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Your
breast milk is dependent upon the quality of food and quantity of fluids you consume.
This, in turn, will directly affect your baby's nourishment and well being. Hence,
you need to follow a sensible diet, one that includes vital food elements and
keeps you both healthy and well. Most
mothers continue to breast feed for about a year, slowly letting the little one
get accustomed to top milk and other foods during the weaning process. |
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recommend breast feeding babies for a year, out of which the first four months,
the baby should be exclusively breast fed. If you decide to follow the
same pattern, you will need to consume at least 2400 to 2700 kcal every day during
first 6 months of lactation. At this time, the energy requirements
of your body are higher as you will be exclusively breast feeding your baby. However,
in the latter 6 months, when you start weaning by introducing variety in your
baby's diet, you will breast feed less frequently and so your energy requirement will decrease to 2250 to 2550 kcal every
day. Lactation
draws onto your energy resources and burns 3500 kcal per day. You do realize that
you will actually be burning more calories than you are consuming. Are you quizzical
about the source of these extra calories? Hidden here is another miracle of nature.
This will be the time to use maternal stores that you have accumulated during
your pregnancy. Mother Nature will go about "Her work", helping you to shed those
extra kilos you will have gained during pregnancy. This is the time for getting
back into shape naturally, provided you eat wisely. One
point I would like to explain here, is the relation between calories (cal) and
kilocalories (kcal). They represent the same values and are referred to by two
different names i.e. calories and kilocalories. I
remember being forced to eat laddoos and panjiri loaded with ghee, when I was
breast feeding. Your mother, in her love and concern for you, may advice and entice
you into eating these traditional goodies. Indulge yourself but do remember that
moderation is the key word and ghee provides no real nutrition to you or your
baby except vitamin A and energy. Supplement
your diet with plenty of wholesome foods such as |
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Cereals such as wheat, rice, bajra etc.
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Dals and pulses such as moong dal, rajma, soyabean etc.
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Dairy products like milk, pasteurized cheese, paneer, curds, etc.
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Fruits, vegetables and their juices.
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While you are lactating, you will need to consume more protein
too. The requirement is approximately 70 to 75 gm per day during the first 6 months
of lactation. As you supplement breast milk with weaning foods, your protein requirement
should decrease a little by 5 to 7 gm i.e. to about 63 to 70 gm per day. |
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the following protein rich foods a part of your diet |
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Dals such as moong dal, toovar dal, masoor dal etc.
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Pulses like rajma, chawli, chana etc.
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Dairy products like milk, pasteurized cheese, paneer, curds, etc.
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Nuts and oilseeds (almonds, cashewnuts, til, groundnuts etc.)
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In particular soyabeans are considered to be an excellent source of vegetarian
protein.
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Vitamin
C is one of the most important nutrients, keeping colds and coughs at bay
by strengthening immunities of both mummies and babies. So your need for vitamin
C doubles during lactation to about 80 mg per day. |
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sources of vitamin C are |
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Citrus fruits like orange, guava, lemon, sweet lime etc.
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Vegetables such as capsicum and cabbage.
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Amla is a gold-mine of vitamin C, one small amla per day fulfils your daily requirements
for this nutrient. Vitamin C is highly unstable and is lost during cooking except
in the case of amla which retains most of its potential even after being cooked.
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Calcium
is one of the most vital minerals essential for the development of your baby's
bones and teeth (1000 mg per day). Breast milk is a good source of calcium. A
word of caution here; the calcium levels in breast milk are not affected even
if your diet lacks in calcium rich foods but in such a situation breast milk unfortunately,
derives its calcium from your bones, making them weak. This may lead to deficiencies
later on in life and can cause osteoporosis. So, you must have plenty of calcium
rich foods like dairy products, ragi and green leafy vegetables. |
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the following foods an essential part of your diet |
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Dairy products like milk, pasteurized cheese, paneer, curds, etc. |
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Dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach, fenugreek etc. |
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Soyabean and its products such as tofu, soya nuggets etc. |
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Til and ragi Top |
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| | Iron
is an essential component of hemoglobin that supplies oxygen to each cell of our
body. Although your baby has adequate stores of iron that lasts till 4 months
of age and breast milk is a poor source of iron, you require iron (30 mg per day)
to maintain yourself in a good health.
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make up for your iron requirements consume |
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Dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach, cow pea leaves, fenugreek etc.
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Nuts such as almonds, cashewnuts etc. and oilseeds such as til and garden cress
seeds |
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Dried fruits like raisins, dates etc. |
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Whole grain cereals and pulses such as bajra, cow pea, dry peas etc. |
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Jaggery Top |
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acid plays a major role in multiplication and formation of new cells in our
body. To prevent the folic acid anaemia, you need to consume 150 mcg of folic
acid per day. |
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your folic acid levels by enjoying |
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Vegetables such as cluster beans, soyabean, spinach, peas, broccoli, beetroot,
ladies finger, potato etc. |
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Cereals like bajra, wheat etc. |
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Nuts like almonds, cashewnuts, walnuts etc. and oilseeds such as til. Top |
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| | Vitamin
B12 (1.5 mcg per day) is essential for proper functioning of all cells of
your as well as your baby's body. In comparison to non-vegetarian foods, vegetarian
diets are deficient in Vitamin B12. But don't let that hamper your spirits as
soya and it's products such as soya milk, soya nuggets etc. in particular provide
an appreciable amount of this vitamin. Top |
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D is also an important nutrient which aids the absorption of calcium. It is
synthesized in our body in the presence of sunlight. Hence, there is no dietary
recommendation for this nutrient.
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In addition to the above nutrients, you must also include foods like almonds,
fenugreek (methi), garlic, milk, and garden cress (subza) seeds etc. to stimulate
the production of breast milk. These foods are called galactogouges. Top |
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A liberal intake of fluids is equally important as the production of breast
milk is also dependent on the amount of fluid you consume daily. Have at least
4 litres (or more but not less) of fluid daily during lactation along with plenty
of juices, soups, dals, buttermilk etc. This will help to enhance milk production
and also maintain the fluid balance in your body.
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