Is It Safe To Drink Apple Juice While Breastfeeding?

Apples are a popular and nutritious fruit. When consuming apple juice while breastfeeding, you should ensure it is freshly extracted and unsweetened. Lactating women need more fluid and calories than non-lactating women. For sufficient breast milk production and nutrients, nursing mothers should consume healthy foods along with plenty of fluids. Along with water, fruit juices can help meet their daily fluid requirement.

However, it may be more beneficial to consume the fruit on its own to get the raw goodness of vitamins, folate, calcium, Vitamin C, and iron. The fruit may also serve as a tasty weight-loss snack.

Read this post to learn about the benefits of apples for maternal nutrition and whether apple juice is good for breastfeeding mothers.

Benefits Of Apples For Breastfeeding Women

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Apple is one of the nutritious fruits to eat while breastfeeding as it is a good source of calcium, iron, folate, and vitamins A and C. As a breastfeeding mom, you need a good supply of all these nutrients. A lack of calcium leads to weak bones and low milk production, as it is a major part of breast milk. At the time of lactation, you need to strengthen your body with iron-rich foods as well since your iron levels decrease during pregnancy (1).

Apple is also a good source of fiber, potassium, and phosphorus. A medium apple contains 80 calories, and is an excellent food if you are looking to eat healthily and shed extra weight (2).

Things to know

Many women may develop hemorrhoids during childbirth, especially after vaginal delivery (8). The fiber in apples can help achieve healthy bowel movement, which may help prevent diarrhea, constipation, and hemorrhoids (9).

Fluid Requirement While Breastfeeding

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Since your water requirement increases during breastfeeding, you should increase your liquid intake through water, milk, and fruit juices. However, it is better to consume fruits rather than fruit juices as whole fruits contain the necessary dietary fiber for good digestive health. When you drink juice, it is best to limit the intake to 150 ml (3). Ensure that the juice is fresh and unsweetened. Extra sugar does nothing good for the body, and breastfeeding women need to be aware of what they eat for their good health as well their baby’s health.

Apple Juice While Breastfeeding

Image: Shutterstock

As a breastfeeding mom, you can safely drink apple juice on a regular basis. But it is still a better idea for lactating women to add whole apples rather than apple juice into their postpartum diet. With whole apples, women can also get fiber, which is lacking in juice (4).

The following tips on apple juice consumption while nursing may help you stay healthy:

• Continue to drink apple juice if it causes no discomfort to your baby. If your baby is fussy or sick after feeding, check your diet to see if apples may be causing the problem. Even though an apple is a safe food to eat during pregnancy and breastfeeding, some infants may show an adverse reaction to it. The baby’s stomach lining and digestive tract are still developing so they may not always react well to foods that are safe for women to consume during breastfeeding.

• Keep apple juice consumption to a minimum and try to include whole apples to your diet to get all nutrients and fiber.
• You may try homemade, fresh apple juice without artificial sweeteners and preservatives than commercially available apple juices.

Quick tip

You can tweak the taste of your homemade apple juice by adding some ginger, celery, and lemon juice.

Infographic: Ways To Include Apples In Your Breastfeeding Diet

Apples are a rich source of many nutrients and help maintain an adequate milk supply. Apples give nursing mothers the energy they need to heal and provide the ideal development environment for their newborns. Check out the infographic below to uncover ways to include apples in your nursing diet.

Illustration: Momjunction Design Team

Illustration: Is It Safe To Drink Apple Juice While Breastfeeding?

Image: Stable Diffusion/MomJunction Design Team

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Arushi AgrawalIBCLC

Arushi Agarwal is a certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) who started as a mom. She has four years of experience and currently works at Surya Hospital, Jaipur. Her struggles through the journey of breastfeeding led her to her mission of passionately creating awareness about the struggles of breastfeeding and the need for help.

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