Wheat porridge during breastfeeding: recipes, benefits and harms, medical advice

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Nursing moms have to temporarily give up many products and at the same time discover something new. How about wheat porridge while breastfeeding? Let's look into this issue in detail. And also find out how to choose cereals and cook delicious food. Consider the benefits of this dish and the possible harm to mother and child.

And let's start with the main thing: what kind of cereal? After all, it is often confused with millet, and these are completely different products.

Wheat groats: what is it?

Confusion arises from similar names. Millet groats, also known as millet, are made from millet. Wheat groats or wheat is a product of processing durum wheat grains. Semolina and real Italian pasta are also made from this cereal.

If a mother wonders: "Is it possible to have wheat porridge while breastfeeding", then she has somethingcauses. Most likely, this is a favorite or new product for a non-product. Or maybe someone recommended eating wheat or, on the contrary, advised against it.

What is wheat porridge famous for? First of all, this is a traditional dish of Russian cuisine. Cooked in the oven, it is especially tasty, try it if possible. This product is also included in the diet of vegetarians, and is also the main component of the 7-day diet for weight loss.

However, doctors do not recommend eating wheat porridge during breastfeeding in the first month after childbirth. You will understand why when you read the composition of this product.

Composition of wheat groats

Like any durum wheat product, this cereal is rich in carbohydrates (about 18 g/100 g). It contains no more than 3 g of proteins, and less than 1 g of fat.

The calorie content of wheat boiled in water is 90 kcal per 100 g. An ideal dietary product. But if you cook with milk with a fat content of 2.5%, the number of calories increases to 130.

Also, micro- and macroelements important for the body were found in cereals:

• B vitamins, vitamin C, A, F, E, PP;
• potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus, iron;
• amino acids (arginine, lysine, glycine, tyrosine, cysteine, glutamic acid and many others);
• fiber;
• starch;
• mono and disaccharides.

Due to its rich vitamin and mineral complex, doctors recommend that pregnant women include wheat in their diet. Then why is wheat porridge when breastfeeding at 1 month notrecommended? Because of the complex protein gluten, better known as gluten.

How gluten can affect mother and baby

Do you know why pasta made from durum wheat is so beautiful and does not boil soft, and pastries made from similar flour are lush and tasty? Thanks to gluten. Moreover, seitan is used in vegetarian cuisine - pure gluten, from which meat substitutes are prepared.

Before, everyone ate foods based on wheat, rye, barley and had no idea what gluten was. And this protein is dangerous for about 1% of the world's population suffering from a genetic disease - celiac disease, or gluten intolerance. If a woman has this disease, she should know about it, so there can be no talk of wheat porridge during breastfeeding. But it is not a fact that the disease will necessarily be transmitted to the child, but a special blood test allows you to determine celiac disease. Therefore, from the age of 9 months, pediatricians, despite gluten, are allowed to introduce wheat into complementary foods for babies who do not suffer from this rare disease.

Doctors say that mother's breast milk does not contain gluten, so it cannot cause allergies in the baby. However, the list of allergens that an infant can react to is quite large. It is not known how the baby's body will respond to other components of the composition of wheat, especially if this is a new product for mom.

Therefore, wheat porridge during breastfeeding in the first month can be replaced with millet or buckwheat. And it is better to start eating it 2-3 months afterchildbirth, when the baby's digestive system will be able to digest the components of the product that come with milk. After all, the benefits of this porridge are much greater than the % chance of gluten allergy in mother and child.

Benefits of wheat porridge

Any doctor will say that the diet of a nursing mother should be as balanced and nutritious as possible. This will allow her to recover more quickly after childbirth, and the baby will receive with breast milk the substances necessary for growth and development.

What are the benefits of the macro and microelements included in wheat for mother and child:

• vitamin PP is essential during pregnancy and lactation, it protects the liver, normalizes the pancreas, helps to cope with stress;
• vitamin A (retinol) is important for vision, it is part of muscle, cartilage and bone tissue;
• potassium is involved in maintaining the normal composition of the blood, the work of the heart and skeletal muscles;
• magnesium: with a lack of a mineral, insomnia, headaches, convulsions, cardiac arrhythmia appear;
• glutamic acid is necessary for the regulation of acid-base balance, prevents the development of acidosis, which often affects pregnant women.

Simple and delicious porridge cleanses the body of toxins, relieves constipation, strengthens the cardiovascular system, improves skin quality, because a woman always wants to look attractive. By the way, the exclusion from the diet of foods containing gluten leads to a sharp weakening of immunity, deteriorationhe alth and allergic reactions.

Wheat porridge when feeding a newborn (baby up to one month of age) as part of the mother's diet is undesirable. But later it will bring undeniable benefits to the mother and child, but subject to proper use and the absence of contraindications.

How to introduce wheat into the diet during lactation

If the mother after childbirth does not have exacerbations of chronic gastrointestinal diseases (gastritis, ulcers, intestinal flora disorders), after 2-3 months you can please yourself with a hearty and he althy porridge. In this case, it does not hurt to take into account a few simple recommendations:

1. Buckwheat or oatmeal is allowed for nursing mothers almost daily, and wheat should be eaten no more than 2 times a week.
2. At first you need to boil porridge in water, and add milk gradually.
3. It is better to eat wheat for lunch, as a side dish or an independent second course.

