Breastfeeding a baby takes a lot of calories from your body. Besides, moms have to avoid a variety of foods that can make the baby sick during the time. As a result, they hardly gain lost calories, which in the long-term can cause weight loss, weakness, and some other problems. In such situations, the meal replacement shakes while breastfeeding can be a great way to supply adequate nourishment to a mom’s body.
In today’s article, we will let you know how protein shakes while breastfeeding can help you as well as how to prefer the meal replacement shakes.
Table of Content
Is Meal Replacement Shakes Safe for new Mom?
Is safe meal replacement shakes while breastfeeding? The answer depends. While breastfeeding your baby, it is imperative to stay healthy and eat proper foods. That’s why you should take the full and proper meal in this period. But some mom finds it hard to prepare meals in this period.
Besides, due to the changes in eating habits, some of them even find it hard to eat meals. The meal replacement shake can be a powerful way to ensure the proper intake of calories in this period.
Keto meal Replacement shake can also be an excellent way of dieting or losing weight during the breastfeeding period. The meal replacement shakes for nursing moms are like a calorie-controlled meal, which lets you control your daily calorie intake.
According to some researches, two meal replacements with a liquid meal may help to control your weight as well as reduce blood pressure, blood sugar, and insulin levels.
However, it is essential to take part in daily exercises to get a better result in reducing weight through replacement shakes. Simple physical activities like walking, stressing, etc. will help you to burn the body fat as well as building the muscle. Exercise can also help you to relieve stress and rebuild your self-confidence. Overall, protein shakes while breastfeeding refreshes your mind, as this is a crucial period for every nursing mom.
Protein Shakes While Breastfeeding
When we hear about protein shakes the image of different types of smoothies come into our minds. But what exactly is a protein shake? The answer is pretty simple. A protein shake is a drink made by mixing protein powder with water. Some other ingredients are also added often. These are a convenient addition to diet, mainly when the access to quality high-proteins are limited.
Protein shakes are a source of high protein. People can simply eat proteins like meats, fish, eggs, legumes etc. But if they want to meet high protein requirements, protein shake is the best answer.
Most popular types of protein powder available in the market are:
- Whey protein
- Casein protein
- Soy protein
- Hemp protein
- Egg-white protein
- Rice protein
- Pea proteins
Benefits of Protein Shakes While Breastfeeding
Protein shakes help in achieving fitness goals, whether to lose fat or gain muscles. Protein shakes promote muscle gain and improve performance and recovery. Protein shakes also play a role in preventing muscle loss and may help in increasing muscle mass during weight loss.
Protein Shakes and New Mothers:
One of the most common questions that women ask is whether it is okay to mix protein powder in diet while breastfeeding. Before jumping to the answer first take a look at what protein is and its roles during lactation and early childhood.
Role of Protein in Lactation:
Protein serves as tissue building blocks and fosters growth. Both mother and baby need protein to ensure their body can build, repair and maintain muscles, connective tissue, skin and organs. After the birth of a child consuming an adequate amount of protein provides the mother with optimal nutrition to maintain lean tissues while the mother’s body returns to normal and supports the ability to produce nourishing milk. During lactation, the mother’s body uses protein to produce breast milk to sustain the growing baby.
Is Protein Shake Safe During Lactation?
Protein powders found in the market mostly use whey as a base. Whey is a natural component from dairy foods like cheese and milk. Both milk and cheese is consumed routinely during pregnancy and lactation. Whey is also pasteurized before manufacturing and transforming into protein powder.
Why Use Protein Powder During Breastfeeding?
For a new born child breast milk is the ideal food. It’s the perfect nutrition to sustain a child’s health and development. When breastfeeding, nutrition becomes a predominant concern because nutrition for two is needed. A healthy diet with an adequate amount of calories from various sources promotes the quality of milk production and boosts the energy of the mother.
How well a mother eats during after pregnancy will directly impact the mother’s health as well as baby’s. Adequate intake of protein can be obtained by consuming whole food protein sources such as meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, tofu, beans, nuts and seeds. Most women according to their body type usually get enough protein in regular diets but some need a little more.
