Taisiya Lipina

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Breastfeeding is a natural process established by nature itself. The unity of mother and baby helps the newborn to feel love and care, and the mother to establish a psycho-emotional connection with the baby.

And in order for the feeding process to be painless for two, you need to find out how the nutrition of a young mother affects the quality and taste of breast milk.

How does a mother's diet affect the quality of her baby's milk?

Healthy and nutritious nutrition of the mother determines the composition of breast milk and its quantity.

Protein that enters the body with mother's milk– one of the main components responsible for the growth of a child and the formation of his nervous system. A lack of protein in a baby’s body can negatively affect its development.

Important!

An excess of easily digestible carbohydrates in the mother's diet (confectionery, honey, sugar, jam, chocolate, breakfast cereals, grapes and bananas) makes breast milk very sweet. Such milk can cause dysbiosis in a newborn.

That is why it is important for a nursing mother to remember that sugar in her body is released not only from sweets, but also from other foods, and then in the right amount enters the baby’s body with breast milk in the form of milk sugar (lactose).

What foods should be included in a nursing woman's diet?

The daily calorie intake for a young mother is 3000-3200 calories. This is enough for both mother and baby - the energy costs for one breastfeeding are 500-800 calories, the rest will serve as energy for the mother herself. But exceeding the norm can provoke hypogalactia- decrease in the amount of breast milk until it disappears.

To ensure that the baby and mother feel good, pediatricians recommend that breastfeeding women adhere to rules 1-1-4- this is the ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, and eat healthy foods in quantities sufficient for two.

Healthy foods in the diet of a nursing woman:

• Lean fish (protein, vitamin D).
• Dairy and fermented milk products (protein, calcium).
• Liver (folic acid).
• Cereals (millet, oatmeal, buckwheat – vitamin B1).
• Cottage cheese, cheeses (vitamin B2).
• Butter, eggs, pork, beef liver (vitamin A).
• Carrots, greens (beta-carotene).
• Red bell pepper, currants, sea buckthorn (vitamin C).
• Walnuts (increase the fat content of milk, making it more nutritious).

You should also not forget about the rules for drinking fluids: The daily fluid intake for a nursing woman is no more than 2 liters. Excess fluid impairs the properties of breast milk, making it watery and diluted.

In the first months of life, the child is especially sensitive to substances that come with mother's milk, so the young mother should pay special attention to composing her diet. Improper nutrition of the mother can cause diathesis, colic, bloating, and diarrhea in the child.

These products are prohibited for women during breastfeeding:

• White cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli (cause bloating, provoke colic in the baby).
• Legumes (provoke flatulence in a newborn).
• Citrus fruits (can provoke diathesis).
• Smoked meats (contain harmful substances that can cause allergies in a child).
• Fried and fatty foods (promotes colic).
• Mushrooms (can cause severe digestive upset in a baby).
• A large amount of pasta and bakery products (causes fermentation and gas formation in the child).
• Carbonated drinks (dyes contained in drinks can cause allergies in a newborn).
• Coffee (stimulates the child’s nervous system).

Reasons why newborns refuse to drink breast milk

There are several main reasons why a baby refuses mother's milk:

1. Maternal malnutrition- if a woman consumes spicy, fatty, smoked foods, onions, garlic and various spices, then her milk may acquire an unpleasant taste for the child. Medicines and herbs can also change the taste of milk. Before taking any medications, a nursing mother should consult her doctor.
2. Teething- this painful process for the baby can be the reason for breast refusal. Pay attention to your child's gums - if they are swollen and enlarged, it means he is teething.
3. Bottle feeding- another reason for refusing breastfeeding, because it is much easier for a baby to suck milk from a bottle. Having become accustomed to receiving it quickly and effortlessly, the child refuses his mother’s breast.
4. Runny nose- when a baby’s nose is stuffy, he cannot suck milk and breathe at the same time, so before feeding you should clear the baby’s nose of dry crusts and mucus.

