Higher fat, rather than high-carb, diet appears to have benefits for nursing mothers and their babies
Posted on 8 May 2009
Partly because I have never and am never going to breastfeed, I am wary about advocating it. I do genuinely believe that women who want to benefit should be given every available support and encouragement. On the other hand, if a woman chooses not to breastfeed or cannot breastfeed for some reason, then as a culture we should be able to allow this situation without judgement or criticism.
While it
Published May 8, 2009 . Filed under: Brain and Behaviour, Children's Health, Healthy Eating, Pregnancy and Fertility, Weight Loss, Women's Health
Not only that is necessary to eat a diet higher in fat, but care should be taken regarding the important vitamins and minerals for the production of milk and the healthy growth of the fetus. Vit D!, K, A, all fat soluble, should form a part of the diet, from quality fats (grass fed animals) No need to mention the omega 3s. On the other hand, the mother should lower her toxic load (babies get born with toxic chemicals in their system!) maybe even months before conceiving by not using the usual cosmetic products full of chemicals that might affect her fertility and that of the child or cleaning products in the house, VOC from paints, furniture, mercury from new fillings, particulates from car pollution, etc. Some women nowadays in these highly individualistic and selfish times do not want to bear the responsibility for the health of their child and of their offspring, do not want to feel guilty and choose not to consider these facts as it would affect their daily routine too much.
Check the Weston A. Price foundation if interested.
Not being able to breastfeed or choosing not to breastfeed because of tiredness or lazyness is different. I wish I could breastfeed my children for longer but they stopped at about 8 months and 1 year respectively.
May 8, 2009 @ 2:40 pm
Mom Blogs – Blogs for Moms…
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May 8, 2009 @ 3:04 pm
Thanks goodness more research about what to eat when breastfeeding! I could find so little when I started breastfeeding and it seemed so critical at the time when one is bombarded with opinions from everywoman and her dog. Most of which I ignored but I did find the Australian Breastfeeding Association webste (although I live in Africa and am British) really helpful. If I remember correctly they seemed to suggest that avoiding too much wheat and dairy was a good idea when one has a colicky baby. I had a difficult time for various reasons but although I would quite like a medal for waiting until baby was 2years 3 months before finally forcing her off my boobs- I wouldn’t have done it any other way. Breastfeeding and parenting technique can be very polarising and I am no longer in touch with an old friend because our approaches were so different and our feelings so sensitive that is was easier to let the friendship slide. But nutrition and effect of the brastfeeding mothers diet on the baby’s digestion etc, well the general percieved wisdom needs an overhaul.
May 8, 2009 @ 3:50 pm
Simona is right to advocate good nutrition and avoidance of toxics for pregnant and lactating women. But this too often is seen as a ‘reason’ to not breastfeed. So instead we use fallible bacterially-contaminated industrially-produced multi-mix products that carry a far wider variety of nasty chemicals (oestrogen disruptors, heavy metals, plasticisers etc etc) than breastmilk; and providing the wrong types and amounts of protein with highly variable mixture of fats, some made by GM soil fungi and marine algae – all while lacking the thousands of components that interact positively with the developing child’s body. These artificial mixtures – very imprecise and ever changing ‘formulas’ – increase the risk of everything from DNA damage to diabetes and obesity, reduced cognitive potential, rejected transplants and CVD risk in later life – both for infants AND their bottle feeding mothers. The industry that brought us Vioxx et al also brings us formula: why are we so uncritically accepting? Dear Dr Briffa, learn more about formula, and you will be making strenuous efforts to see that women are enabled to breastfeed, so saving zillions of tax dollars. Prof Peter Hartmann has called infant formula the tobacco of the 21st century. Read Breastfeeding Matters to learn more about that largest uncontrolled in vivo experiment in human history, artificial feeding. Just like alcohol abuse, artificial feeding is a public health issue that should not be encouraged by those with access to knowledge of its harms. 100 years of advertising has created a society that depends on bottle feeding, but we can create a society where all human babies get human milk, if we value it properly, and publicise the whole truth about alternatives. Every baby deserves the breast (or breastmilk from a milkbank).
May 8, 2009 @ 5:16 pm
Breastfeeding women on merely 1800 calories a day?
May 8, 2009 @ 6:42 pm
Antje
Yes, both diets were deliberately ‘hypocaloric’.
May 8, 2009 @ 6:49 pm