasta);
- Protein foods from animal sources (dairy products, eggs, meat and fish) and/or plant sources (lentils, beans, soybeans);
- Small quantities of fats, preferably uncooked, cold-pressed vegetable oils.
A balanced diet can be achieved by eating a variety of foods from each of these food groups as well as by consuming individual foods in different forms—such as eating different varieties of fruits and vegetables or cooking foods in different ways. Some vitamins and proteins are better absorbed if other vitamins and minerals are present at the same time. For example, iron is utilized better if vitamin C is present in the diet. On the other hand, an excess of some kinds of foods can be detrimental. Large amounts of protein, for example, can cause the body to eliminate greater quantities of vitamins and minerals.
The word "natural" can have many meanings, for example:
Freshness. Fresh foods taste better, contain more vitamins, and are less likely to have undergone oxidation (rancidity) or damage due to storage in less than ideal circumstances. The shorter the time interval between harvesting and consumption of food, milling the grain and the use of flour, and pressing or extraction of oil and its use, the healthier the food is.
No Additives. Additives should be minimized. The use of preservatives extends the shelf life of a food, often by simply masking natural deterioration processes. The preservative itself is usually not beneficial to our health, and the food that results is in any case less nutritious than if it were fresh. Flavorings and colorings keep food looking and smelling good in the interval that lapses while it is processed, packaged, transported, displayed, sold, taken home, and eaten. Some colorings are of vegetable origin and usually do not cause problems. Other colors, however, are derived from animal or are synthetic and can be the cause of hypersensitivity and related problems. Other types of additives are used to make foods softer, crisper, or to enhance flavor.
Whole Foods. Whole foods have been processed to a minimum degree. They retain all the nutrients originally present in the food. It has not been "refined." We are used to eating bread and pasta made from white flour, obtained by eliminating bran and germ from wheat, polished white rice, refined white sugar and salt, and oils refined using heat and chemical processes. Many fatty acids contained in refined oils are present in a form that our bodies cannot use. White sugar and flour do provide us with calories, but most other nutrients are lost. Many foods produced with these flours are enriched with small amounts of the nutrients (usually vitamins) that were lost in the first place when the food was refined. We have also begun to understand how important dietary fiber, which is usually removed during refining, is for the health of our digestive system.
No or few contaminants. When food is grown in situations that eliminate or limit pesticides, insecticides, and chemical fertilizers, it is more natural. Respect for seasons and knowledge of natural techniques and phenomena can be very helpful in efforts to minimize the use of chemicals as well as damage caused by natural elements and their consequences (such as microbial or parasitic infestations). Since pesticides and other chemicals concentrate in the body fat of animals who consume these foods, their food is important, too. Both for vegetable and animal products, organic certification helps us to ensure that contaminants are kept at a minimum level. Reducing the consumption of animal fat and red meat will help to further reduce the consumption of such substances.
Resources
- Dusdieker, L. et al. Effect of supplemental fluids on human milk production. J Pediatr 1985; 106(2):207-11.
- Behan, E. Eat Well, Lose Weight while Breastfeeding. New York: Villard Books, 1994.
- Berlin, C. and Daniel C. Excretion of theobromine in human milk and saliva. Pediatr Res 1981; 15:492.
- Nehlig, A. and Debry, G. Consequences on the newborn of chronic maternal consumption of coffee during gestation and lactation: a review. J Am Coll Nutr 1994; 13(1):6-21.
- Kuhne, T. et al. Maternal vegan diet causing a serious infantile neurological disorder due to Vitamin B12 deficiency. Eur J Pediatr 1991; 150:205-08.
- Dewey, K. et al. Maternal weight-loss patterns during prolonged lactation. Am J Clin Nutr 1993; 58:162-66.
- Heinig, M. et al. Lactation and postpartum weight loss. Mechanisms Regulating Lactation and Infant Nutrient Utilization 1992; 30: 397-400.
- Dewey, K. and McCrory, M. Effects of dieting and physical activity on pregnancy and lactation. Am J Clin Nutr 1994; 59(Suppl):446S-59S.
- Dewey, K. et al. A randomized study of the effects of aerobic exercise by lactating women on breast milk volume and composition. NEngl J Med 1994; 330(7):449-53.
- Lovelady, C. et al. Lactation performance of exercising women. Am J Clin Nutr 1990; 52:103-09.
Maternal Nutrition during Breastfeeding
by Sheri Lyn Parpia Khan Roma Italy
From: NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 21 No. 2, March-April 2004, p. 44
