Some people were saying: “don’t drink tea” and “don’t eat dairy”, and others: “drink tea with milk”! Some “experts” advised against eating foods that cause flatulence. Some other recommended avoiding raw vegetables and gluten. When my child had nappy rash on buttocks I heard that this was caused by me eating too sour and spicy meals. Generally speaking, all of that made my head dizzy!
That’s why today after six and a half month of breastfeeding my daughter I would like to deal brutally with all these theories! Dear Breastfeeding Mom, the truth is that you can eat basically anything! The only things forbidden are alcohol and too much caffeine.
The fundamental piece of information that is going to allow me to deny the circulating knowledge on a breastfeeding mother’s diet is the fact that mother’s milk is made of blood, not of the digested food that stays in the digestive tract. Once we realize this fact, the recommendation regarding not eating foods that cause bloating is going to seem totally absurd. These foods have effect only on the woman who eats them, not the child who drinks her milk! Eating peas, beans or other legumes is completely unrelated to occurrence of bloating or colic in infants.
Protein allergy and lactose intolerance are two totally different things. Protein allergy, as the name itself suggest, is abnormal reaction of the body to proteins contained in food, e.g. proteins of cow milk, soy, egg or wheat. Lactose intolerance, on the other hand, is the reaction to sugar included in milk, that is, lactose.
Primary lactose intolerance occurs very rarely and its symptoms appear already during the first days of a child’s life. A child is unable to digest normally the lactose in the mother’s milk and as a result of that, immediately after its birth it has symptoms of dehydration and malabsorption and often a complete lack of increase in body weight. It is a severe condition that is usually diagnosed soon after the child is born.
Secondary lactose intolerance occurs as a result of damage to intestinal villi in the digestive tract of our baby, since it is there that lactase, that is, lactose digesting enzyme is produced. Damage to intestinal villi may take place as a result of, among others, protein allergy. That is why these two conditions are confused.
What is protein allergy? It is a food allergy to proteins that can be transferred to mother’s milk. Usually these are: cow milk proteins, soy proteins, egg proteins and wheat proteins (that is, gluten). It doesn’t mean, however, that starting from the beginning of our Milk Run we have to avoid all the potentially allergenic foods. What is an indication for implementing the so-called elimination diet is the appearance of protein allergy symptoms in our child! Additionally, it is best to start an elimination diet under the watchful eye of a specialist dietician in order not to cause any deficiency in vitamins or minerals.
According to the La Leche League, that is, the largest international organization that promotes breastfeeding, there is no such thing as a special diet for a breastfeeding mother. An elimination diet can be introduced when the child develops symptoms of allergy.