During the period of breastfeeding, a woman gives her baby more than just milk - she boosts the baby’s immunity, lays the foundations for his health, but most importantly, the mother gives her love.

During feeding, the baby feels protected next to his mother. This is what makes feeding a newborn doubly comfortable and enjoyable. On the other hand, mothers who have lost milk do not need to reproach themselves - it is important to learn to give their love to the baby in a different way.

Rules for creating a menu for a nursing woman

The main principle of creating a diet for a nursing woman is the mother’s needs and the baby’s reaction to certain foods. Everything should be tasty and healthy for both you and your child.

We create a menu for the breastfeeding period:

1. We focus on those products that are allowed and do not cause health problems for the child. From the 2nd month of the baby’s life, we gradually begin to introduce one new product into the mother’s daily diet.
2. When preparing a dish, it is advisable to follow the rule of light food processing (cook in a double boiler, slow cooker, bake in the oven, stew in a tightly sealed container).
3. We do not consume products containing preservatives, dyes, thickeners, flavor enhancers, as well as exotic fruits and vegetables.
4. During the first month of a child’s life, we do not consume foods that cause bloating and colic in the baby.
5. If an allergic reaction occurs in the baby, we gradually exclude foods that may be the cause.
6. The best drinks for a nursing mother to drink are water, dried fruit compote, and tea.
7. The diet of a nursing woman should be complete and not meager in terms of food - the richer your menu, the better.

Menu for 7 days

When creating an individual diet, use the lists of permitted and prohibited foods, and try to diversify your diet as much as possible.

Monday:

Breakfast. Buckwheat porridge in water with sunflower oil, dried fruit compote.
Dinner. Chicken breast soup, 200 g mashed potatoes.
Afternoon snack. Stewed vegetables (carrots, zucchini, eggplants, bell peppers, onions).
Dinner. A glass of kefir.

Tuesday:

Breakfast. Cheese pancakes with sour cream, tea.
Dinner. Soup with buckwheat and boiled meat, 1 quail egg.
Afternoon snack. 200 g cottage cheese casserole with cherries.
Dinner. 200 g beet salad with olive oil.

Wednesday:

Breakfast. A glass of yogurt.
Dinner. Soup with beef meatballs, 100 g of rice with stewed vegetables.
Afternoon snack. Baked apples (green) in dough.
Dinner. 200 g.

Thursday:

Breakfast. Kefir, biscuits.
Dinner. Fish soup, 100 g buckwheat porridge, 1 chicken egg.
Afternoon snack. Fruit of your choice (peach, several plums) and 30 g of walnuts.
Dinner. Mashed potatoes, 100 g boiled chicken breast, 50 g steamed asparagus.

Friday:

Breakfast. with dried fruits, tea.
Dinner. Vegetarian vegetable soup with sour cream, 100 g oatmeal, 100 g boiled turkey.
Afternoon snack. A piece of watermelon.
Dinner. White omelette.

Saturday:

Breakfast. Baked apples with currants, dried fruit compote.
Dinner. Vegetable puree soup (onions, carrots, celery root, potatoes), 100 g of baked rabbit meat with sour cream.
Afternoon snack. A glass of yogurt.
Dinner. Fish baked with vegetables.

Sunday:

Breakfast. 1 quail egg, 50 g hard cheese, tea.
Dinner. Chicken broth, 200 g vegetable stew.
Afternoon snack. Curd casserole.
Dinner. 100 g boiled turkey, stewed vegetables.

How many hopes are connected in the popular consciousness with the influence of mother’s food on her breast milk! Every mother who has recently given birth receives dozens of advice from relatives and friends about what exactly she needs to eat, when and how, so that there is more milk and so that it is of the most ideal quality for the baby.

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And then it often happens that when the milk begins to decline, the lactation consultant begins to ask the mother what she did to maintain lactation? And she tells in detail: I did everything I could! She ate this and that, and drank liters of tea, and special drinks for lactation...

But, alas, the connection between mother’s nutrition and breast milk is not at all as direct as is often thought. Let's try to figure out what will really bear fruit and what will turn out to be false hope. Let's start with the most popular myths.

