Is it possible to eat corn while breastfeeding and what are the restrictions?
Every new mother takes great care of her baby. If the child is breastfed, then the mother from the first days of his birth begins to carefully control her diet. The use of many products is questionable. This list often includes corn.
Some without reason exclude it from the menu. But if you try to figure it out, weigh all the pros and cons, then you can find a compromise. For example, during lactation, a woman needs to support the body with useful substances, which are very abundant in this cereal.
From product history
Corn (maize) belongs to the family of annual cereal plants. Scientists suggest that it is the oldest representative of cereal crops. People have known it for thousands of years. Ancient Mexico is considered the ancestral home of corn. In any case, it was in the present Mexican territory that samples of corn kernels were found, the age of which dates back to 4250 BC. e.
They say that in ancient times, maize cobs were significantly smaller than modern ones and reached a maximum of 4 centimeters in length. The active spread of corn across the American continent began around the 15th century BC. e.The cereal was brought to Europe after the discovery of America by H. Columbus.
Beneficial features
The benefits of corn for the human body are undeniable. This cereal is rich in various vitamins and microelements, contains fiber, fast carbohydrates. It has a beneficial effect on the work of the heart and blood vessels, normalizes hemoglobin.
Due to its unique properties, corn has found application in medicine, where infusions, decoctions and extracts of the so-called corn stigmas are widely used. Dietary oil is pressed from cereal germs.
Particularly urgent problems of young mothers are weakening of hair, brittle nails, skin problems, loss of strength. The solution of these issues to corn on the shoulder. It is recommended to use it in the second and third trimester of pregnancy, as well as with HB. The positive property of cereal is also that it does not contain gluten. This is important, because the ingestion of gluten into the body of a newborn up to 8 months is highly undesirable.
Use while breastfeeding
Despite the undoubted benefits of corn, during lactation it should be introduced into the diet carefully, like any other food product. It is necessary to know for sure whether the cereal will cause allergies or intestinal upset in the mother. If such precedents have happened before, then corn will have to be tabooed (most likely, the child will react to it in the same way). If the mother's body is positive about corn, then you can gradually introduce the product into the menu.
Introduction to the diet of a nursing mother
There are some rules and recommendations for introducing corn into the menu of a nursing woman.
Many doctors do not welcome the use of cereals until the baby is six months old, seeing in it one of the reasons for increased gas formation and increased infantile colic.
But if the baby does not suffer from bloating, then the mother can afford to enjoy her favorite product in the second month of the baby's life.
Boiled cobs are suitable for consumption. In order to avoid the appearance of negative reactions from the gastrointestinal tract of the child, the volume of the first "corn meal" should not exceed 1 teaspoon of grains. Subsequently, it is allowed to eat two cobs a week.
How is the product useful for babies?
Low-calorie corn is a storehouse of useful vitamins not only for mom. With breast milk, the baby receives all the beneficial substances of this cereal:
- B vitamins (improvement of cellular metabolism);
- vitamin A (infection fighting);
- vitamins C, D, E;
- amino acids;
- beta-carotene (general strengthening of immunity);
- many minerals (calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, etc.).
All of the above have a beneficial effect on the growing body. Body weight is actively gaining, the baby becomes more energetic. Children's immunity is strengthened, brain activity improves.
The danger of taking for babies
The composition of corn cereal contains starch and proteins.
They can cause colic and bloating.
Do not forget about such a phenomenon as individual intolerance to a particular product. Therefore, pediatricians insist on the reasonable use of corn in small portions. So it is easier to track the effect of cereal on a young organism. In addition, mothers who are prone to thrombosis and hypercoagulation (increased blood clotting) will have to refuse corn.
General recommendations
A nursing mother is recommended gradualness and moderation in everything. Corn is no exception. As mentioned above, it is advisable to start introducing cereal into the diet with one spoon per day. It is also worth paying attention to a few recommendations.
- Ideal for eating this dish in the morning.
- Salting the product is not recommended. If you really want, then the amount of salt should be negligible.
- It is preferable to use young, only ripened corn for food. In this state, it is much more useful.
- The grains should have a light shade.
- The cob itself should be medium-sized and elastic.
- For long-term storage, corn can be frozen.
- A nursing mother needs to be careful with flour products, which include cornmeal (it gives friability to cookies and cakes, therefore it is widely used in cooking). These delicious foods can harm your baby's digestion. It is not so much corn that is to blame here, but the abundance of various additives and flavor enhancers. For the same reason, mothers should remove corn flakes and sweet corn sticks from their diet during lactation.
