Apples while breastfeeding - is it possible for a nursing mother, possible problems

What are the benefits of baked apples for breastfeeding?

Heat-treated apples are a dietary product and are included in the mandatory diet of people with gastrointestinal problems. According to leading gastroenterologists, baked fruits are perfectly absorbed by the body and heal parts of the gastrointestinal tract.

Baked apples are much safer than fresh ones, which can cause allergies. They are also healthier than boiled ones - when cooked, the fruit loses most of its vitamins, which are very important during breastfeeding.

Baked apples retain the entire range of minerals, micro- and macroelements. Included in the menu of a nursing mother, this dish has a beneficial effect on the entire body:

• stabilizes blood pressure;
• improves the condition of the heart muscle (myocardium);
• reduces the percentage of bad cholesterol;
• improves healthy sleep and functioning of the nervous system;
• has powerful anti-inflammatory properties;
• improves mood and relieves irritability;
• prevents increased gas formation;
• has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the liver and kidneys;
• improves the condition of the epidermis, replenishes collagen reserves, which smoothes out fine wrinkles.

Apples after heat treatment, unlike fresh and boiled ones, become much more pleasant to the taste. When baked, the fruits get rid of dangerous substances and pathogenic bacteria. Such apples are easier to digest and are well absorbed by the body of a nursing mother.
And this is especially important for a small child who is just adapting to new living conditions.

Beneficial features

The beneficial properties of apples are an indisputable fact. By introducing them into your diet, a young mother during lactation and her baby receive:

1. Strengthening the immune system. The peel and pulp are rich in vitamin C.
2. Feeling good. Bioflavonoids and tannins in apples prevent the formation of inflammatory processes.
3. Cleansing the large and small intestines, restoring microflora. Pectins remove toxic substances from the body and prevent pathogenic bacteria from multiplying.
4. Apples enhance digestion and increase appetite. Organic acids in the pulp help improve the functioning of the kidneys, pancreas and liver.
5. The fruit allows you to normalize blood pressure, lower cholesterol in the blood, strengthen blood vessels, and improve the contraction of the heart muscle.

Prevention of iron deficiency anemia. If hemoglobin is low, its indicator is increased. Apples improve mood, overall well-being, and prevent anxiety and depression. Reduce weight, improve metabolism, relieve constipation. The flavonoids present in this fruit maintain the beauty of hair, nails and skin.

When fed with breast milk, the baby receives all the beneficial elements contained in the fruits. Apples contain vitamins A, B, C and trace elements: magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, manganese, boron, potassium, iron. The seeds contain iodine. The peel is rich in fiber (pectin), ursonolic acid. Calorie content per 100 g of product – 35–47 cal.

The fruit rarely causes allergies in the baby. If during pregnancy the mother had no adverse reactions when using it, then the baby should not have any problems.

From what month can you eat while breastfeeding?

A new dish is introduced into the diet carefully, monitoring the baby’s reaction. It is better to use homemade apples grown in your region, untreated, without preservatives and traces of wax that are used to cover imported fruits.

Women are allowed to eat this dish already in the first month of breastfeeding. Baked apples are useful not only for the mother in labor, but also for the baby.

Neonatologists advise nursing mothers to start by baking green apples, as they are the most non-allergenic. And gradually introduce red and yellow ones into the diet a little later (after 1–2 months). It is better to remove the skin from apples.

It is preferable to eat the first piece of baked apple for breakfast and observe the baby’s reaction throughout the day.
At the first signs of an allergy (redness, rash, peeling), the dish should be put aside and added to the menu later. It is necessary to carefully observe for 1-2 days; if the baby does not react at all, feel free to supplement the diet with healthy and tasty fruit.

Possible problems

However, apples should be consumed with caution. In rare cases, they provoke skin irritation in the baby. If the mother ate these fruits, and then the baby’s cheeks turned red, then you need to give up the treat for a while. It is recommended to try again after two weeks. Also, sometimes fruits cause increased gas formation and bloating in the baby. Tummy troubles are especially likely if a woman also reacts in a similar way to raw apples.

Useful: What can a nursing mother eat after giving birth?

If possible, it is better to choose homemade apples. Store-bought ones are often treated with chemicals, preservatives and wax. This is done to preserve the presentation for a long time. But such substances will not benefit either the mother or the child.

The acids contained in apples have a destructive effect on tooth enamel. Therefore, you shouldn’t eat too many of them, and even more so you shouldn’t forget about hygiene. In addition, fruits can increase appetite. So women who want to lose extra pounds after childbirth need to be careful.

How often can you eat and how much should you eat at a time while breastfeeding?

In the first days, it is advisable not to get carried away with baked apples and eat 1 fruit per day.
This is quite enough to replenish the body's reserves of useful substances. Gradually, the amount of apples in your diet can be increased. Also, do not get carried away with feeding such additives as:

• sugar;
• vanilla;
• cinnamon.

Fragrant spices can cause colic in babies.

