Can You Go On A Keto Diet While Breastfeeding?

Even though the keto diet has been around for over 100 years, it has gained a lot of popularity recently. But how well does keto work for you after having a baby? If you’re nursing, then what you eat is very important. That’s obvious since breastmilk is your baby’s only source of nutrition until they start solid food. So, can you go on a keto diet while breastfeeding?

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What’s keto?

Some people wrongly think of keto as the new Atkin’s diet. But if anything, it’s the other way around because the keto diet was developed over 40 years prior to the Atkins diet.

Both diets are low-carb diets, but the keto diet is more strict when it comes to carbs and is also a high-fat diet with moderate amounts of protein. The keto diet is designed to keep your body in a state of ketosis where it uses stored fat as its fuel.

Related reading: Your Guide To The Keto Diet – Video

The keto diet has become so popular because a lot of people have used it to lose weight and keep it off. But it’s a very strict diet. Your macronutrient distribution looks like this: about 75% of your calories come from fats, 20% comes from protein, and 5% from carbohydrates (that’s about 40g/day, or a little less than 2 medium bananas). There are no cheat days on the keto diet because just one misstep will take you out of ketosis. However, there’s good news, because most of the keto-friendly foods are quite filling you’re less likely to succumb to cravings.

The foods you’ll eat the most on a keto diet are meat, fatty fish, cheese, butter, and eggs. These foods are also good foods to be eating while breastfeeding too. To stay in ketosis you’ll want to avoid added sugars, alcohol, processed food, grains, fruit, and starchy foods, as well as unhealthy fats like mayonnaise and vegetable oil.

Some people experience some side effects when they first start on their keto journey. A new ketoer may experience fatigue, digestion problems, muscle aches, etc. All together these symptoms are referred to as the “keto flu”. Read this article for more details.

Related reading: The Keto Flu: Symptoms, Causes, And Remedies

Can you go on a keto diet while breastfeeding?

Because your body is sustaining an entirely separate little human as well as yourself, breastfeeding is demanding on your body. This means your body is using a lot of energy and needs more calories than normal. A breastfeeding mother will need two to five hundred extra calories per day. Especially during the baby’s first stages when they are entirely dependent on milk and can’t take solid food.

By eating a well-balanced diet the extra calories won’t’ stick, they’ll go right into milk production for the baby. In fact, it’s somewhat of a common occurrence for nursing mothers to actually lose a little weight. Generally speaking, diets that cut calories while nursing is a bad idea. Because reducing calories to lose weight affects the supply of milk. The top priority is to ensure the baby is getting all the nutrients they need.

If a nursing mom puts herself into a calorie deficit, her body can go into a self-preservation mode. Because the body wants to preserve itself it will spend less energy producing milk and may even store some fat anticipating worse times – calorically speaking.

Because the keto diet is different than a weight loss diet and puts an emphasis on consuming high-fat foods. Although the keto diet is a low-carb diet, there isn’t any evidence that low-carb diets affect milk production. However, most pediatricians are unlikely to recommend anything except for the FDA-approved balanced diet (a.k.a., the standard American diet).

Because most keto-friendly foods are very filling, a nursing mother won’t actually eat as much as they would if they weren’t following the keto diet. Because mom may feel full it might be hard for her to reach her caloric target for the day, which means milk production may be reduced.

The keto diet can also cause slight dehydration. So a nursing mom will have to be aware of how much fluid she is ingesting and make sure it’s enough. Because dehydration will affect milk production too.

Summary

Without paying attention to your food and water consumption the keto diet can come with some health risks. The nursing mother has to be conscious of what she’s eating and the quantities of food she’s eating. She also has to remain aware of how her body is doing.

We would recommend absolutely DO NOT start a keto diet while you’re breastfeeding. Wait until the breastfeeding has ended to start a diet.

Because breastfeeding can have such an impact on your baby’s health and wellbeing, whatever you choose to do, keep your doctor informed – for both your sakes.