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You are here:
Breastfeeding
and your diet
Breastfeeding mothers need to be somewhat careful with their
diet.
- Production of breastmilk requires you to spend an extra
500-800 calories a day.
- Part of this extra energy comes from fat stores laid down
during pregnancy. This is why breastfeeding helps you return
to your pre-pregnancy weight and shape sooner (or at
all!).
- The rest comes from extra foods that you should eat.
- Breastmilk is ideally your baby's only food for about half a
year, a major source of nutrition for a year, and still a good
source of nutrition for as long as you continue breastfeeding (see
the page on how long to breastfeed and
the page on introducing solid
foods).
- This means breastmilk contains all
the necessary fats, proteins, sugars, vitamins, and minerals that
a young baby needs, and most that an older baby needs.
- Your body needs to produce milk that contains all these
nutrients. The nutrients have to come out of your body.
- If your diet is deficient in some of these nutrients, your
breastmilk will still contain reasonable amounts of them. That
means your own body will be robbed of them.
- If you are seriously malnourished, then your breastmilk may be
deficient in some nutrients too. This is generally not a problem
for mothers in industrialized nation, but it is a problem in many
less fortunate areas of the world.
- Don't panic! All you need to do is to eat a reasonable variety
of foods (which you should be doing anyway). Just eat a little
extra of everything. Trust your hunger. Eat to satisfy hunger, not
habit.
Important: It is not a good idea to go on a weight-loss
diet while you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Well, most diets are
never a good idea, but this is particularly important now because of
the extra work your body needs to do. And remember: breastfeeding is
helping you lose weight anyway. Just eat
well and all will be fine.
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