5 Breastfeeding Superfoods to Add to Your Diet Now

If there was ever a time to combine convenience with food, it’s when you’re keeping a tiny [...]

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If there was ever a time to combine convenience with food, it's when you're keeping a tiny human alive via your body.

When you're breastfeeding in those first early weeks, you probably feel like it's a full time job—because it is! Breastfeeding a baby around the clock isn't only time consuming, but it's totally exhausting, too. Nourishing your little one by giving him or her your milk can quickly deplete your body of vital nutrients, causing you to feel run down and lacking in energy. So it's more important than ever to replenish those lost nutrients in the form of real, whole foods – but as a new mom, whipping up full meals is nothing more than a pipe dream.

Don't stress, mamas; you don't have to slave away in the kitchen in order to give your body what it really needs. Simply incorporate some of these powerhouse superfoods into your diet that are easy, quick and convenient.

Oatmeal
Not only will a big bowl of oatmeal keep you full all morning, it may also help increase your milk supply. Oats are naturally a whole grain, high fiber and high iron food, making them a smart choice at mealtime. Plus, quick cooking oats are ready in only one minute, making them the ultimate quick-fix food for hectic mornings or and busy afternoons.

Almonds
While you're mindlessly snacking on a handful of almonds, those little powerhouses are putting in a lot of work inside of your body. Besides being packed with protein, almonds are a great source of calcium, which breastfeeding moms need a lot more of (about 1000 mg per day).

Yogurt
It doesn't get much easier than ripping off the top of a yogurt carton and digging into its deliciously creamy contents. Packed with both protein and calcium, yogurt can come in super handy to tide you over in between meals or when you need to eat on the run. Even better, stock your yogurt cups with shaved almonds and dried fruit to pack in an even bigger nutritional punch.

Apricots
If you're not accustomed to noshing on apricots, you should familiarize yourself with these sweet little gems. They contain dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C and potassium, for starters. What's more, they can increase prolactin, which is the hormone that tells your body to produce milk. A bag of dried apricots is the perfect snack to keep in your bag for an easy, on-the-run snack.

Sesame Seeds
Though they may be tiny, sesame seeds are big shots in the nutritional world: they are packed with calcium, fiber, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper and manganese. A great idea to incorporate them into your daily diet is to toast a big batch and them sprinkle them over everything—salads, veggies, beans or rice.

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