In case of discomfort, the baby may even completely refuse breast milk. Therefore, this healthy dish should be introduced into the diet gradually. For example:

1. First tasting: in the morning 1/3 of a small baked apple.
2. After 2-3 days (if the baby has not reacted negatively to the dish) and during the first month of feeding: 1 fruit per day.
3. In the third month: 2-3 baked apples with a weekly norm of up to 4 fruits.
4. Then you can increase the number of apples in your diet to 6-7 pieces per week.

What other fruits can you eat while breastfeeding? When and how to introduce them correctly? You will find answers to all these questions in the following article.

Baked Apple Recipes

Classic recipe in the oven and microwave

For the first test, take one or two apples and cut out the core, keeping the bottom intact. If the fruits are large, you can cut the fruit in half. Add a little sugar into the holes. Place on a baking sheet or in a mold and bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 200 degrees. When cooking in the microwave – 10 minutes. By the way, you can cook baked pears in the same way. After introducing the dish into your diet, instead of sugar, you can add a teaspoon of honey, and sprinkle the apple with grated walnuts or cinnamon on top.

Baked apples with dried fruits and nuts

• Chopped walnuts - 2 tablespoons;
• Green apples – 4 fruits;
• Dried dates – 2 pieces;
• Dried figs – 2 pieces;
• Dark raisins – 50 gr.

Soak raisins and figs in warm water for half an hour, then dry. Chop the dates, mix dried fruits and nuts. Rinse the apples thoroughly and remove the pulp so that the bottom remains intact. Place the filling of nuts and dried fruits tightly inside, wrap each fruit in foil, leaving a small hole on top. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 30-35 minutes. If desired, the finished dish can be topped with liquid honey.

Baked apples with rice

• Green apple – 4 fruits;
• Rice – 100 g;
• Water – 200 ml;
• Brown sugar - 3 tablespoons;
• A pinch of salt.

Pour water over the rice and put on the fire, bring to a boil and cook until it completely absorbs the liquid. Add salt and cook until the consistency of porridge. If desired, you can add soaked raisins or chopped dried apricots to the rice. Cut off the top of the apples and remove the core. Fill the inner space with rice and bake for 20-25 minutes at 180 degrees. You can also stuff apples with boiled buckwheat or oatmeal.

Baked apples and bananas with cottage cheese

• Green apple – 4 fruits;
• Banana – 4 large fruits;
• Natural yogurt – 200 grams;
• Soft low-fat cottage cheese – 150 grams;
• Lemon juice – ½ piece;
• Honey – 3 tablespoons;
• Melted butter.

Cut the apples into large slices, remove the seeds, and leave the peel. Peel the bananas and cut them first in half, then lengthwise. Grease each part of the fruit with butter, place on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes. Mix yogurt, cottage cheese, honey and lemon thoroughly. Pour the mixture over the baked fruit.

Baked apples with minced meat

• Apples – 8 large pieces;
• Minced chicken – 0.5 kg;
• Chicken broth – 200 ml;
• Prunes – 50 g;
• Chopped walnuts – 50 g;
• Egg – 1 piece;
• Onion – 1 piece;
• Butter and vegetable oil - two tablespoons each.

Wash and chop the prunes, mix with nuts and lightly simmer in a frying pan. Separately, heat the vegetable oil, chop and lightly fry the onion, then add the minced meat and cook for five minutes. Add prunes and nuts to the minced meat, beat the egg and mix thoroughly. Prepare the apples by removing the middle, adding the filling, and covering with the cut lid. Melt the butter, add chicken broth and a little sugar, cook for three minutes. Pour the resulting mixture over the stuffed fruits and cook at 180 degrees for 20 minutes.

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How to cook?

A tasty and healthy dish is prepared in various ways. You can bake apples in:

• oven;
• microwave;
• multicooker.

In the oven

A classic recipe recommended as the first introduction to the diet of a nursing mother. The dish is prepared simply:

1. Wash the apples, trim off the tops and cut out the core.
2. Place 1 tsp into the recesses. sugar and cover with cut off tops.
3. Place the fruits on a baking sheet and bake for 15–20 minutes in an oven preheated to +180 °C.

Cooking time – 5–6 minutes.

How to bake in the microwave?

1. Rinse the fruits; if the apples are too large, cut them into two parts.
2. Cut out the core and add a little granulated sugar there.
3. The dish is baked in the microwave for 8–10 minutes.

After the final introduction into the diet of a nursing mother, baked fruits can be sprinkled with grated nuts or cinnamon.

How to cook in a slow cooker?

The cooking process will take about half an hour (for hard varieties - 35–40 minutes) with the “Baking” mode selected.

Baked apples in a slow cooker with the addition of cottage cheese are very tasty. To do this, add a mixture of cottage cheese and cinnamon to the core of the washed and peeled fruits. To soften the taste, you can add a small piece of butter, and if desired, sprinkle crushed nuts on top of the finished dish.

It has been noticed that when baked in a slow cooker, apples begin to burst at the 30th minute of baking . If you want to keep the skin intact, reduce the cooking time.

