Diet & Foods to Avoid While Breastfeeding

Foods to Avoid During Breast Feeding

Diet is of utmost importance to breastfeeding moms. The first thing that most moms would like to know is what foods to avoid while breastfeeding. Quite obviously there are a few things that you should avoid while breastfeeding. They are as follows:

Coffee: This is because caffeine finds its way into breast milk and is likely to build up in your baby's system. Baby's cannot process and excrete caffeine as efficiently as adults can.

Alcohol: Drinking while breastfeeding is strictly prohibited. Too much alcohol could influence your milk let down.

Spicy food should be restricted or completely avoided as it could make the baby irritable and fussy.

Avoid eating garlic in the raw form as it could give your breast milk a slight garlic-like flavor which your baby would hardly enjoy.

Peanuts: If you have a medical history of food allergies it would be advisable to avoid peanuts and other kinds of nuts.

Dairy Products: Most babies are intolerant to cow's milk-based products. Consuming dairy products such as cheese, yoghurt and ice cream could cause allergens to enter your breast milk and thereby affect your baby.

If either you or your partner has a shrimp or lobster allergy, you might want to avoid consuming any kind of shellfish while breastfeeding.

Other types of foods to be avoided include eggs, soy, parsley, corn and peppermint.

Dieting while breastfeeding is not recommended as restricting the intake of certain types of food groups might actually do more harm than good. It is important to make sure that the diet of a breastfeeding mom be holistic and high in its nutritive value.

References

American Academy of Pediatrics. New Mother's Guide to Breastfeeding. Meek JY, ed. New York, NY: Bantam Books; 2002
Kramer MS, Chalmers B, Hodnett ED, et al. Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial (PROBIT): a randomized trial in the Republic of Belarus. JAMA. 2001;285 :413 –420