A high sugar diet during the breastfeeding period can delay cognitive development in infants. This is according to a new study carried out at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
Mercy Pediatrician, Dr. Ashanti Woods, Discusses Effect of High Sugar Levels in Breast Milk. Mothers who consume large amounts of sugar could be passing the added sugar to their infants through breast milk, which could hamper the child's cognitive development.
Candies, sweets, and desserts taste great, but they are just empty calories. They're not the kind of healthy calories that you need while you're breastfeeding. You can enjoy chips, cookies, and ice cream every so often, but moderation is the key.
A mother is described who observed her babies becoming restless during nursing whenever she had eaten foods containing sugar. The problem ceased almost instantly when she adopted a sugar‐free diet. The extensive literature on sugar, physical and mental illness and behavioural problems was reviewed.
Foods like beans, broccoli, cauliflower, or some dairy products can cause fussiness, gassiness, or colicky behavior in some babies. Foods like cow's milk, soy, wheat, corn, oats, eggs, nuts and peanuts, and fish or shellfish are common allergy-causing foods.
Eating too much sugar when you're pregnant may increase your risk of gestational diabetes3 and pre-eclampsia4 and increases the risk of your baby becoming overweight later in life2.
There are a number of reasons you could be craving sugar more than you ever did before you were pregnant. Breastfeeding can affect your brain activity due to your baby's need for milk. Certain foods may cause a chemical reaction in the body that increases your desire for them, one being sugar.
Michael Goran, PhD
Added sugars should be no more than 5%-10% of daily calories, which is not much. That's why it's best to minimize consumption of sugary beverages.
These alterations in the brain's activity increase the desire for unhealthy foods. Sweets and fatty foods are the mostly craved items by mothers in general during breastfeeding which is related to changes in brain activity due to the baby's need for milk.
Although dark chocolate has higher levels of theobromine, most health professionals consider it to be the healthiest option because it contains lower levels of both sugar and fat. Most people can enjoy chocolate as they normally would while breastfeeding without any negative impact on their babies.
One of the major reasons postpartum moms struggle with cravings is severe fatigue. When our brains are functioning on little sleep for many days, it needs more energy to function. The brain prefers to function on carbohydrates, and it knows that sugar is the fastest way to get energy to the brain.
Most people have at least some sugar in their system unless they completely fast for an extended period. Every time you eat, you're introducing more sugar into your body. If you were to eat low-calorie foods and remain fasted, sugar would take at least three hours for the bulk of that sugar to leave your system.
Sugar doesn't directly cause breast cancer, or any type of cancer for that matter. However, excess energy intake, particularly from processed sugars which contain no significant nutritional value, can cause weight gain and can lead to obesity. Obesity increases the risk of various cancers, including breast cancer.
It took a little longer for science to catch up and confirm that, yes, some flavors from the foods mothers eat show up in their breast milk – and that, sometimes, babies really like those flavors.
Breastfeeding tips for mothers with diabetes
Have a snack before or during nursing. And keep something nearby to raise your blood sugar quickly if needed. Be sure to drink plenty of fluids to stay hydrated. Check your blood glucose levels each time before and after nursing.
Children who are fed diets high in added sugars are more likely than children with lower sugar intakes to have a number of negative health consequences as they develop, including childhood obesity, cardiovascular disease and tooth decay. Diet from birth to 24 months also shapes long-term food preferences.
Extreme levels of sugar in children can cause interference with neurotransmitters responsible for keeping moods stable. This often leads to depression and anxiety in children. Moreover, high sugar levels can cause inflammation of cells in an area of the brain known as hippocampus.
“Some women find that when you're not nursing and your metabolism changes, they keep weight more persistently or they gain. Others don't. We all have our own experiences,” she says. If you do start to pick up pounds after weaning, don't panic.
Increased hunger is present to cue your body to respond to this dramatic increase in energy needs that are being expended on a daily basis while breastfeeding. There's no denying the energy cost of lactation and demands on the body that require increased energy intake to meet the energy stress of lactation.
If you are significantly dehydrated, your body will slow down its breast milk production and your own health will be significantly impacted. Drinking the right amount of water each day is important for your own (and your little one's) health.
Babies can develop allergies to foods that you are eating while you are breastfeeding. There are no recommendations to avoid any food while you are breastfeeding to prevent allergies.