Postpartum Nutrition – The 8 Top Foods You Need To Eat After Birth

Keeping both you and your baby healthy while breastfeeding requires a proper meal plan and some guidance. If you would like a step-by-step program to help you lose weight safely, check out all our courses, programs, challenges, & recipe book.

Postpartum nutrition is really important. And when I say really, I mean it is something that can make or break your healing, energy levels, milk supply, and more. I am super passionate about postpartum nutrition because it is the key to keeping both mama and baby healthy after birth. I’ve been slowly working on starting a movement here at The Postpartum Cure, pushing mamas to learn what good, healing nutrition looks like, and why it is important after birth. The medical community is taking notice, and I am so excited to now be working with doctors and OBGYNS to help provide more resources and care after birth. I personally was handed a sheet of simple exercises to do for healing, and offered whatever I wanted to eat from the hospital menu…that was my experience with postpartum care and healing.

If you want even more nutrient advice for postpartum healing and thriving, join the #nourishthemamaseries on the Milk Dust Instagram page! I go over these nutrients and more to help encourage mamas and educate them on how to properly nourish their bodies! 

In an effort to help mamas heal their bodies through proper nourishment after birth, I’m going to go over the top foods you need to eat after birth.

This will keep it simple and help you focus on a few foods to help you heal. I highly encourage my Postpartum Cure Mini or full program to really dive deep into the essential nutrients for healing and breastfeeding, as well as how to eat super healthy and still lose weight. This is really important. If you eat a nutrient-dense diet, your body will be satisfied with fewer calories, you can keep cravings at bay, and you can let go of the extra fat stored during pregnancy.

Let’s get into my top choices for foods that are going to help you heal, build a healthy milk supply and nourish both you and your baby!

Milk Dust Protein Powder:

Milk Dust is so much more than a protein powder. It is a complete source of many nutrients that postpartum mamas need. I created Milk Dust as a protein powder that will not only supply you with a healthy amount of protein in one serving but also gives you really important nutrients you and your baby need. This isn’t found in other protein powders, so I like to call it a postpartum nutritional supplement. Protein is really important to healing postpartum, and so are Folate, Vitamin B12, Potassium, Magnesium, and Chromium. Even better, this blend of minerals, combined with the cinnamon bark I added, all help balance your blood sugar, and each has been proven to help control sugar cravings. Because each ingredient is scientifically proven to help you manage sugar cravings, this can help you with your weight loss!

Milk Dust can also boost your milk supply. This is because there is a special lactation support blend including Fenugreek, Milk Thistle, Red Raspberry Leaf, and Brewer’s Yeast. These all have anecdotal studies showing varying degrees of increased milk supply (depending on the mama), and have been used for centuries in postpartum healing and breastfeeding,

Part of the reason I wanted to create a protein powder, specifically formulated for postpartum and breastfeeding mamas is that protein intake is really important, but often times our sweet and carb cravings take over. Cravings come from a lack of nutrients, and they are a signal we need more. It is advised that we need more nutrients of various degrees while breastfeeding, so this makes total sense. Eating all the healthy foods all the time isn’t always realistic. But drinking a yummy, sweet smoothie with some frozen berries and spinach is quick, simple and so good, you’ll want to do it every day! This is where the beauty of a clean, nutritional supplement comes in. It makes nourishing your body simple, effective, and delicious. Milk Dust is my first food, which is more than a food, but I think very important and effective. Let’s get into my other top foods!

Oatmeal For Fiber:

I LOVE overnight lactation oatmeal recipes (try this strawberry pecan one!) Oatmeal is a great source of carbohydrates for breastfeeding mamas, which is really important to energy levels. You can totally attempt to go low carb to lose weight while breastfeeding, and if your body is adjusted to that, then it may work well. But, carbohydrates also supply a lot of nutrients, which is where some of the cravings can get difficult. Oatmeal is full of fiber, can help manage your blood sugar, keep you satisfied, and can lower blood sugar. They also have some nutrients that can promote breast milk production. 

I like oatmeal for postpartum nutrition because it is comforting, yet healthy. You can make it sweet or savory, depending on how you like it, as well as prepare it overnight for a faster morning. Smoothies are my go-to morning meal, but oatmeal is a close second.

