The great news is that, in general, your diet has very little meaningful impact on either the quality or quantity of your milk. Your body is cleverly designed to ensure that everything your baby needs is in your milk, almost regardless of your diet. However, your own health would suffer if you ate a poor-quality diet, especially while breastfeeding. For example, in order to provide enough calcium for your baby, your body will draw calcium out of your own bones if necessary. Some women experience around 3-5% bone mass loss during lactation, although this is usually recovered shortly after weaning from the breast.

Healthy eating habits are therefore recommended to breastfeeding mothers, although this is not essential for producing enough or good-quality milk. There are a few elements that the breastfeeding mother should consider:

Calories: Breastfeeding, at its peak, can burn around 500 calories per day. This is greater than the calorie burn at the end of pregnancy (around 300 calories), which may explain why you are so much hungrier these days! We know that once you dip below around 1500 calories, your supply may be affected. So while healthy eating is recommended, significant calorie restriction is not.
Fluids: You don’t need to drink a fixed extra amount of water, and not all your fluid intake needs to be from just water. You may find that you are thirstier than normal, and you should drink to quench your thirst. One simple way to check if you’re drinking enough is to keep an eye on your urine. If your urine is clear, you are well hydrated; if it’s a dark yellow colour, you need to increase your fluid intake.
Caffeine: It takes babies (especially newborns) much longer to metabolise caffeine than it does adults, and so we want to make sure that any caffeine ingested via your milk is in moderation and well-spaced apart. In general, 1-2 cups of coffee per day should be okay. If you find your baby is particularly sensitive to caffeine (if they find it hard to settle after you’ve had a coffee), you may want to hold off for a little while and try again in a couple of months. As babies get older, their ability to handle caffeine significantly improves.
Alcohol: This is a little nuanced (see episode 13 of this package for the full answer). The short answer is that one drink is okay, but not too much or too often.

Are there any foods I should avoid while breastfeeding?

In general, and unless we have reason to suspect an allergic baby, you can start by eating everything and anything you enjoy. There are many myths around maternal diet, so let’s look at some of them:

Foods that give you gas Foods (like beans and cauliflower, etc.) that give us gas do not make our babies gassy. The very simple reason for this is as follows: the gas that you experience is a sign that your body is not digestingparts of these foods. If these parts are not digested, they pass out of your body as waste and do not enter your bloodstream. If they are not in your bloodstream, they are not in your milk. You’ve done the hard work of digestion on behalf of your baby, and they get the already broken-down nutrients through your milk.
Dairy: The dairy protein does pass into your bloodstream and, therefore, your milk. It is one of the more common allergens found in babies, so if your baby does appear to be having an allergic response to your milk, this is often the first protein we would suggest eliminating from your diet. However, there is no need to eliminate it as a starting point, as the vast majority of babies will handle these dairy proteins with no issue. It’s worth pointing out that standard formula is simply modified cow’s milk, so standard formula feeding contains significantly more dairy exposure than breastmilk, no matter how many dairy products the mother consumes.
Strong flavours: Many new mothers are told to eat a bland diet while breastfeeding, but actually, we think that some strong flavours like garlic can be sensed by babies through the breastmilk, and this positively impacts the acceptability of these flavours when they move onto solid foods. Eat whatever foods you enjoy—no need to hold back on flavour!
Herbs like sage and mint: While these herbs taken in significant quantities can decrease milk supply, it is unlikely that small amounts (like a garnish on a salad) would be enough to have a measurable influence. In general, I wouldn’t stress about these small volumes, but I would avoid drinking copious cups of mint tea.

Are there any foods I should try to eat while breastfeeding?

Many cultures have foods that are recommended to lactating mothers, and if you enjoy these foods, then absolutely eat them with abandon. However, there is no need to eat specific foods in order to make enough milk. Don’t be influenced into buying expensive supplements, ‘lactation cookies, or the like.Eating enough calories, drinking enough fluids, and frequently removing milk from your breasts is the secret to making enough milk—simple as that!

Do I need to eat a special diet while breastfeeding?

Does your diet impact your breastmilk quality and quantity? Unii Expert Wendy Lever knows.