Keto While Breastfeeding: Is It a Good Idea?
Updated June 21, 2024
The ketogenic diet, or the keto diet, has been all the rage lately—but how well does it mix with postpartum life? If you want to keep nursing, what you eat (or don’t eat) is extremely important. After all, you’re your baby’s only source of sustenance until they transition to solid food.
What is the Keto Diet?
The keto diet is essentially the new Atkin’s diet—it’s based on a low-carb, high-fat intake, which causes your body to go into its ketogenic state, also known as ketosis. When your body is in ketosis, it uses fat stores for energy instead of glucose. This is a naturally occurring metabolic process, but one we don’t need to use very often anymore.
A strict ketogenic diet requires you to limit your carb and sugar intake to around 5% so that your diet consists of 75% fat and 20% proteins. By starving your body of glucose, the diet forces your body into ketosis, so it burns stored fat instead.
The diet has grown very popular because lots of people have found success with short-term weight loss! The catch? Keeping your body in its state of ketosis is notoriously hard to maintain—this diet doesn’t allow any cheat days because just one will snap your body back to normal function. The good thing is that most foods you can eat while on the keto diet are very filling, so it’s unlike normal diets in that aspect.
Some of the foods you need to eat most while on the keto diet are meat, fatty fish, cheese, butter, and eggs—all of which are good to eat while breastfeeding, too! To remain in ketosis, you should avoid alcohol, sugary food, grains and starches, fruit, and unhealthy fats like mayo and vegetable oils.
There are some possible side effects to the diet, like “keto flu,” fatigue, muscle loss, bad breath, smelly urine, and some digestion issues.
Nutritional Needs During Breastfeeding
Nature made it so that a developing baby gets its nutrition from its mother during pregnancy and in the breastfeeding stage. As such, prioritize a balanced diet for the optimal health of you and your newborn. The standard diet of a lactating woman should include:
Although the body produces small amounts of choline, incorporating it into your diet goes a long way in improving your child’s cognitive function. Per the American Medical Association, choline consumption during pregnancy and lactation has long-term neurocognitive benefits for children. You can get choline from eggs, with the yolk supplying most of the nutrients. Other sources include chicken liver, almond, milk, and salmon.
Iron deficiency lowers milk production, affecting the child’s iron supply. And because pregnancy drains your iron reserves, you need foods like nuts, leafy vegetables, red meat, and fish to restore this nutrient.
Lactating mothers need adequate protein from sources like eggs, lean meat, lentils, fish, and nuts to produce enough milk.
Maternal vitamin D satisfies the nursing infant’s requirements without the need for direct supplementation. Besides boosting immunity, vitamin D supports blood-sugar metabolism and brain and bone health.
A Lactating woman needs calcium to strengthen the bones and improve circulatory, muscular, and nervous function. A calcium-rich diet can include yogurt, milk, cheese, calcium-fortified soymilk, and juices.
Breastfeeding babies depend on the mother’s vitamin A intake for cell specialization, immune function, vision enhancement, and bone growth. You can get this vitamin from sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, and broccoli.
So, does the Keto diet impact breastfeeding needs? The unfortunate answer is yes. The high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet may be fantastic for losing baby fat, but you may be compromising on essential nutrients such as iron and calcium.
Some breastfeeding mothers may also experience a considerable decrease in milk supply because of the low carbohydrate intake. The protein and high-fat diet keep you full longer, making it difficult to consume enough calories for you and the baby. Worse still, the ketosis stage presents the risk of dehydration as the body burns fat instead of carbs for energy.
Nursing women may also suffer from severe ketoacidosis or high ketone levels in the blood. This occurs when the body overproduces ketones due to the absence of carbohydrates. As a result, you’re likely to suffer from abdominal pain, vomiting, chest pain, and shortness of breath.
Keto Benefits and Considerations for Nursing Mothers
Weight gain is inevitable during pregnancy. However, losing baby weight while caring for your newborn can be challenging. Keto accelerates weight loss thanks to its low-carb and high-fat content. Another benefit is appetite control–the fats and proteins keep you satiated, suppressing your appetite.
However, nursing moms should speak to their healthcare provider before embarking on any diet to understand the benefits and side effects. If your doctor approves it, gradually transition into the diet instead of shocking your system with abrupt changes. Most importantly, consume enough nutrients for quality milk production. You should monitor your milk supply and stop the diet if you see notable declines.