Since protein is essential for lactating mothers, they must also ensure to get a variety of other foods to meet their nutritional needs. Whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, calcium rich foods and healthy fats- omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids should be sharing the plate with the required protein.
Yes, protein shakes are an extremely beneficial way to meet elevated protein body needs during lactation. It is safe for mothers while breastfeeding. Just make sure to choose a blend with a high- quality protein base and read all the ingredients meticulously. In any doubt, advice from a General Practitioner should be sought.
How to Make a Meal Replacement Shake
There are a variety of shakes available in the market. But we will advise you not to take them as they mostly contain chemicals and artificial sweeteners which are not suitable for your health. We will recommend you to make the replacement shakes at home with your favorite ingredients.
You can add a variety of foods, vegetables as well as other protein sources. Below, we will let you know how to prepare a healthy replacement shake from within a short time.
Things You’ll Need
Gather the below items to prepare your shake.
- Protein Powder
- Blender
- Vegetables and Fruits
- Ice cubes
- Milk, cream or juice
Step 1: Decide the flavor
The first and foremost thing you require to do is decide which item you will use in the shake. You can use your favorite fruit, vegetable, and flavors to create the shake. As examples, then you can use mangoes, coconut milk, bananas, etc.
These everyday items make your shake very tasty. They are also great for your health. If you want to make chocolate shakes, then you can add cherries and berries. If you prefer veggies shake, then don’t forget to add sauces or light seasoning, which can give you a better taste.
Step 2: Add Protein Powder
Protein is essential for your shake as it can help you to resist hunger for a long time. Be careful if you are adding commercial protein powder as not all of them are good in quality. Make sure that you are purchasing from a reputable brand. Usually, the protein powder available in the shop includes whey, soy, vitamin, as well as flavoring additives.
Typically, one serving of the protein powder is enough for a shake to provide you the right amount of protein intake. You can also add natural protein sources like yogurt, egg white, almond butter, or peanuts as natural instead of protein powder.
Step 3: Mix the Ingredients
It’s time to mix the ingredients for your replacement shake. At first, take six to eight ounces of water for the shake. Then add the half cup of chopped fruit or vegetable as your preference. You can add sugar or other sweeteners for a better taste. You can enhance the flavor by adding vanilla, peppermint, lemon, or cinnamon at a short scale.
You may want to measure the calorie intake from the shake. You can use a calculator to calculate all the calories in the ingredients by summing them.
Step 4: Time to Blend
Now add all the ingredients and half of the water/liquid in the blender. Then blend the ingredients for a while. Add the ice cubes gradually as well as the water until the shake gets your preferred consistency. You may not use the ice cube if you are using frozen fruits.
Step 5: Add sweeteners and flavoring
Taste the shake to determine whether it requires sweeteners or not. Then add the natural extract and the sweeteners as needs. You can also add vitamins or nutrition supplements as your preference.
Bottom Line:
Meal replacement shakes for breastfeeding moms can be a perfect way to ensure proper calorie and nutrition intake during the breastfeeding period. Hopefully, the above discussions and guidelines will assist you to know better about meal replacement shake while breastfeeding.
7 Best Meal Replacement Shakes While Breastfeeding
Image | Name | Supply | Key Point | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Baby Booster Tahitian Vanilla Prenatal Vitamin Supplement and Protein Shake | 502g, 15 servings |
| |
| MOM Fuel Plant and Collagen Protein Powder | 930 g, 30 servings |
| Buy on Amazon |
| Boobie BODY Organic Superfood Shake | 664g, 20 servings |
| Buy on Amazon |
| Vega One Organic All-in-One Shake | 1.6 kg, 43 Servings |
| Buy on Amazon |
| Majka Nourishing Lactation Support Protein Powder | 1.03 lbs, 15 servings |
| Buy on Amazon |
| LadyBoss Premium Protein Powder | 840g, 30 servings |
| Buy on Amazon |
| Protiva New Mom Safe Protein Powder Shake | 15 servings |
| Buy on Amazon |
