Nursing mothers have to temporarily abandon many products and at the same time discover something new. How about wheat porridge for breastfeeding? Let's look at this issue in detail. And also find out how to choose cereals and cook delicious food. Consider the benefits of this dish and the possible harm to the mother and child.
And let's start with the main thing: what kind of cereal is this? After all, it is often confused with millet, and these are completely different products.
Wheat groats: which one?
Confusion arises from similar names. Millet, aka millet, is made from millet. Wheat groats or wheat is a product of processing durum wheat grains. This cereal is also used to make semolina and real Italian pasta.
If the mother asks: “Is it possible to cereal with breastfeeding,” then she has a reason. Most likely, this is a favorite or new for non-product. Or maybe someone recommended eating wheat or, conversely, advised.
What is wheat porridge famous for? First of all, this is a traditional dish of Russian cuisine. Cooked in the oven, it is especially delicious, try if possible. This product is also necessarily included in the diet of vegetarians, and is also the main component of a 7-day diet for weight loss.
However, doctors do not recommend eating wheat porridge during breastfeeding in the first month after childbirth. You will understand why, knowing the composition of this product.
The composition of wheat groats
Like any durum wheat product, this cereal is rich in carbohydrates (about 18 g / 100 g). There are no more than 3 g of protein in it, and less than 1 g of fat.
The calorie content of wheat cooked on water is 90 kcal per 100 g. An ideal dietary product. But if you cook on milk with a fat content of 2.5%, the number of calories increases to 130.
Also, in the composition of cereals, micro and macro elements important for the body were found:
- vitamins of group B, vitamin C, A, F, E, PP;
- potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus, iron;
- amino acids (arginine, lysine, glycine, tyrosine, cysteine, glutamic acid and many others);
- cellulose;
- starch;
- mono and disaccharides.
Thanks to the rich vitamin and mineral complex, doctors recommend that pregnant women include wheat in their diet. Then why is wheat porridge for breastfeeding at 1 month not recommended? Due to the complex gluten protein, better known as gluten.
How gluten can affect mother and baby
Do you know why pasta from durum wheat is so beautiful and does not boil, and pastries from similar flour are lush and tasty? Thanks to gluten. Moreover, seitan is used in vegetarian cuisine - pure gluten, from which meat substitutes are prepared.
Previously, everyone ate foods based on wheat, rye, barley and had no idea what gluten was. And this protein is dangerous for about 1% of the world's population suffering from a genetic disease - celiac disease, or gluten intolerance. If a woman has this disease, she should know about it, so there can be no talk of wheat porridge during breastfeeding. But not the fact that the disease will necessarily be transmitted to the child, but a special blood test allows you to determine celiac disease. Therefore, from 9 months of age, pediatricians, despite gluten, are allowed to introduce wheat into the foods for babies who do not suffer from this rare disease.
Doctors say that mother’s breast milk does not contain gluten, so it can not cause an allergy in a child. However, the list of allergens that the infant can react to is quite large. It is not known how the baby's body will respond to other components of the composition of the wheat, especially if it is a new product for mom.
Therefore, wheat porridge during breastfeeding in the first month can be replaced by millet or buckwheat. And it is better to start eating it 2-3 months after the birth, when the baby’s digestive system will be able to digest the components of the product that come with milk. After all, the benefits of this porridge are much greater than the% probability of a gluten allergy in mother and child.
The benefits of wheat porridge
Any doctor will say that the diet of a nursing mother should be as balanced and nutritious as possible. This will allow her to recover soon after childbirth, and the baby will receive the substances necessary for growth and development with breast milk.
What benefits will the macro and microelements included in the wheat bring to the mother and child:
- Vitamin PP is essential during pregnancy and lactation, it protects the liver, normalizes the pancreas, helps to cope with stress;
- Vitamin A (retinol) is important for vision, it is part of the muscle, cartilage and bone tissue;
- potassium is involved in maintaining the normal composition of the blood, the work of the heart and skeletal muscles;
- magnesium: with a lack of mineral, insomnia appears, headaches, cramps, cardiac arrhythmia;
- glutamic acid is necessary for the regulation of acid-base balance, prevents the development of acidosis, which pregnant women often suffer.
Simple and tasty porridge cleanses the body of toxins, relieves constipation, strengthens the cardiovascular system, improves skin quality, because a woman always wants to look attractive. By the way, the exclusion from the diet of products containing gluten leads to a sharp weakening of the immune system, poor health and allergic reactions.
Wheat porridge when feeding a newborn (infant up to a month of age) in the composition of the mother’s diet is undesirable. But later it will bring undeniable benefits to the mother and child, but subject to proper use and the absence of contraindications.
How to introduce wheat into the diet during lactation
If the mother after childbirth does not have exacerbations of chronic gastrointestinal diseases (gastritis, ulcers, disorders of the intestinal flora), after 2-3 months you can please yourself with a satisfying and healthy porridge. At the same time, it does not hurt to take into account a few simple recommendations:
- Buckwheat or oatmeal is allowed to nursing mothers almost daily, and wheat should be eaten no more than 2 times a week.
