Postpartum Diet: What to Eat and Not to Eat and Menu Tips

Eating well should be a concern at all stages of a person's life, but in the postpartum period this topic deserves even more attention. It is worth noting that the quality of a woman's diet is extremely important, both before becoming pregnant, as well as during pregnancy and after childbirth, as it directly affects not only her health, but also that of her child.

Luciene Barbosa dos Santos, supervisor of the Anhanguera University School of Nutrition Clinic of São Paulo? Unit Santo André comments that postpartum is a phase in which many women end up? Forgetting? to be aware of the quality of what they are eating, even because they are more concerned about the new baby care routine.

But this attention to food cannot go unnoticed. After all, postpartum does require a special diet.

Tatiane Império, nutritionist and Master in Aging Sciences, points out that a healthy and balanced diet offers women essential micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) to ensure proper milk secretion and also ensure the correct development of the child.

But what should a postpartum diet look like anyway? How should a woman be fed completely and at the same time able to return to her pre-pregnancy weight? Below you will find the answers to these and other questions.

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How to get back to weight healthy after pregnancy?

Tatiane explains that breastfeeding is related to increased energy needs to supply the mother's body in adequate quantities in milk production, and ensures a healthy weight reduction.

• Weight loss occurs in the first 3 months and is most intense in breastfeeding women. Energy reduction is not recommended during this period and, according to the Institute of Medicine (IOM, 2005), the diet should be at least 1,800 kcal per day to provide nutrients for the mother and breastfed baby? .

The main dietary guidelines for this period should be focused on healthy and proper nutrition, and are highlighted below by nutritionist Tatiane:

• Split the diet into five or six meals a day, avoiding long periods of fasting, and to ensure normal sugar levels and improve nutrient utilization.
• Drink liquids (3L / day), mainly water, and, to a lesser extent, natural juices.
• Avoid sugary drinks that can lead to improper weight gain.
• Consume milk and dairy products at least three times a week, preferably full due to fat soluble vitamins.
• Eat food sources of vitamin C in the main meals to facilitate the absorption of iron.
• Replace refined foods with wholegrain.
• Increase your intake of vegetables, fruits and vegetables, including a yellow-orange vegetable and a citrus fruit daily.
• Eat fish at least twice a week.
• Prioritize preparations in the form of baked, grilled, boiled, sauteed.
• Avoid excessive consumption of sweeteners.

Food Groups and Your Best Choices

Tatiane emphasizes that all food groups should be present daily in the mothers' diet, so that better choices and an adequate food variety in nutrients essential for this period are stimulated.

Postpartum menu prepared by nutritionist

Below are examples of postpartum menus prepared by professionals, just to illustrate the types of foods that should not be missed in a postpartum diet in general. It is noteworthy that the diet of the mother who has recently had her baby should always be personalized, according to the doctor or nutritionist guidelines.

Also read: 8 Things A Pregnant Woman Can Do

Menu 1 by Luciene Barbosa dos Santos

BREAKFAST

Option 1

• 1 glass of pineapple juice with mint
• 2 slices of light brown bread
• 2 col. (dessert) cottage cheese
• 1 medium slice of melon

Option 2

• 1 cup plain ½ papaya skimmed plain yogurt and 1 col. (dessert) flaxseed
• 1 slice of light brown bread with 1 thin slice of minas cheese and 1 col. (dessert) of unsweetened jelly
• 1 cup herbal tea

Option 3

• 1 cup (tea) fruit salad (banana, apple, papaya, melon and strawberry)
• 1 cup of plain nonfat yogurt with 3 col. (Oats Soup
• 1 col. honey tea
• 1 slice light brown bread with 1 light margarine knife tip

MORNING SNACK

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Option 1

• ½ papaya with 2 col. (soup) oatmeal and 1 col. (dessert) flaxseed
• 1 cup herbal tea

Option 2

• 1 Light Polenguinho Light
• 1 banana
• 1 cup herbal tea

Option 3

• 1 thin slice of simple cake
• 1 cup herbal tea

LUNCH

Option 1

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• 1 plate (dessert) of salad: watercress, arugula, lettuce, tomato, carrot and fennel with 1 col. (soup) of olive oil
• 3 col. brown rice soup
• 2 shells full of beans
• 1 medium grilled chicken fillet (130 grams)
• 1 saucer of steamed broccoli with almond flakes

Option 2

• 1 plate (dessert) of salad: lettuce, tomato, crumbled ricotta and apple chips with 1 col. (soup) of olive oil
• 2 col. (soup) of manioc puree
• 1 lentil shell
• 4 col. (soup) of lean ground beef
• 4 col. braised zucchini soup