THIS IS NOT TRUE

If you drink more, you will get more milk.

This is wrong. Milk production is not related to the amount of fluid consumed, but to the level of feeding hormones, prolactin and oxytocin. They are produced in response to breast stimulation. To improve milk production, the most effective recipe is to feed more often. Any warm drink stimulates the flow of milk: there is no more milk, but it is easier for the baby to suck it out. But if a nursing mother does not want to drink, then there is no need to forcefully pour tea into herself! You can take a warm shower or apply a warm compress to your breasts, they stimulate the flow of milk. The secret is not in the flow of liquid, but in the effect of heat.

A nursing mother should eat dairy products.

And this is a myth. “What about tea with milk or condensed milk,” many will exclaim, “it helped me!” In fact, it could be tea without condensed milk. And even just hot water. The effect would be the same, because oxytocin loves warmth. It is not at all necessary to rely on dairy products to increase lactation. Milk is a source of calcium, but there is much more calcium in sesame seeds, almonds, canned fish, halva, chickpeas, parsley and dill). It just happened historically that dairy products were valued among the people and were treated to nursing mothers. But mothers who do not like dairy do not need to force themselves, lactation will not suffer from this in any way.

If a mother eats fast food, her milk becomes harmful.

In principle, nothing terrible happens to lactation after fast food: the mother’s body has filtering systems that are enough to prevent moderately harmful foods from affecting breast milk. So the baby will not “drink Coca-Cola” directly from the chest. And he won’t have to “chew” pieces of hamburger while grabbing his mother’s nipple. Healthy eating is primarily the interest of the mother herself! If you often eat fast food, then this will have an extremely small effect on breast milk, but on women's health.

Source: pixabay.com

Nuts and sour cream will make the milk fattier.

Alas, this is not true either. Although the fat content of milk varies greatly from the beginning of feeding to the end, its average fat content is more or less constant, and does not depend on the mother’s nutrition. The mother's diet does not affect the amount of fat in breast milk, but it does affect the ratio of fatty acids and different types of fats. And if a nursing mother eats a lot of animals and hard-to-digest fats (lard, fatty meat, cow’s butter and sour cream, nuts), then the fats in breast milk become more viscous. And due to increased viscosity, they leave the breast worse, which creates the preconditions for the development of lactostasis.

PARTIALLY TRUE

Lactation teas increase milk production.

Such teas include many components: manufacturers try to put together a whole bouquet to impress a nursing mother with the power of many herbs. Unfortunately, most scientific studies do not confirm the effect of increasing milk supply. Mothers who have been helped by one or another miracle remedy, in most cases, misinterpret the usual increase in milk flow from a hot drink. There are few herbs in nature that have a lactogenic effect. But they all work not on their own, but in conjunction with frequent feedings with good latching on the breast! These are galega, shatavari, torbangan and milk thistle. Unfortunately, lactogenic teas often include herbs, which are not only useless, but also cause digestive and sleep disorders, nervousness and allergies in mothers and babies. So be careful with multi-ingredient lactation teas: they have an equal chance of helping a little, or not helping at all, and even causing harm.

Source: Shutterstock

A nursing mother should not go on a diet.

It is important for a nursing mother to eat a varied diet and get proteins, fats, carbohydrates, nutrients and minerals from food. A strict diet, which is often recommended after childbirth, is not necessary in most cases. It happens that mom goes on a diet (mainly to lose weight). It is important to know: on a low-carbohydrate diet, a decrease in lactation is often observed (which is not surprising, since carbohydrates are actively used for milk production). But if you eat the same thing as usual, just reduce the size of the portions, this will not affect the amount of milk. Milk production begins to decline only with prolonged (at least half a month) fasting, with clearly insufficient and depleted nutrition.

Vitamins are a must!

