Foods to Avoid While BreastfeedingYou probably have a general idea that there are some foods to avoid while breastfeeding but do you understand the reasons why? Certain foods can make or break your nutrient account. During the last trimester of your pregnancy, your body donates large percentages of your stored nutrients to your baby to ensure them the best start in life. As a result, many women enter motherhood nutritionally depleted and exhausted. The commonly accepted myth that your diet does not affect the quality of your breast milk is simply that, a myth. Your diet and your nutrition affect both the quality of your breast milk and the health of your baby. Remember that the goal of successful breastfeeding is a healthy child. Signs and symptoms of nutritional depletion include:
Breastfeeding mothers may also experience the following symptoms as a result of nutritional depletion:
In my practice, one of the most common presentations for new mum’s suffering from fatigue, anxiety, depression or loss of sex drive is a low fat diet combined with a tendency to either skip breakfast or have a sugar/carb dominant breakfast with sugar laden snacks such as muffins, biscuits, cake, chocolate, jam or honey on toast and juice throughout the day. As a new mother or breast feeding mother it is very important to realise that your body’s requirements for fat and protein are much higher than normal. A balanced meal consists of Fat + Protein + Carbohydrate. Breakfast, lunch and dinner should all be balanced meals. Some of the foods to avoid while breastfeeding include: NEVER SKIP BREAKFAST Skipping breakfast will result in a blood sugar level crash later in the day. When your blood sugar level crashes you will feel tired and fatigued and will not cope well with stress. When your blood sugar level crashes, your brain will put your body into flight and fight mode to mobilise stored energy from your muscles to supply your brain with fuel. As a result of being in fight and flight mode, your nervous system will respond to all stress as though it was life threatening. As a result you will feel anxious and overwhelmed, especially in the early to late afternoon. It is no wonder that the witching hour for babies occurs at this time of the day. It coincides with the time of day that their mother’s nervous systems are at an extremely heightened state of stress and anxiety. AVOID SUPERMARKET BREAKFAST CEREALS These cleverly marketed pretend foods are the worst possible way that you could start your day and are top of the list of foods to avoid. They often have a glycaemic index similar to or higher than pure glucose syrup. Eating these cereals for breakfast is not much better than having a chocolate bar. Other foods to avoid at breakfast include jam or honey on toast or muffins. Meals like this are carbs + carbs, they are far from balanced and will result in fatigue, mood swings and anxiety later in the day. Remember your breakfast needs to include fat and protein. FRUIT JUICE IS NOT YOUR FRIEND Freshly squeezed fruit juice is the fashionable new health trend at the moment. Fruit juice, unfortunately is far from healthy. Fruit juice contains no fat or fibre to slow down the absorption of sugar or energy into your body. Fruit juice will give you nothing more than a great bit ‘sugar hit’ followed not long after by a ‘sugar crash’, when your blood sugar level drops and you start to feel anxious, tired, irritable, hungry or stressed. Don’t fall for the hype surrounding fruit juice. It will do nothing to build your health or help you to lose weight. Fruit juice and soft drink share second place on the list of foods to avoid while breastfeeding. FAT IS YOUR FRIEND Many breastfeeding mums think that fat is one of the foods to avoid while breastfeeding, it's not. I have found that the majority of new mums cut fats from their diet in an effort to regain their pre pregnancy physique and body shape. Fat is an essential nutrient which has born the brunt of too much bad press. You need fat to make new body cells and hormones. Your baby needs fat for the same reasons and more. Your baby also needs fat for their growing and developing brain and nervous system, for a strong and robust immune system and a healthy digestive system. In fact fat is probably the most important part of your breast milk. The fatty acid content of your breast milk is heavily influenced by your diet. Animal fats are essential despite what you’ve been led to believe (see The Problem with Politically Correct Nutrition). Arachidonic Acid found primarily in animal fats is crucial for your baby’s brain and retina development (the retina is the light sensitive nerve tissue in the eye responsible for sight). Arachidonic acid is easily as important as the omega 3 essential fatty acid, DHA found in fish oil that has gained lots of attention in the media recently. Breast milk is incredibly rich in cholesterol, essential for nervous system development. Breast milk also contains fat digesting enzymes, called lipases, to ensure that your baby absorbs all of this essential fat in your breast milk. Despite fat being essential for you and your baby there are some fats high on the list of foods to avoid while breastfeeding. These include:
Good sources of essential fats include:
A high fat diet while breastfeeding will result in better energy levels, decreased anxiety, and improved mood will cure sugar cravings. If you’re concerned about weight gain, it’s the sugar and refined carbs you need to worry about, not fat. See Understanding Fats and Oils for more information. If you’re sceptical, you only need to follow the suggestion in Breastfeeding Diet recommendations for a week and note the difference in the wellbeing of you and your baby when you switch back to your usual diet. SUGAR Sugar is considered a ‘negative nutrient’. It is simply providing you with empty calories and robbing your body of precious vitamins and minerals to metabolise it. If you’re struggling with reducing or eliminating sugar from your diet, first increase the fat in your diet, especially at breakfast time and you will find that sugar cravings will become a thing of the past. Sugar containing foods to avoid include flavoured or low fat yoghurt, dried fruit, mueslie bars, snack bars, 'health' bars (these are usually loaded with pure glucose), cordials and jam. If you find that even with diet changes, sugar cravings are a problem, supplementing with mineral Chromium will usually do the trick. Chromium is completely safe and fast working, sugar cravings will go in as a little as a day or two. The dose for chromium to banish sugar cravings is 200mcg three times per day. WHITE FLOUR White flour is simply sugar in disguise. SOFT DRINKS CAFFEINE If you’re struggling with to give up tea and coffee, follow the dietary guidelines in Breastfeeding Diet for a week or two until your blood sugar levels are consistently stable through the day and your energy levels improve. You will then find that you no longer need caffeine to give you the energy to get through the day. Caffeine containing foods to avoid include coffee, tea, cola drinks, energy drinks, guarana and excessive dark chocolate. ALCOHOL CIGGARETTES DRUGS AND MEDICATION Return from Foods To Avoid While Breastfeeding to Breastfeeding Health and Nutrition Return from Foods To Avoid While Breastfeeding to The Natural Health Hub Home |