John Myers
While breastfeeding, your baby absorbs all the important nutrients it needs for healthy development through breast milk. Accordingly, your diet should be as balanced and varied as possible – just like in every other phase of life. The food pyramid helps you put together a balanced menu. The mix plate provides specific guidance when putting together meals.
The need for certain nutrients is increased during breastfeeding and should be ensured through a conscious diet:
- Proteins: Due to the production of milk, the protein requirement increases by 2 g for every 100 ml of breast milk expressed. This additional requirement can easily be increased by a balanced diet.
- Folic acid: As in pregnancy, the need for folic acid remains increased during breastfeeding. It is around 450 micrograms daily. After consulting a doctor, taking dietary supplements can be useful. Good suppliers are green leafy vegetables and various types of cabbage.
- Iodine: It is not always possible to achieve sufficient iodine intake with food. So talk to your doctor about whether taking a dietary supplement might make sense for you. The baby absorbs the iodine through breast milk, the mineral is important for physical and mental development. Fish, seafood, and dairy products are naturally rich in iodine. Alternatively, you can use table salt enriched with iodine for cooking.
- Iron and calcium: Although the need for minerals is not increased, sufficient intake through food should be ensured. Regular checking of the values is therefore recommended.
Despite the increased need for some nutrients, you should ensure variety on the menu. In this way, you train your baby’s taste. Because the flavors that you eat are found in a weakened form in breast milk. It is also important for the immune system that the offspring can get used to many different foods. At the same time, you prevent so many possible allergies: It is even likely that eating fish while breastfeeding can counteract the development of allergies to fish. Also, don’t completely avoid foods that have a reputation for triggering allergies – such as hen’s eggs, cow’s milk, or nuts.
On the other hand, you should avoid foods that can be problematic for the development of the child. Don’t drink alcohol and cut down on caffeine – so drink coffee, cola, black and green tea, and energy drinks in moderation and immediately after breastfeeding so that the body has enough time to break down the caffeine before the next feed.
Basically, breastfeeding is not the right time for dieting, for example, to get rid of excess pregnancy pounds. Otherwise, you run the risk of not getting enough nutrients for yourself and your baby. Milk production could also be negatively influenced.
On the contrary: breastfeeding increases energy requirements by around 500 kilocalories a day in the first four months. However, breastfeeding mothers should only consume additional calories when they feel hungry because the basal metabolic rate often decreases at the same time: In this phase of life, many women naturally move less, and the fat deposits built up during pregnancy also ensure sufficient energy supplies.
