Foods To Eat And Those To Be Avoided During Breastfeeding


Breastfeeding is the most essential process while taking care of your baby, Your child is ingesting the food which is eaten by you. The best way is to have balanced diet so that there would not be chances of a shortage. This will indirectly assist you & your child to get the good nutrition & vitamins which is ideally necessary. Babies do react in unfavorable ways if you have not eaten the right food.

Here are some foods that will help

There are no specific foods eaten for breast milk stimulation or production. Although drinking sufficient fluids will not make mothers produce more milk, the doctor advises nursing mothers to take plenty of fluids like milk, water or juice to help in refilling the lost fluids.
Nursing mothers should take cautions not to over eat to prevent obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes among other health implications. “What a breast feeding mother needs is a balanced diet, high in fluids and other essential foods,” says the doctor.

Fish soup: This contains lot of proteins, which help a mother to improve her hydration. It also stimulates breast milk production. It should be taken more often.
Soy: It contains calcium, which is important for both the mother and the baby. The more it is taken, the more milk production will be realized.

Porridge: Whether it is made of maize or millet, porridge contains carbohydrates that help in restoring the lost calories during milk production. Nursing requires many calories each day to prevent mothers from having fatigue, hence creating room for best milk production.

Oats: Oats contain minerals that help in stimulating the oxytocin hormone that produces milk. They also help in reducing cholesterol. Fruit juice and water: Because breast milk contains 95 per cent water, a mother requires at least eight glasses of water every day with fruit juice.

Here are Some of the Foods To Be Avoided During Breastfeeding


  • Mothers need to avoid greasy, spicy foods which might hardly change the taste of the milk & will not fit the child.
  • They require to eat food that will aid them to recognize the flavor & give them the necessary elements.
  • Avoid drinking coffee, carbonated drinking water, chips, noodles, spicy sausages, burgers & also alcohol. They will merely cut down the chances of proper digestion & would indirectly affect the child's sleep pattern. Also chocolates contain caffeine.
  • Smoking during pregnancy has negative impact on child's nervous system.
  • Citrus fruits may irritate a still immature GI tract leading to fussiness, spitting up, diaper rash. Add mangoes & Papaya for Vitamin C intake.
  • Calciferous vegetables like cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower leads to irritable, gassy babies.
  • Eating garlic contained foods often leads to breast milk taking on the slight flavor of garlic. Garlic odor can enter milk up to 2 hours after a meal. Some babies may grimace or fuss at the breast if they detect garlic's aroma.
  • Proceed with caution before including peanut products in your diet. If you have a family medical history of allergy, it is worth being careful about diet & avoiding known allergens, like peanuts.
  • If eating a sandwich/pasta/any wheat based products before a nursing session results in your baby developing such symptoms as inconsolable crying, obvious pain or bloody stools, it could be due to wheat. To check his allergy, eliminate wheat based products for 2-3 weeks.
  • Corn allergy is also common. May be in the form of baby's discomfort or rashes.
  • It's a common knowledge that many babies are intolerant to cow's milk-based formula. But when you drink milk or eat other dairy products, these allergens enter your breast milk. Symptoms include colic & vomiting.
  • Eggs & soy also may become allergic to some babies.
  • Parsley & peppermint have certain compounds that may interfere with the supply of milk, if taken in a large quantities.
Source: Mrs. Rekha Champaneria: Dietitian & Diabetic Educator.

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