Those that a nursing mother receives with a varied diet - yes, of course they are needed. But with synthetic vitamins, not everything is clear. The official position of the Ministry of Health is that multivitamins for nursing mothers are poorly absorbed, can cause side effects in both mother and child, and there is a possibility of nutrient imbalance when taking them. Also, based on research, WHO believes that during breastfeeding, the introduction of multivitamins is not required, with the exception, perhaps, of vitamin B12 for lactating women who are strict vegetarians, calcium supplements for women who do not consume milk and dairy products, and iron supplements - if proven iron deficiency. Everything else is strictly according to indications! If you have reason to believe there is a deficiency of some vitamin or microelement, then yes, but drinking synthetic vitamins just like that, for the purpose of prevention, is not recommended.

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AND THIS IS SO!

∙ginger can increase lactation. This spice has long been used in eastern countries to improve health and increase milk production. The effect is most noticeable in the first few days after birth. The study did not find any side effects, so feel free to include cookies, gingerbread with ginger, hot ginger drinks in your diet - everything will come in handy!
∙Fenugreek, a seasoning with a spicy-nutty odor, has been used for centuries as a lactogon. Fenugreek is known under the names “shambhala”, “helba” and “fenugreek”. Like other lactogens, it does not perform miracles. But if you often feed or stimulate lactation by pumping, then with the help of fenugreek, milk production will be more active. Fenugreek seeds can be brewed with or instead of tea, or you can find fenugreek cheese.

The composition of milk will be well affected... Let us remind you: there is no such thing as “inferior milk”: the child always receives from his mother the substances he needs for growth and development. And most of the components of breast milk do not depend in any way on the nutrition of the mother herself. However, there are some substances, the content of which still changes in milk depending on the mother's food.

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• Omega-3 fatty acids , their content in human milk depends on the mother’s menu. Omega-3 is considered food for the brain, which means that those babies whose mothers include fatty ocean fish in their diet have a chance to become smarter. In addition to fish and seafood, omega-3 fatty acids are found in pumpkin, green leafy vegetables, red beans, flaxseeds and flaxseed oil.
• B vitamins in breast milk also depend on the mother’s nutrition. These vitamins affect the speed of metabolic processes, the health of the eyes and liver, and the growth of the nervous system. The baby will have a good level of B vitamins if the mother receives them fully from food. Common sources of B vitamins are fish, meat, rice, eggs, green leafy vegetables, nuts and legumes.
• Selenium in small quantities is necessary for adequate functioning of the hormonal system and helps to better absorb vitamin E, which is important for health. The child’s body needs little selenium; its intake through breast milk depends on the mother’s diet. Liver, eggs, corn, legumes, rice, barley and wheat are rich in selenium.
• Polyamines- substances that help the baby’s intestines mature in the first weeks of life. Even if at first the newborn reacts negatively to the mother’s diet, which is reflected in her milk, then thanks to the action of polyamines this reaction disappears. The content of polyamines in breast milk depends on nutrition. There are many of these substances in citrus fruits, meat and legumes. And when a nursing mother is advised to follow a strict diet to prevent allergies in her baby, the opposite effect is actually achieved: the poorer the mother’s diet, the fewer polyamines in her milk and the slower the maturation of the baby’s digestive system.

Currently, there is still a fairly widespread myth that during feeding it is necessary to adhere to a strict diet. Thus, according to our survey, about 90% of respondents (1040 people surveyed) followed, or at least tried to follow, a diet while breastfeeding. Perhaps the roots of this idea go back to Soviet times, when motherhood, including breastfeeding, was viewed as something difficult and heroic. By definition, a “good” mother must courageously go through all the trials associated with feeding. A strict diet is one of these tests. Therefore, a few decades ago, many mothers “didn’t worry” about diets and easily switched to artificial feeding. Thus, an absurd paradox arises:

For a baby, artificial formula is considered a much better option than breast milk from a mother who does not follow a diet.

For example, if a mother ate borscht and fed her, then this, according to most doctors, is something terrible. And a raw apple, especially a forbidden red one, is doubly terrible! And the mixture - please, for your health! Naturally, this idea is completely wrong. Therefore, before blindly believing anyone’s recommendations about nutrition during breastfeeding, let’s still think about how the diet of a nursing mother affects breast milk.