Corn dishes for a nursing mother
If monitoring the well-being of the baby after a spoonful of boiled corn grains did not give alarming bells, then the mother can expand the range of cereal use.
The simplest recipe that does not take up a lot of invaluable maternal time is ordinary boiled corn.
- The cob is pre-washed well, removing leaves and fibers.
- Leaves can not be thrown away, but put them on the bottom of the cooking container. On top you need to put corn, and then again a layer of leaves.
- Everything is filled with water and brought to a boil.
- After the flame has been extinguished, the cooking process continues.
- If the cob is young, then 10 minutes of cooking is enough for it. If the corn is stale, then it is advisable to cook it as long as possible.
It is recommended to eat corn porridge during lactation, like cobs, no more than twice a week. It can be a great alternative to boiled corn in the winter when the season for fresh cereal is long past. The recipe for making porridge is very simple.
- A glass of cereal is poured with three glasses of water. You will also need a little butter or vegetable oil and salt.
- Before cooking, the cereal is washed and added to boiling salted water.
- On a slow fire, it languishes for half an hour.
- Before serving, porridge is seasoned with oil.
- Hominy in order to avoid skin rashes should not be cooked in milk until the baby reaches three months.
- Porridge can be eaten both for breakfast in the morning and at any other time. Doctors do not give any special recommendations about this.
- Due to the hypoallergenicity of the cereal, corn porridge will be an excellent complementary food for a six-month-old baby. You can cook “quick” cereals from a box from children's manufacturers, or you can grind cereals in a coffee grinder at home.
When breastfeeding from 3-4 months, popcorn made at home is not forbidden. It is recommended to eat it infrequently, about once every two weeks. The first use should not exceed a dozen grains. To prepare the dish, you will need ordinary corn kernels and a microwave or stove.
- If the choice fell on the microwave, then a small amount of vegetable oil is poured into a dish that is safe for heating and corn is poured.
- After thorough mixing, the grains are distributed in one layer, covered with a lid and sent to the oven for three minutes, no more.
The process of cooking popcorn on the stove is convenient because the option of burning the product is excluded.
- Heat a little oil in the bottom of the pan.
- Having poured corn, it is mixed and distributed in one row.
- Having covered the pan with a lid, they put it on the fire and wait for characteristic pops. This is a signal that the cooking is finished.
Popcorn from the store during the lactation period is strictly prohibited.
Such a purchased product is the focus of dyes and harmful flavors.
There is another easy way to cook corn in the microwave.
- The tail and fibrous panicle are cut off.
- The cob, together with the leaves, is sent to the oven for a couple of minutes, turned on at maximum power.
For variety, you can use the multicooker.
- The washed and cleaned cob is placed in the capacity of the unit and filled with water.
- By selecting the "steam cooking" mode, you should then darken the product from half an hour to 50 minutes.
In the summer, corn soup is very good.
- Onions and corn kernels, peeled from several cobs, are sautéed in a saucepan.
- After a few minutes, the contents are poured with boiling water and left to cook for 30 minutes.
- After cooking, a small part of the grains is separated (for decoration when serving), and the bulk is well beaten with a blender.
- Then add a small amount of cream and salt, beat again.
- In a bowl, the soup is decorated with whole grains and herbs.
The big question is canned corn. Naturally, store-bought canned food during breastfeeding is strictly prohibited. There is no benefit from them, but dyes and other additives are more than enough.However, some experts argue that canned corn for nursing mothers is even healthier than boiled. It enhances the production of the hormone prolactin, which increases the volume of breast milk.
There is a simple recipe for homemade canned corn.
- For half a liter of liquid, you will need several boiled corncobs, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 0.5 teaspoon of salt and a third of a teaspoon of citric acid.
- The grains must be cut, combined with the rest of the ingredients and poured with boiling water.
- Pasteurization of the jar will take a quarter of an hour.
- After seaming, the corn should stand wrapped for a couple of days. It can then be eaten as a side dish or added to soups and salads.
So, corn is not forbidden to nursing mothers. On the contrary, a reasonable variety in nutrition will have a beneficial effect on the quality of breast milk. Just remember that the introduction of any product into the diet during lactation must be treated with caution and attention. This simple rule will help protect the baby from possible problems.
See below for details.