And now we will find out how to choose the right cereal so that wheat porridge during breastfeeding is as tasty as possible for mom and he althy for the baby.

Types of wheat

Production of wheat groats must meet interstate standards GOST 276-60. On the territory of the Russian Federation, the finished product meets the requirements of GOST R 52554-2006. This means that you can purchase domestically produced wheat groats of the following types:

1. Poltavskaya №1 (large), this is whole grain wheat groats.
2. Poltava №2 (medium) - crushed grain.
3. Poltava No. 3 and No. 4 (medium and fine) - a mixture of crushed grains of various fractions.
4. "Artek"- finely crushed grain.

Regardless of the type of cereal, all kernels are cleaned from germs and shells during the production process, and then polished. The finished product is yellow in color, without foreign odors and with a permissible proportion of weed impurities of not more than 0.3%. Now let's figure out what kind of cereal to use for making wheat porridge while breastfeeding.

Which grind to choose

The less processing the grain undergoes, the more useful the finished product. However, to cook porridge from Poltava groats No. 1, you will have to stand at the stove for at least an hour. Therefore, it is used to prepare crumbly side dishes.

And for porridge it is better to take "Artek" or Poltava 3 and 4. Finely crushed grains boil much faster and there will be plenty of benefits in the finished dish. Such porridge is cooked for 15-20 minutes. The main thing is to follow a few simple rules in order to learn how to cook delicious wheat first for yourself, then for feeding the baby, and in the future to make it a he althy habit for the whole family.

How to cook wheat: general recommendations

It is important to note that wheat groats, like any other, after opening the pack, it does not hurt to pour into a glass or ceramic jar with a tight lid. The permissible moisture content of wheat grain is only 14%, and in an airtight container it will not become damp or spoil.

Now a few simple recommendations on how to prepare cereals for cooking:

• Wash the measured amount with water, so less foam is formed;
• ifsoak the cereal for half an hour in warm water, the dish will cook faster;
• for cooking use an enamel pot or ladle of sufficient volume, preferably with thick walls;
• you can pour cereal into boiling water, but if it is cold, the porridge will be more tender;
• wheat, like any crushed groats (corn, barley) burns more when cooked than whole grains, so it needs to be stirred periodically from the bottom;
• cook without a lid, over low heat.

So, wheat porridge during breastfeeding in the first month of a baby's life is not recommended for mom. However, you need to start with a simple and nutritious dish on the water, which can be cooked 2-3 months after giving birth.

Wheat on the water

First, it is better to cook porridge without s alt, sugar and butter. Not very tasty, but extremely useful. For cooking, you will need to measure:

• 1 piece of cereal;
• 3 parts of water.

In this proportion, the porridge will turn out moderately liquid and will boil well. For those who like it thicker, the ratio of cereals and water is taken 1: 2, 5. Cook, stirring, for 20 minutes, then turn off the burner, cover the pan with a lid and wait another 20 minutes.

If a rather tasteless dish is unbearable, berries or dried fruits, for example, pre-scalded and finely chopped dried apricots, are added to a plate of wheat. For the first time, it is enough to eat a couple of spoons and see the reaction of the baby.

Now let's find out when breastfeeding wheat porridge can be boiled in milk, and what else to add for taste.

Wheat with milk

Sour-milk products during lactation are recommended immediately after childbirth, and pediatricians are advised to treat milk and milk porridge with caution. It is optimal to start cooking wheat with milk when the child is six months old, and add this product to the dish gradually.

Easy recipe for wheat with milk:

• 1 part of cereal pour 1 part of water;
• cook half cooked for 10 minutes;
• top up with 2 parts of milk, cook for another 10 minutes;
• before turning off, add a pinch of s alt or sugar to taste.

You can put a piece of butter or a teaspoon of olive oil on a plate. If the child responds normally to such a product, after a while the wheat can be boiled completely in milk.

And another recipe that greatly simplifies the process of making porridge.

Wheat in a slow cooker

Feeding mothers who have a universal assistant can easily cook wheat in a slow cooker with both water and milk.

Cooking wheat porridge with water:

• water to cereal ratio 3: 1;
• pour the washed cereal into the bowl, add water;
• set the mode "porridge" ("cooking");
• cooking time: 30-40 minutes.

Cooking sweet wheat porridge with milk:

• milk to cereal ratio 5: 1;
• 1 tbsp l sugar, 25 g butter;
• put the washed cereal into a bowl, add milk, sugar, butter;
• cook 1 hour in "porridge" mode.

It is useful to cook wheat with 500 g of grated pumpkin, in this case you need to measure out half of the water and milk.

Summarize

Wheat porridge is not recommended when breastfeeding a newborn, but after 2-3 months it will become an important source of vitamins and energy in the diet of a nursing mother. Cooking it is simple, and having mastered elementary recipes, at the end of lactation, you can please yourself, your baby and the whole family with extremely tasty porridge with meat, vegetables and herbs, cooked in the oven or in a slow cooker.