1. How does nutrition affect the quality of milk? How to increase the fat content of breast milk?

It is currently believed that

milk quality, including fat content,

practically in no way depend on the mother’s nutrition!

Therefore, recommendations such as, for example: “you need to eat more high-calorie foods so that the milk is fattier” do not in any way contribute to increasing the fat content of breast milk. Basically, the fat content of milk depends on the following factors:

Age of the child (fat content increases slightly with the age of the baby, especially closer to two years of feeding),

Frequency and duration of feeding (with more frequent feedings, the fat content will be higher than with less frequent feedings; with longer feedings, the fat content also increases);

Time of day (usually by noon, it is believed that the fat content of milk is slightly higher);

May be genetically determined.

The color of expressed milk is not an indicator of the fat content of the milk. If you express your breasts before feeding, then more often than not, the milk will be less fatty: as they often say, bluish and watery. This does not mean that the mother does not have enough fat in her milk. Since breast milk is an emulsion and not a solution, the fat droplets adhere (stick) to the walls of the ducts. Therefore, when expressing, we see less fatty milk. During feeding, the baby will suck out fattier milk, since droplets of fat will come off the walls of the duct during vigorous sucking.

2. How much and what should you eat to increase your milk supply? Is it necessary to eat “for two”?

Quite often you can hear the recommendation that, since the feeding process is an energy-intensive process, the nursing mother needs to eat more than usual. It is not worth eating for two, since during feeding you need an additional 500 kilocalories per day. For clarity: 500 kilocalories is, for example, an additional bowl of soup or a side dish with a cutlet. The main thing you should focus on is, first of all, your appetite. If you want to eat, we eat; if you don’t want to, we don’t eat.

Increasing your diet has virtually no effect on your milk supply!

Studies have shown that when the nutrition of lactating women increases by 700 kilocalories, the amount of milk does not increase. Additional nutrition can go into fat reserves and subcutaneous fat, but not into milk.

3. How much liquid should a nursing mother drink?

Usually during feeding the mother feels thirsty. This is completely normal and is one of the effects of the hormone oxytocin released during feeding. Therefore, you must drink according to your thirst.

That is, if you want to drink, we drink; if you don’t want to, we don’t drink.

Increasing the amount of fluid consumed does not affect the amount of milk. If mom drinks 5 liters a day, then there will be the same amount of milk as she would drink when thirsty. All the “extra” fluid will be an additional burden for the excretory system. Therefore, when milk comes in, for example, in the first days after childbirth, there is no point in limiting yourself to drinking. This does not affect the amount of milk. And for the selection process - yes. That is, in a state of dangerous thirst, the amount of oxytocin decreases, so milk is difficult to secrete.

The temperature of the liquid consumed also affects the process of milk secretion. Hot drink leads to the release of oxytocin, that is, to a rush. Therefore, when milk comes in strongly, it would be more reasonable not to drink hot drinks, but to drink liquids (tea, water, etc.) at room temperature.

4.What can a nursing mother eat? What foods are prohibited during breastfeeding?

This is the “hottest” issue for discussion, since there are absolutely diametrically opposed views on this issue.

Let's think about it. First of all, whether we like it or not, we still belong to the class of mammals. It is difficult to imagine that any other mammals sharply limited or adjusted their diet during the period of breastfeeding. Probably, after all, nature was not mistaken; any newborn, through mother’s milk, adapts to its specific diet. And we are no exception. How did the child eat during the period of intrauterine development? Basically, he received nutrients from his mother through the placenta - transplacental nutrition. In addition, the child receives an idea of ​​taste through the amniotic fluid. Thus, during the period of intrauterine development, the child gets used to a certain composition of products. It is logical that after birth, products “familiar” to the child will be more preferable. And, conversely, it will be more difficult for the mother to “get to know” new products in her diet: the risk of unwanted reactions may increase. Therefore, it is most preferable after childbirth not to change your diet dramatically, but to stick to approximately the same diet as during pregnancy. The importance of a rational, more or less healthy and balanced diet, in my opinion, is more relevant during pregnancy. Within 9 months, both mother and child adapt to this diet. Therefore, there is no need to suddenly change your diet after childbirth.

