During pregnancy, most of the nutritional demands are for the normal growth and development of the fetus. After birth, the mother still has increased needs to replenish her nutrient stores from blood loss during childbirth and for faster recovery and healing from giving birth. As she starts to breastfeed, her body will continuously manufacture breastmilk from the mother’s fat stores and the nutrient quality of the breast milk will depend on the quality of her diet.
Breast milk production is an energy consuming process which burns up to 500 - 700 calories per day which is equivalent to 1.5 hours of jogging. Thus, exclusive breastfeeding can help mothers lose excess weight gained during pregnancy together with adequate nutrition and physical activity. The Philippine Dietary Reference Intakes (PDRI, 2015) recommends an additional 500 calories to the average daily energy intake of 1900 calories for Filipino Females 19-29 y.o., thus a total of 2400 kcal per day for breastfeeding women. An additional 27 g. of protein per day is recommended to support breast milk production which is the main dietary protein source of the infant. Here is a sample meal plan checklist or template that breastfeeding women may use to achieve these recommendations:
1. Vegetables - Up to 6 servings per day of any of the following:
● ½ cup of any single or mixed vegetable per serving
2. Fruits - Up to 6 servings per day of any of the following:
● Apple - 1 pc. (75 g) per serving
● Banana - ½ piece per serving
● Dalandan - 3 pcs (155 g) per serving
● Grapes - 5-12 pcs. (55 g) per serving
● Honeydew - ¾ cup (100 g) per serving
● Cantaloupe - 1 ¼ cup (200 g) per serving
● Orange Kiat Kiat - 3 pcs per serving
● Orange Ponkan - 1 pc. per serving
● Papaya - ¾ cup (90 g) per serving
● Pear - ½ pc. (95 g) per serving
● Pineapple - ½ cup (80 g) per serving
● Suha - 2 segments per serving
● Watermelon - 1 cup (150 g) per serving
3. Whole Milk - At least 2 servings per day of any of the following:
● Powdered Adult Milk - 4 Tbsp per serving
● Fresh Whole Milk - 1 cup per serving
4. Rice, Bread, Pasta and Root Crops - Up to 8 servings per day of any of the following:
● ½ cup brown rice per serving
● 1 cup bihon/sotanghon per serving
● ½ cup pasta per serving
● 1 ½ piece pandesal per serving
● 1 ½ slices whole wheat bread per serving
● ½ pc. corn per serving
● ¼ cup cornstarch per serving
● ¾ cup gabi per serving
● ¾ cup kamote per serving
● 1 cup ube per serving
● 1 saba per serving
● ½ cup sago per serving
● 1 ¼ cup potato per serving
● Instant Oatmeal - 5 Tbsp per serving
● Rolled Oatmeal - 5 Tbsp per serving
5. Beans, Legumes, Chicken, Fish and Poultry - Up to 6 servings per day of any of the following:
● Cooked beans - ½ cup per serving
● Lean meat, matchbox size (35 g) per serving
● Bangus (35 g) per serving
● Tilapia - ½ slice (35 g) per serving
● Hipon - 4 pcs (40 g) per serving
● Tuna - ¼ cup per serving
● Tahong - ½ cup shelled (130g) per serving
● Tofu - ½ cup (100 g) per serving
● Tokwa - 1 pc (70 g) per serving
6. Nuts and Seeds, Oils and Fats - Up to 10 servings per day of any of the following:
● Avocado (65 g) per serving
● Olive oil - 1 tsp (5 g) per serving
● Canola oil - 1 tsp (5 g) per serving
● Almond - 7 pcs. (8 g) per serving
● Cashew, rstd - 6 pcs whole (8 g) per serving
● Pili - 5 pcs (7 g) per serving
● Peanut butter - ½ Tbsp (10 g) per serving
● Sunflower seeds - 1 Tbsp (8 g) per serving
● Walnut - 2 pcs (7 g) per serving
● Flaxseed - 2 ½ tsp (8 g) per serving
● Pumpkin seed - 1 Tbsp (10 g) per serving
● Sesame seed - 1 Tbsp (8 g) per serving
● Mayonnaise - 1 tsp (5 g) per serving
● Mayonnaise, lite - 1 Tbsp (15 g) per serving
7. Added Sugar, Candies and Jams - Up to 5 servings per day of any of the following:
● 1 tsp sugar (20 calories) per serving
● 1 tsp coconut sugar (20 calories, lower glycemic index) per serving
● ½ tsp stevia blend (2x sweeter, 0 calories) per serving
● Chocolate (5 g) per serving
● Condensed milk (1 tsp) per serving
● Gulaman (15 g) per serving
Some Additional Tips:
● Malunggay is a natural galactagogue that helps enhance breast milk production. You can try broth dishes with Malunggay such as Tinola, Dinengdeng or Ginataang Manok with Malunggay.
● Continue taking iron supplement, folic acid and vitamin B complex after delivery to help replenish iron stores from blood loss and to prevent anemia.
● You can eat Vitamin C-rich foods such as Papaya as a snack to help speed up wound healing in case of tears and wounds from cesarean delivery.
● Have at least 2 glasses of adult milk or maternity milk per day for adequate supply of calcium for breastmilk and to protect your bones from calcium loss because the body will extract calcium from the bones for breastmilk production if your dietary intake is poor.
● Limit intake of caffeinated beverages such as coffee, energy drinks and some sodas up to 1 cup per day because caffeine can pass through the breastmilk and make the baby more irritable. You may choose lower caffeinated beverages such as tea or choose decaffeinated coffee or tea.
/AET
References:
La leche league international (n.d.). Weight Loss - For Mothers. Retrieved from https://www.llli.org/breastfeeding-info/weight-loss-mothers/
Food and Nutrition Research Institute - Department of Science and Technology. (2015). Philippine Dietary Reference Intakes.
Nutritionist-Dietitians’ Association of the Philippines (2010).
DOST-FNRI. Food Exchange Lists for Meal Planning, 4th ed.
Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed) [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 2006-. Moringa. [Updated 2021 Feb 15]. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK501899/
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