The Perfect Green Lactation Smoothie For Weight Loss While Breastfeeding

Eggs For Choline:

Eggs are an amazing source of choline, which is an essential nutrient for postpartum mamas. It is an essential B vitamin which is why eggs are a great source. If you grab my 10-day reset, you can jump start on eating cleaner, and I have some salad recipes with hard-boiled eggs on top. That is a super easy way to get your choline in fast! Cauliflower is also high in choline, and I suggest blending your morning smoothies with frozen cauliflower and Milk Dust because cauliflower doesn’t take like cauliflower frozen, and it blends creamy! Choline is basically a neurotransmitter supporter, so it can positively affect your mental function and mood.

Salmon for Omega-3s and Vitamin B12:

Other foods like liver and clams are high sources of vitamin B12 but aren’t as realistic to eat as salmon. It is important to get wild-caught salmon, rather than farm-raised, and it is actually easy to bake! Throw in some asparagus with it, and you will have two amazing foods in one meal! I have an awesome salmon recipe in my program, but there are tons out there. You can even try grabbing a can of salmon to add to eggs for breakfast and salads for lunch! The reason omega-3s and vitamin B12 are important is that they pass through your milk to the baby. These are essential nutrients your baby needs for development, especially in their brain, so it helps you both (cause mama needs them too!), to thrive!

Asparagus For Folate:

Asparagus has lots of essential vitamins, but folate is one of the big ones. Folate is another B vitamin that is essential for creating DNA and genetic material. Folate is not to be confused with Folic Acid, even though they do the same things. Folic Acid is the synthetic form of folate, that is added to vitamins and fortified foods. This is a key difference that those with the MTHFR gene mutation need to be aware of. The live version of folate is L-methyl folate (what I have in Milk Dust). Folate is responsible for new cell generation as well, so both mama and baby need this to grow, heal, and function!

Strawberries Vitamin C:

Vitamin C is really helpful for healing postpartum, and strawberries are an awesome, sweet source of vitamin C. Vitamin C helps you absorb your iron, so it is really important to include this vitamin in your diet! Luckily, many veggies and berries are good sources of vitamin C, so consuming the vitamin isn’t too hard. Our bodies can’t make vitamin C by themselves, we have to eat foods with it. Vitamin C helps with wound healing, which is really important postpartum whether you had a vaginal birth or c-section. If you eat a colorful diet of fruits and veggies, you probably get plenty of vitamin C.

Broccoli For Chromium:

Chromium is a mineral, that we need in small amounts, yet it plays a role in the metabolism of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. Chromium is very helpful to regulate your blood sugar and insulin levels, and low levels of chromium have been linked to diabetes 2. Chromium can help lower blood sugar levels, as well as lessen the symptoms of depression, which is really important postpartum! Because chromium can help with insulin resistance, it can help with sugar cravings and dips in blood sugar that cause sugar cravings. Of course, I have chromium in Milk Dust, and I highly recommend blending it with other chromium-rich foods like oats, bananas, apples, and pears. This will help you fully absorb the chromium to get the full impact!

Tumeric for EVERYTHING:

Tumeric is one of those miracle foods or spices that has been proven to do so much. I HIGHLY recommend making a golden milk latte postpartum with this amazing Tumeric powder that combines some very powerful Ayurvedic herbs and roots that have been shown to reduce inflammation, slow the spread of cancer, increase metabolism and reduce hunger. Tumeric itself is very anti-inflammatory, which is going to help your body heal overall after birth! Tumeric is also linked to brain function, which is necessary for new mommies! The membrane can hit hard, so encouraging your brain to function and thrive is really helpful. I will have a recipe soon for a healing, post-birth golden milk latte that I think all mamas should drink daily after birth!

These are the 8, top foods you need to eat after birth, but of course, there are so many more beneficial foods for healing and recovery postpartum.

I have a full program that is focused on nourishing your body postpartum, which is the central goal, followed by weight loss, ab repair, and pelvic floor work to give a holistic program that helps mamas care for themselves and fully thrive after a baby. Feel free to check it out and see what other mamas are saying, so you can nourish properly with healing foods and healthy recipes, as well as lose weight while keeping up your milk supply!

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