What foods should a nursing mother not eat?

Such products do not exist!

We must not forget that nutrients from the mother’s blood, before entering lactocytes (cells that secrete breast milk), pass through the hemato-milk barrier, which is similar in permeability to the placental barrier. Thus, not all substances can pass through this barrier. Therefore, you can almost always choose a medicine that is practically compatible with breastfeeding.

But what about foods that cause increased gas formation? Cabbage, legumes? Is this really ok for a nursing mother to eat? Yes, of course you can. Currently, no studies confirm that gas-forming foods in the diet of a nursing mother lead to increased gas production in the child. Another thing is how many of these foods did mom eat? A bowl of coleslaw? Probably, in this case, the mother herself will really not be very comfortable. And, apparently, the child too. By the way, according to reviews from many nursing mothers who adhere to a vegetarian diet or even a raw food diet, their children did not react negatively to their diet.

But, if the mother thinks that the child is “farting” after eating a plate of borscht, then she, of course, can, for her own peace of mind, exclude this borscht for several days. And try it again after a while. Perhaps it was a coincidence.

I think that in any case, food that is familiar to mom in a reasonable amount will be the optimal solution.

What about apples? Do you have to bake them? What about cucumbers? - If these fruits and vegetables are part of a nursing mother’s usual diet, then there is no point in excluding them from her diet.

Does the mother’s diet really have no effect on the child at all? Yes, indeed, some children (not all!) can react to certain substances present in breast milk. First of all, for a foreign protein. These are, first of all, partially digested proteins of cow's milk, eggs, and nuts. It is precisely these products, if they were practically absent from the mother’s diet during pregnancy, that are introduced with caution.

5. How to eat if a child is allergic? How long does it take for a child to react to foods eaten by the mother?

If there is a suspicion that the child has reacted to any foods consumed by the mother with an allergic reaction (most often, skin rashes), then such foods are temporarily excluded from the diet. After some time, you can try reintroducing the “suspected” foods into the diet, preferably in very small quantities, and once again monitor the child’s reaction. The reaction can occur, on average, after 1-4 hours, sometimes longer. If the reaction appears again, then such products are temporarily excluded from the diet.

It is not always only food that is to blame for allergies; there are also completely other options that also cannot be excluded: cosmetics, household chemicals, water in which a child is bathed, animals in the house, etc.

If a mother completely excludes some foods from her diet, then the risk of the child developing an allergy to these foods increases. Indeed, such products will be completely unknown to the child at the time when he himself begins to eat them; it is possible that the body may react to the new product. Therefore, it seems quite logical to continue introducing the child to products in the following chain:

mother’s nutrition during pregnancy – mother’s nutrition during breastfeeding – baby’s nutrition during the period of introducing complementary foods.

That is, in all links of this chain the nutrition should be approximately the same. This reduces the risk of allergic reactions.

If a child suffers from allergies, then it is very important to continue breastfeeding for as long as possible, since breastfeeding (especially after a year) reduces the occurrence of allergic reactions and is “their” food for the child.

I would like to note that sometimes hormonal rashes in newborns are confused with an allergic reaction. Hormonal cleansing rashes are typical for a child during the first 2-3 months, and are in no way related to the mother’s diet. With hormonal rashes (neonatal acne), small red pimples with a white center are observed. Their peculiarity is the so-called volatility: in the morning the pimple is in one place, by the evening it disappears, but appears in a new place. In addition, such rashes are localized mainly on the face and less often on the chest.

Thus, in nature there is no special diet for nursing mothers. You should not limit yourself to those foods that your mother always ate before and which are the main food for a particular family. If the child really reacted with allergic rashes to any product from the mother’s diet, then the mother excludes such a product from her diet for a while and after a while it is gradually introduced again. If a mother begins to use a new product while breastfeeding, then such a product is introduced in small or moderate quantities, monitoring the baby's reaction.

