If you’re breastfeeding, you may have read through a sea of information that suggests you should eat this or shouldn’t eat that. One thing that I had always heard was about how lactating moms should go easy on the milk and dairy products. . .especially if their babies were fussy. Certainly a very fussy baby of a breastfeeding mother warrants a good look at mom’s diet. However, there is in truth, very little that a breastfeeding mom can’t eat.
A new study however, suggests that breastfeeding moms should increase their calcium intake. The study was done with rats and compared bone density loss in periodontal disease between rats who had enough calcium intake and those who did not have enough calcium intake. The study found that the rats who were lacking in calcium were especially susceptible to bone density loss while the rats who were fed enough calcium suffered no such ill effects.
Your Daily Requirements
I think it is common sense that breastfeeding moms need good nutrition. In fact, your body requires more calories to sustain a breastfeeding infant than it does to sustain a healthy pregnancy. Consequently, your needed intake of all vitamins and nutrients will go up as well. . .including calcium. The recommended daily allowance of calcium for women ages 19 to 50 is 1,000 milligrams a day. Of course, it is best to get your calcium from food sources such as yogurt, cheese and milk. (If your baby is sensitive to calcium in your breastmilk though, you can use supplements.)
Health Benefits
One thing that is interesting in this study is that it shows an association between lactation and bone density loss. However, everything that I’ve ever read about the health benefits of breastfeeding, says that women who lactate for long periods of time have less problems with bone density loss than do women who have never lactated.
I wonder if the implication then is that women who breastfeed tend to have better diets? Regardless, it is important for you to eat well while you’re breastfeeding!
Related Articles:
The Truth About Breastfeeding and Weight Loss
Breastfeeding Full Term Multiples
Let’s Be Honest About Formula vs. Breastmilk