Do lactating women need calcium supplements?

Breastfeeding women need to eat more foods that can supplement their bodies with nutrients, so as to enhance their immunity and enable their bodies to recover as soon as possible. Calcium is an essential element for the human body. It is a necessary element for bone growth. If the body lacks calcium, it will cause a series of bone problems, such as osteoporosis and so on. Therefore, breastfeeding women should take appropriate calcium supplements to ensure their health.

How long should calcium be supplemented during lactation?

Generally speaking, new mothers need to supplement calcium throughout the pregnancy, but the amount of calcium supplement depends on the calcium content in the mother's body. When a woman is pregnant with a new life, the fetus's bone development needs to absorb about 25-30 grams of calcium from the mother during the entire pregnancy. Due to the regulatory mechanism of the special physiological period, the amount of calcium the mother consumes from food and the amount of calcium absorbed through the small intestine every day during pregnancy are much higher than those in the non-pregnant period. In order to ensure sufficient calcium in breast milk, the mother will increase the decomposition of her own bone calcium. Therefore, the mother needs to continue to supplement calcium during breastfeeding.

Why do you need calcium supplements during breastfeeding?

Because during breastfeeding, in addition to the mother's body needing calcium, the mother also needs to share her own calcium with the baby. If the calcium supply in the diet is insufficient, the mother will have to use the calcium in her own bone tissue to maintain the stability of breast milk calcium. Experts have found that normal nursing mothers use calcium from their bones every day to replenish the calcium in their breast milk. Within 100 days, 20% of the calcium is used from bones and teeth. This shows that the calcium in the general diet cannot meet the calcium demand in breast milk. Therefore, mothers need to supplement calcium absorption.

What to eat to supplement calcium during breastfeeding

During the lactation period, there are many things that can supplement calcium. You can eat more foods with high calcium content. For example, milk is rich in calcium and is well absorbed. Animal liver, egg yolk, fish, meat and beans are rich in vitamin D, which can promote calcium absorption. Nori and cauliflower are also rich in calcium. Eating broad beans with the skin; adding vinegar to bone soup can increase the absorption rate. In addition, you should get more sun exposure, because the ultraviolet rays from the sun can promote the synthesis of VD in the human body. VD can regulate calcium and phosphorus metabolism and accelerate the absorption of calcium and phosphorus in the small intestine.

Calcium supplementation during lactation is very important. Calcium deficiency can easily cause toothache and bone pain in mothers, and may cause rickets in babies. Therefore, proper calcium supplementation is very important for both mothers and babies.