I believe that breastfeeding should not be associated with artificial restrictions in the nutrition of the nursing mother, strict diets, etc. Let me return to the results of the survey we conducted, which was discussed at the beginning of the article. It turned out that in the group in which mothers continued to eat during the feeding period the same way as during pregnancy, there were significantly fewer problems with breastfeeding than in those groups that adhered to the diet during feeding.

And, of course, the breast milk of any mother with any diet for the child, in principle, cannot be compared with an artificial formula.

That is, no matter what the mother eats or drinks, her milk will always be in a different qualitative dimension than the artificial formula

Therefore, I am bewildered and feel that I am being deceived when someone recommends strict restrictions on a nursing diet and at the same time absolutely calmly considers artificial formula an equivalent replacement.

Feed and stay healthy!

Kastakovskaya Elena,

lactation consultant,

Center "Art of Motherhood", Kharkov

What is the reason for the “unreasonable” crying of babies? The simplest idea is this: in the first weeks of life, the inevitable colonization of the body occurs, and. The body was previously sterile, and now it is filled with guests - the immune system has every right to react to this with inflammation. And inflammation, as you and I know, is redness + swelling + pain. Pain.

But when doctors say “nothing can be done about a baby’s crying, just endure it like a natural disaster,” then mothers (and especially grandmothers) consider them bad doctors. “Look,” the grandmothers say, “he’s kicking his legs. This means your stomach hurts. This is because you have the wrong milk. You ate peas and cabbage, and now the baby has gas."

The idea is, of course, strange. Mom ate peas and cabbage. Gases are formed in the mother's intestines. And for gases to form in a child, peas/cabbage must enter the child’s intestines. This requires that they be absorbed into the mother’s blood without being digested, and then pass unchanged into breast milk. - But this is nonsense!

Or not?

Cabbage and peas provide gas formation due to the fact that they contain carbohydrates that are not digestible by humans. They calmly pass through the stomach and small intestine and, unchanged, reach the large intestine, where they are digested by bacteria - hence the gases. Peas also have an additional weapon - . They prevent a person from digesting proteins, the proteins reach the bacteria - here a lot of odorous gases are released at once. Therefore, in order to cause gas formation in a baby, stachyose, raffinose and blockers must enter the mother's milk.

In the mother’s digestive system, all three of these, as we agreed, are not digested. The next test is absorption: can large molecules be absorbed from the digestive system into the blood? - They can. First, large molecules can penetrate the gaps between intestinal epithelial cells. Secondly, the intestinal epithelium is single-layered - what happens if an epithelial cell falls off due to old age or damage? - new cells will take its place, but this will not happen instantly; for some time, in the place of the fallen cell there will be a hole through which anyone can penetrate.

Thank God, blood from the digestive system enters the liver, where it is purified: “The destruction of a number of harmful substances occurs to a large extent already during the first passage through the liver of blood flowing from the gastrointestinal tract through the portal vein.” - Wait, what do you mean “to a large extent”? It turns out that the liver does not destroy all foreign substances the first time and sends them into the bloodstream? - Treason! It’s time to go give in to the grandmothers: “If cows eat grass, which includes rapeseed, buttercups, wild radish, field mustard, then a vicious taste and smell appears in the milk. Milk defects are observed when cows are fed excessively with rutabaga tops, turnips, and cabbage leaves.”

Babies cry to attract the attention of their parents and force them to take care of themselves - to feed, warm, treat, entertain, change diapers. Parents have a corresponding reflex: when children cry nearby, adults feel uncomfortable (crying is unpleasant, you want to stop it). If some parents have this reflex broken, it creates a great risk for their children; accordingly, such broken genes are poorly passed on to subsequent generations.