Option 3

• 1 plate (dessert) of salad: dark green leaves, grated beets and cucumber with 1 col. (soup) of olive oil
• 2 col. (soup) of spinach souffle
• 2 col. (soup) of boiled or baked potato or 1 cup. (tea) cooked whole noodles with 1 ounce of olive oil
• 1 large fillet of grilled fish (150 grams)
• 3 col. (soup) of braised pod

AFTERNOON SNACK

Option 1

• 2 whole toasts with 2 col. (dessert) of unsweetened jelly
• 1 cup of coffee with skimmed milk

Option 2

• 1 slice of light brown bread with 1 slice of mine cheese
• 1 glass of unsweetened grape juice

Option 3

• 1 cereal bar
• 1 glass of coconut water
• 1 apple

DINNER

Option 1

• 1 plate of vegetable soup
• 1 medium grilled chicken fillet (130 grams)
• 4 col. boiled carrot soup

Option 2

• 1 plate of spinach soup
• 1 medium zucchini stuffed with ground beef and tomatoes
• 3 col. braised pea soup

Option 3

• 1 salad plate: dark green leaves, tomatoes and grated carrots with lemon drops
• 3 col. (soup) of brown rice with pea
• 1 medium fillet of grilled salmon (130 grams)
• 1 roasted eggplant

SUPPER

Option 1

• 1 roasted banana with cinnamon
• 1 cup herbal tea

Option 2

• 1 cup of fruit yogurt with 1 col. (Oats Soup
• 1 cup herbal tea

Option 3

• ½ cups (tea) of dried fruits (apricot, Brazil nuts, walnuts and almonds)
• 1 cup herbal tea

DAUGHTER SNACK (for after breastfeeding)

Option 1

• 1 dry banana without sugar

Option 2

• 1 cup of fruit yogurt

Option 3

• 1 glass of coconut water

Menu 2 by Tatiane Império

BREAKFAST

• Whole milk (1 cup of curd)
• 2 slices of wholemeal bread + 1 tbsp margarine
• 1/2 papaya papaya

MORNING SNACK

• 1 silver banana + 1 tbsp oat bran + 1 tbsp honey

LUNCH

• Salad: 4 lettuce leaves + 5 arugula sprigs + 3 tablespoons raw carrots + 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 tablespoons cooked rice + 1 ladle cooked beans (50% stock, 50% grain)
• 1 unit average roast beef
• 5 tablespoons sauteed spinach
• 2 tablespoons cooked pumpkin
• 1 orange

AFTERNOON SNACK

• 4 units of toast + 1 tablespoon curd
• 1 cup (curd) of pineapple juice

DINNER

• Natural snack: 1 loaf of bread + 1 slice of ricotta + 4 tablespoons tuna + 1 tablespoon beetroot
• 1 sleeve

EVENING SNACK

• 1 fruit yogurt + 1 tablespoon granola

It is worth stressing that the ideal menu for each woman is the one prepared by her own doctor or nutritionist.

Other factors that may help

That healthy postpartum eating is essential you already know, but other simple tips can help the new mom get back to her pre-pregnancy weight more easily. Check out:

• Drink water: Luciene points out that the intake of liquids, especially water, must be high, even to promote milk production. In addition to the fact that breastfeeding also gives more thirst.
• Work out: After the doctor has been released, exercising again is a great way to stimulate a return to weight before pregnancy. Generally, activities such as walking, light weight training, stretching, Pilates, Yoga, etc. are usually indicated at this stage. But, remember, each case is a case; Therefore it is essential to talk to the doctor.
• Breastfeeding: Breastfeeding itself, in addition to its extreme importance for the baby's health, is closely linked to the mother's weight reduction.
• Do not be without food: It is essential to split the diet into five or six meals a day, avoiding long periods of fasting.
• Count on nutritional guidance: Tatiane points out that the search for a nutritionist becomes very important with regard to the guidelines of healthy eating at this stage, thus also ensuring the reduction of body weight of the mother.

Tatiane stresses that it is essential that this postpartum period contains a healthy and adequate diet to enable the correct milk production and meet the needs of the baby (since breast milk is the only food until the sixth month of life).

With regard to mothers' diet, eating habits should be analyzed to preclude inappropriate practices, characterizing risks for this period. Therefore, should the diet have appropriate fractionation, fluid intake, and preferably food sources of essential nutrients such as iron, calcium, B-complex vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin A, ensuring food quality for mother and child health? , reminds nutritionist Tatiane.

For all this, the search for a nutritionist becomes especially important at this stage of a woman's life.

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