What about pears? This delicious fruit can also diversify your diet in the first months of breastfeeding. But you have to be very careful with figs.

How to cook baked apples during lactation

• For the first baked dish, use only apples; you can add a little sugar if desired. Try a teaspoon and observe the baby's reaction. If allergy symptoms or negative effects occur, delay administration of the product and consult a doctor;
• If the child accepts the dish well, gradually increase the portion. The daily norm is one or two fruits, the weekly norm is up to five pieces;
• Try to use one variety. Prepare first courses without additional ingredients;
• For cooking, take large natural fruits;
• It is better to cook baked apples for nursing mothers in the oven, as it is healthier than a product cooked in the microwave;
• Use minimal spices. As a dressing you can use sour cream or vegetable oil, natural yogurt;
• Include new components in recipes only after they have been introduced separately into the diet. You can add dried fruits, nuts, some vegetables and a pear to the dish;
• After three months, you can prepare dishes with baked apples and meat (turkey, rabbit, chicken), with banana, honey;
• To prevent the fruits from bursting during baking, you can make several punctures in the walls using toothpicks.

Features of baked apples

This delicacy has won a huge number of positive reviews from doctors and the love of many women. And now about the benefits of baked apples during breastfeeding:

• can be eaten after the child reaches one month of age;
• absolutely hypoallergenic and healthy product;
• beneficial vitamins are preserved during heat treatment;
• complete absorption of microelements;
• do not cause gas-forming processes in the digestive organs;
• do not increase stomach acidity;
• there is no negative effect on the enamel;
• easy to prepare.

Baked fruit can be consumed almost immediately with the beginning of the lactation period. With the help of this form of the product, nursing mothers can forever forget about the problem of constipation after childbirth.

Apple harm

Unfortunately, these fruits are not a dietary product. Therefore, during the feeding period, you need to rationally approach the issue of their use. After all, a young mother should be beautiful, well-groomed and beaming with happiness! Note that the baked fruit does not affect the figure, since it contains fewer calories than its fresh brother.

From the diet of a nursing mother, it is necessary to exclude all foods that can cause discomfort to her body. Fresh apples can increase the acidity level of the juice contained in the stomach, and this, in turn, will not have the most favorable effect on a woman’s health.

One more, and final, negative manifestation is damage to teeth. After eating raw fruits, the enamel becomes temporarily sensitive even to water. This phenomenon can be eliminated by rinsing the mouth after eating.

From the above, we can conclude that this healthy product should be present in the diet of a nursing mother. But it is allowed to be consumed in limited quantities and after the child reaches a certain age.

Benefits of apples

Beautiful, juicy and colorful apples contain many vitamins and microelements. They contain potassium, iron, copper, boron and this is not the whole list! Young mothers should definitely include this healthy fruit in their diet, because a large proportion of iron will help restore normal hemoglobin levels. Even baked apples do not lose these properties.

• Fruits are a source of pectin and fiber.
• Baked fruits are of great benefit to the body of a nursing woman, since all the beneficial substances are absorbed.
• The polysaccharides contained in fruits are not absorbed by the body, but rather remove dangerous toxins from the intestines and also have a bactericidal effect on the body.
• Many mothers suffer from constipation after giving birth. Apple pectin will help get rid of these unpleasant manifestations.
• During breastfeeding, it is very important to avoid allergies. Apples are a hypoallergenic product. However, you need to eat red varieties with extreme caution, because the bright peel can cause allergies in the child and nursing mother.

In general, apples are healthy and rightfully occupy one of the leading places in the ranking of ideal foods for nursing women.

Is it possible or not?

The eternal rhetorical question: is it possible or not? Some doctors intimidate young women during breastfeeding with a possible allergic reaction to the body. Dear mothers, remember that allergies happen to the bright color of the peel, that is, to red fruits, and this is a feature that is transmitted genetically. This means that red apples are acceptable if you were not allergic to them during childhood, adolescence, or pregnancy.

If a woman is still afraid of harming her child, a baked apple, which is absolutely hypoallergenic, will come to the rescue. The indescribable taste and aroma of the product in this form will definitely appeal to a nursing mother.

If you are a lover of fresh fruits, then you should replace the red with yellow or green, and the problem is solved. By eating such a fruit, neither a woman nor a child is at risk of allergies. Some say that fresh apples can cause colic and contribute to gas formation in the baby. Experts explain this by saying that such processes in the child’s body are possible only if there is a similar reaction in the nurse. If such a problem exists, then baked fruits will come to the rescue again. After heat treatment, they retain only part of the vitamins, but this is enough for a nursing woman.

Baked apples in the microwave for a nursing mother

The recipe for apples from the microwave oven is extremely simple and can save a lot of useful time. Simply rinse the fruits thoroughly under warm running water and then dry them with paper towels.

• Cut the apples in half so that they bake faster, and this way you can immediately see when they are ready, so that the fruit does not have time to burn.
• We put the halves on a plate that can be placed in the microwave, and then we hide the dish in the oven, which we turn on at medium power for 2-3 minutes. There is no point in keeping the fruit inside longer.