Boosting Your Energy Levels While Breastfeeding
- Annabel Turley
- Aug 3, 2016
- 3 min read
Boosting Your Energy Levels While Breastfeeding
It is World Breastfeeding Week and a common problem for many breastfeeding mothers is lack of energy.
Below are a few self care tips to boost your energy levels while breastfeeding.
Nutritious Food helps boosts energy levels. You need to fuel your body with nutritious food not empty calories. Fish, protein, nuts, seeds, fruit and vegetables are great at boosting energy levels, steer clear of processed foods as they are often full of empty calories. That chocolate bar may seem like a good idea but it will not give your body the fuel it needs to optimally operate. If you are "craving" chocolate then that is often a sign of magnesium deficiency.
Exercise seems like the last thing you want to do when you are tired and have no energy.
If you are past the six week postpartum recovery stage you should look at increasing your activity to 30 minutes a day.
A brisk walk is a great form of exercise which will boost your energy levels adding some yoga or resistance training is a great way to strengthen your bones and tone your muscles. I love spending time practicing yoga I find its a great way to relax, exercise and cope with stress. There are many studies showing that increasing exercise improves energy levels, it can be as simple as a brisk walk with the pram for 30 minutes.
Water Intake is really important to increase energy levels. Breast milk is 87% water. You need to compensate the production of milk by drinking enough water. The amount of milk you produce is dependent on the demand of your baby, which can put you at risk of dehydration. Drink when thirsty and when feeding your baby to maintain adequate hydration and boost your energy levels.
Sleep helps boost your energy levels so hop into bed early to maximise your sleep. Fatigue is not just due to the lack of sleep but lack of uninterrupted sleep. Let your partner take over over a night feed (using pumped milk).
My husband would do a 10pm "dreamfeed" before he went to bed at night and it made the world of difference getting a few more extra uninterrupted hours of sleep to my energy levels.
Multivitamin can help boost your energy levels while breastfeeding. Sometimes eating a well balanced diet is not enough to ensure you have high energy levels so you may need an extra pick me up with a good quality breastfeeding multivitamin to boost your energy levels while breastfeeding.
Magnesium helps with fatigue and tiredness. An early symptom of magnesium deficiency is tiredness and fatigue, this is because a number of enzymes in your body are not working optimally making you feel tired. You can get magnesium from a good quality supplement and foods. Food high in magnesium include kelp, wheat germ, wheat bran, almonds, cashews, dark leafy green vegetables, fish. I noticed a huge difference with energy and sleep quality when taking magnesium when breastfeeding.
Zinc is an unsung hero when it comes to energy levels. Most breastfeeding mother are low in Zinc, without adequate levels of zinc you may experience tiredness, impaired immune function, white spots on your nails, depression and hair loss. You can get zinc from the following foods oysters,salmon, red meat, especially beef, chicken and pork, cashews, chickpeas and hard cheeses. Zinc levels can be tested in the pharmacy with a non invasive taste test.
Vitamin D can help balance your mood and fatigue. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin which you can get from a small number of foods in your diet or from dermal synthesis from sunlight. Food which you can get vitamin D from include egg yolks, fatty fish (salmon, tuna and mackerel), cheese and liver.
You are doing a great job. Keep up the good work and take care of yourself with a few of these self care tips while breastfeeding to help boost your energy.
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