Though, a healthy diet is all it really takes for a breastfeeding mother to maintain her milk supply and sustain both her baby’s and her own health. Still, certain components of their normal diet are especially important when your body is producing milk.
Healthy Eating Tips
- Adopt a 5 – 6 small and frequent meal pattern throughout the day: This will take care of indigestion and hyperacidity which happens when a meal is skipped or is overdone. Strict diets and skipping meals are not recommended because you could miss out on vital nutrients.
- Foods to Avoid: There is little evidence that certain foods upset babies or give them diarrhoea or colic. Caffeine passes into breast milk, so large amounts of tea, coffee and cola drinks are best avoided. Drinking small amounts of drinks with caffeine (three or less drinks a day) should not be a problem.
- Avoid food that is hard to digest such as fried or extremely fatty food.
- Increase Vitamin C in your diet: Increase Vitamin C rich foods like citrus fruits & juices, fresh lime with your meals as it enhances the absorption of iron.
- Include a variety of foods, such as : legumes, eggs, milk, cheese and yoghurt, wholegrain breads and cereals, fruits and vegetable
- Get enough to eat. Simply eating regularly and getting enough calories will support your milk supply.
- From a diet and nutrition standpoint, there are two important factors critical to producing milk. The first is drinking enough fluid. It doesn’t have to be milk; water or juice is fine. Drinking sufficient fluids won’t make you produce more milk, but is important in replenishing lost fluids
- Herbs useful after birth include stinging nettle to rebuild the blood lost during birth, turmeric, to help prevent breast inflammation, oat-straw, to nurture the nerves and to help prevent nervous exhaustion. These herbs also increase milk supply, so keep an eye on your supply and reduce or increase your dosage of these herbs as necessary.
Some Traditional Galactogogues
- Leafy Vegetables and in particular Green Spinach.
- Bitter Gourd.
- Fenugreek soaked in buttermilk , Jeera and Methi Seeds (Fenugreek seeds).
- Garlic pods (at least 6-7) fried in Ghee and can be had after every meal.
- Plenty of fruits and vegetables.
- The leaves or seeds of fennel (Kala Zeera) boiled in barley water and drunk are good for increasing the breast milk.
- An admixture made with aniseed (Sonf) taken on empty stomach increases both the quality and the quantity of breast milk.
- Milk of peanuts extracted by wet crushing of these nuts which have been soaked in water for 24 hours. This peanut milk should be diluted before being given to the mother.
- Soups and red gram also stimulate milk production.
Healthy Snacking
- Sprouts and Salads.
- Roasted Chana Chat.
- Three Bean Salad.
- Roasted nuts or dry fruits.
- Fruit Salads and chats.
- Bhelpuri (puffed rice snack).
- Fresh vegetable soups or juices..
- Yoghurt with fresh fruits.
- Whole grain bread with vegetables / paneer.
- Dhokla / Idlis.