The key to a keto diet is consuming nutrient-dense foods like healthy fats, non-starchy vegetables, and different protein sources. Additionally, drink enough water to counter the diuretic effect, especially in the early stages.
Can Keto and Breastfeeding Coexist?
It’s no secret that breastfeeding takes a lot out of you, and it’s easy to understand why—you’re producing enough nutrients to keep an entire separate human alive! That means your body is burning a lot of energy and, therefore, requires more calories than usual. Based on a 2,000-calorie diet, you need anywhere from 200 to 500 extra calories every day when breastfeeding. This is especially true in the early stages before your baby can get nutrients from solid food. In the beginning, you can expect to nurse eight to 12 times a day.
If you’re eating a healthy and well-balanced diet, those additional calories won’t hang around. They’ll go straight to who needs it most—your baby! It’s not uncommon for breastfeeding moms to lose a few pounds while nursing. In general, diets are not a good idea while breastfeeding. Cutting calories to lose weight can affect your milk supply, and giving your baby all the nourishment they need should be your top priority.
Your body is incredibly smart. If it senses that it’s having to fight for energy, it will try to preserve itself—that means cutting back on breastmilk production and storing fat. Not only will you supply less milk, but your body will cling to those few pounds you were trying to lose in the first place.
The keto diet is different, however, as it emphasizes a large intake of high-fat foods, even if it does cut carbs. There isn’t any evidence that a low-carb diet will affect your milk supply. However, it’s important to note that most pediatricians probably won’t recommend anything other than a balanced diet while breastfeeding.
There is a chance that, because most keto foods are so filling, you actually won’t eat as much as you usually do. This could make it harder to reach your daily caloric intake goals, which could lead to a decrease in milk supply. Another thing to consider is hydration—the keto diet can be dehydrating, so you’d have to commit yourself to drinking enough water to make up for it.
Overall, the keto diet does come with some health risks. Our recommendation? Save the dieting for when you’re done breastfeeding! And whatever you decide, always keep your maternity doctor in the loop.
FAQs About Keto While Breastfeeding
If you’re struggling with post-pregnancy weight, it’s tempting to combine intermittent fasting with the keto diet. However, restricted eating causes nutrient deficiencies, resulting in keto flu symptoms like fatigue, low energy levels, brain fog, cramping, and dizziness. Think of your body as a milk-production plant–you need the proper nutrients in the right amounts to get high-quality milk. You can consider keto and intermittent fasting once your baby stops depending on breast milk for all their nutrition. Even then, stick to shorter fasting windows and nutrient-dense meals.
Electrolytes like magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, bicarbonates, and phosphates support bodily functions like muscle contractions, blood clotting, and nerve impulses.
The diuretic effect of the keto diet causes you to lose electrolytes through frequent urination. This electrolyte loss is also a result of sweating and breastfeeding. In the event of an imbalance, you’re likely to experience symptoms like fatigue, headaches, muscle cramps, dizziness, and heart palpitations.
As such, consume electrolyte-rich foods like bone broth, nuts, avocados, leafy greens, and fatty fish when breastfeeding on the keto diet. You can also add potassium and sodium to your diet by consuming cantaloupe, bananas, celery, olives, mushrooms, and sea salt. Although you can incorporate electrolyte supplements, be sure to consult your health professionals for the right products and dosage. Don’t forget to hydrate to keep your electrolytes balanced.
While there’s no research to prove the effect of a keto diet on breast milk taste, some studies confirm flavor transfer when a lactating mother consumes mint, garlic, eucalyptus, alcohol, and anise. Infants can indeed detect a difference in taste in their mother’s milk. While subtle changes may go unnoticed, your baby may need an adjustment period characterized by less nursing or avoidance to get used to some flavors.
Stay away from weight loss programs before your 6-week postpartum checkup. Carrying a pregnancy to full term is hard work and takes a toll on your body. As such, allow yourself to heal before going on any diet. If you’re exclusively breastfeeding, hold off any diets until the baby is at least two months old. You want to ensure normal milk production before interfering with your calorie supplies.
Consult your doctor before resuming or starting any diet as a lactating mother. Additionally, introduce the keto program gradually, paying attention to your body’s response and how much milk you produce. Remember, your baby depends on breast milk to stay healthy. As such, your diet should contain enough nutrition for both you and your little one.
Want more baby advice, support, and helpful tips? Check out RMC’s website today for more blog posts.