A 1996 study found that maternal consumption of cruciferous vegetables, cow's milk, onions and chocolate while breastfeeding increased the likelihood of colic in babies. (English)

“On the wall in front of his desk was a long shelf filled with potions and devices used to stop babies crying. There were bottles of Gripe Water, CDs with recordings of the mother's heartbeat, a machine that simulates the sound of wind after a speeding car, a device that attaches to the bottom of the crib and makes the mattress vibrate. There was also a collection of slings and heating pads designed to treat colicky babies, and an electronic device, apparently popular in Europe, called "WhyCry", which "interprets" a baby's cries and displays five types of messages on its screen: "I'm hungry" , “I want to sleep”, “bored”, “scary” and “discomfort”.

© D.V. Pozdnyakov, 2009-2019

In order to satisfy your curiosity, I placed a special table at the beginning of the article. Next, we will take a closer look at those components of breast milk (HM) that are influenced by the nutrition of a nursing mother.

Table. The influence of a nursing mother's diet on the volume and composition of breast milk

How does a nursing mother's diet affect her total milk volume?

Nutrition for a nursing mother (number of meals and diet) has little effect on the volume of milk produced. In general, if a woman is not fasting and drinks when she's thirsty, her milk production will be relatively stable no matter how balanced her diet is. But, there is information that ingesting less than 1500 kcal per day can reduce milk production, i.e. its actual volume. Breastfeeding in itself is a rather energy-intensive process; milk production takes about 700 kcal per day. Therefore, in the absence of any hormonal problems, breastfeeding promotes systematic weight loss and extreme diets can be dangerous for both the mother and lactation.

Fats

As can be seen from the table, unlike carbohydrates and proteins, fats fall under the influence maternal diet and now we will look at how this happens.

Breast milk fat is one of the most variable quantities. The fat content of milk varies during one feeding, depending on the time of day and even from one mammary gland to another.

Many studies have been carried out, which have shown that Breastfeeding mom's diet may affect GM fats. But not the total fat content of the milk! Now I will explain in more detail.

98% of GM fats consist of triglycerides. A triglyceride molecule consists of glycerol and three fatty acids attached to it.

And it is their diversity that directly depends on what kind of nutrition for nursing mother. This is especially true for omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Since both of these fatty acids NOT synthesized in the body, then their quantity in the GM, as well as their accumulation in the child’s body on exclusive breastfeeding, entirely depends on their intake into the mother’s body with food.

In our country, due to the peculiarities of its geographical location, the most pressing issue is the lack of omega-3 fatty acids. The main source for the absorption of omega-3 is food of animal origin, in particular fatty fish. Moreover, I would like to add on my own that it does not have to be salmon, halibut or trout. A reasonable alternative is, for example, mackerel. It is also impossible not to mention that if, for various reasons, you cannot or do not want to eat fish, you can replace it with dietary supplements - fish oil or purified omega-3 fatty acid.

As a rule, there are fewer problems with omega-6 deficiency, since its main source is vegetable oils, and we use them regularly.

Thus, it would be incorrect to say that, for example, whether you ate fried or steamed potatoes for dinner today will determine the fat content of your breast milk. Those. It is impossible to influence the total fat content of milk by deliberately consuming a lot of fat! Rather, depending on the balance of your diet as a whole (the ratio of plant and animal fats in the diet), the “healthy” fat content of your milk for the baby will depend.

Vitamins and minerals

GM vitamins and minerals, according to their dependence on the nutrition of a nursing mother, are conventionally divided into two groups.

Group 1, This:

1. Fat-soluble vitamins: vitamin A, vitamin D.
2. Water-soluble vitamins: thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin B6, choline.
3. Minerals: selenium and iodine.

Group 2, This: folates, calcium, iron, copper and zinc.

The concentration of these substances in GM does not depend from their entry into the mother’s body (i.e., it is always in the GM at a consistently high level), which means that even with insufficient intake from food, they are consumed from the reserves of the female body. BUT it is worth taking into account the fact that taking medications or products containing the above substances Mom needs it first, not the baby.

In the next article we will talk in more detail about some of the most important GM nutrients, depending on what the nursing mother is eating.