How to eat thick soup to increase milk production during the confinement period? How to eat it in a nutritious and healthy way?

This is the 3790th article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

Xiaoli: I just gave birth yesterday, and my mother-in-law made me some pig's trotter soup, saying that drinking more soup will help me produce milk faster, but I can't drink it at all. How can I eat healthily if I just gave birth?

Nutritionist: First of all, congratulations on becoming a mother! The most important issue for new mothers is probably breastfeeding. The milk must be sufficient and nutritious. So how can we eat confinement meals to ensure sufficient and nutritious milk without worrying about gaining weight?

Eat a light diet with less salt

In the first week after delivery, mothers are often tired and have a poor appetite. Eating too greasy food will not only make breastfeeding mothers unable to eat, but also increase the fat content in the mother's breast milk, resulting in poor milk flow.

When choosing ingredients, you should avoid greasy food, prefer light flavors, and cook the food softer to facilitate digestion and absorption.

Within 24 hours after delivery, mothers who have given birth naturally should eat soft, easily digestible foods such as millet porridge, soft noodles, and egg custard, and then eat normally.

Mothers who have undergone caesarean section should fast within 6 hours after delivery. They can eat light and easily digestible liquid food such as rice soup within 6-8 hours. But do not eat flatulent food such as milk, soy milk, and large amounts of sucrose. After the gas is discharged, you can eat easily digestible food rich in protein and vitamins. For 1-2 days after the gas is discharged, mothers can continue to eat semi-liquid food such as porridge and noodles as a transition, and then they can resume their normal diet.

Adequate intake of high-quality protein and vitamin A

From the second week after delivery, as the baby's milk intake gradually increases, breastfeeding mothers can increase the intake of foods rich in high-quality protein, such as fish, poultry, meat, eggs, milk and soy foods. In addition, breastfeeding mothers can choose pork liver (total 85g) or chicken liver (total 40g) 1 to 2 times a week to meet the need for vitamin A.

Adequate calcium intake

Breastfeeding mothers should pay attention to calcium supplementation.

When women have low calcium levels, they need to constantly "mobilize" calcium from their bones to ensure that their breast milk contains sufficient calcium. The Chinese Nutrition Society recommends that breastfeeding mothers should consume about 1,000 mg of calcium per day.

Give an example!

Drink 500 ml of milk every day and eat more calcium-rich foods such as tofu, dried tofu, small fish and shrimp, dark vegetables, etc., and you can easily reach the target! Going out in the sun to supplement vitamin D can also promote calcium absorption!

Calcium supplementation

Pregnant mothers are prone to anemia, and they lose some blood when giving birth, so they should pay attention to iron supplementation. Iron is the "raw material" necessary for the production of hemoglobin, so iron should be supplemented first when replenishing blood.

Food sources of iron: animal blood and liver.

Red dates and spinach do not supplement iron!

Lactating mothers should increase their intake of animal meat by about 20 to 50 grams per day, and consume animal blood and liver 1 to 2 times a week to meet their needs.

Breastfeeding mothers

How to drink soup scientifically?

1. Don’t drink too much soup before a meal. You can drink half a bowl to a bowl of soup after a meal, and then drink another bowl of soup when you are 80% to 90% full.

2. Eat meat while drinking soup. The nutritional value of broth is only about 1/10 of that of meat, so you should eat the soup and meat together.

3. Drink less thick and oily soup. Too thick and oily soup will not only affect the mother's appetite, but also cause fat indigestion diarrhea in the baby. You can choose fish soup, lean ribs soup, egg drop soup, tofu soup, and vegetable soup.

4. You can add soybeans, peanuts and other ingredients that help promote lactation into the soup.

Moms who want to get the right nutrition while ensuring sufficient milk supply without gaining weight and want a postpartum diet recipe should take a look here!

I wish all breastfeeding mothers can eat nutritious food, be happy, not gain weight, and have plenty of milk!

Author: Department of Clinical Nutrition, Tongji Hospital, Shanghai

Gao Yun