- The first time you need to cook porridge in the water, and add milk gradually.
- It is better to eat wheat for lunch, as a side dish or an independent main course.
And now we’ll learn how to choose the right cereal so that wheat porridge during breastfeeding would be as tasty for mom and useful for baby.
Types of wheat
Wheat groats production must meet the interstate standards GOST 276-60. On the territory of the Russian Federation, the finished product meets the requirements of GOST R 52554-2006. This means that you can purchase wheat cereals of domestic production of the following types:
- Poltava №1 (large), is a cereal from whole wheat grains.
- Poltava №2 (medium) - crushed grain.
- Poltava № 3 and № 4 (medium and small) - a mixture of crushed grain of various fractions.
- "Artek" - finely divided grain.
Regardless of the type of cereal, all the kernels in the production process are cleaned of nuclei and shells, and then polished. The finished product is yellow, without odors and with an acceptable fraction of weed impurities of not more than 0.3%. And now we’ll figure out what type of cereals to use for making wheat porridge during breastfeeding.
Which grinding to choose
The less processing the grain undergoes, the more useful the finished product. However, to cook porridge from Poltava groats No. 1, you will have to stand at the stove for at least an hour. Therefore, it is used for the preparation of friable side dishes.
And for porridge it is better to take "Artek" or Poltava number 3 and number 4. Finely crushed grains are digested much faster and there will be plenty of benefit in the finished dish. Such porridge is cooked for 15-20 minutes. The main thing is to follow a few simple rules in order to learn how to cook delicious wheat, first for yourself, then to feed the baby, and then make its use a good habit for the whole family.
How to cook wheat: general recommendations
It is important to note that wheat cereal, like any other, after opening the pack will not hurt to pour into a glass or ceramic jar with a tight lid. The permissible moisture content of wheat grain is only 14%, and in a sealed container it will not become damp or deteriorate.
Now a few simple recommendations on how to prepare cereals for cooking:
- rinse the measured amount with water, so less foam forms;
- if you soak the cereal for half an hour in warm water, the dish will cook faster;
- for cooking, an enameled pan or bucket of sufficient volume is used, preferably with thick walls;
- you can fill the cereal in boiling water, but if it is cold, then the porridge will be more tender;
- Wheat, like any crushed groats (corn, barley) during cooking, burns more than whole grain, so it must be periodically stirred from the bottom;
- you need to cook without a lid, over low heat.
So, wheat porridge during breastfeeding in the first month of a baby’s life is not recommended for mom. However, it is necessary to start with a simple and nutritious dish on the water, which can be cooked 2-3 months after birth.
Wheat on the water
First, it’s better to cook porridge without salt, sugar and butter. Not very tasty, but extremely useful. To prepare, you need to measure:
- 1 part cereal;
- 3 parts of water.
In this proportion, the porridge will turn out to be moderately liquid and will boil well. For those who like more, the ratio of cereals and water is taken 1: 2.5. Cook, stirring, for 20 minutes, then turn off the burner, cover the pan with a lid and wait another 20 minutes.
If you eat a rather tasteless dish unbearable, add berries or dried fruits, for example, scalded and finely chopped dried apricots, to a plate with wheat. For the first time, just eat a couple of spoons and see the baby’s reaction.
Now we will find out when wheat porridge with breastfeeding can be boiled in milk, and what else to add for taste.
Milk Wheat
Sour-milk products during lactation are recommended immediately after childbirth, and pediatricians are advised to be careful with milk and milk porridges. It is optimal to start cooking wheat in milk when the child is six months old, and add this product to the dish gradually.
A simple recipe for wheat with milk:
- Pour 1 part of cereal with 1 part of water;
- cook until half cooked for 10 minutes;
- add 2 parts of milk, cook for another 10 minutes;
- Before turning off, add a pinch of salt or sugar to taste.
In a plate, you can put a slice of butter or a teaspoon of olive. If the child responds normally to such a product, after a while the wheat can be boiled completely in milk.
And another recipe that greatly simplifies the process of making porridge.
Wheat in a slow cooker
Nursing mothers, who have a universal assistant, can easily cook wheat in a slow cooker both on water and milk.
Cooking wheat porridge on the water:
- the ratio of water and cereals 3: 1;
- pour the washed cereal into the bowl, add water;
- set the mode to "porridge" ("cooking");
- cooking time: 30-40 minutes.
Making sweet wheat porridge in milk:
- the ratio of milk and cereals 5: 1;
- 1 tbsp. l sugar, 25 g butter;
- transfer the washed cereal to a bowl, add milk, sugar, butter;
- cook 1 hour in the porridge mode.
It is useful to boil wheat with 500 g of grated pumpkin, in which case you need to measure half of the water and milk.
Summarize
Wheat porridge when breastfeeding a newborn is not recommended, but after 2-3 months it will become an important source of vitamins and energy in the diet of a nursing mother. It is simple to cook, and having mastered basic recipes, at the end of lactation you can please yourself, your baby and the whole family with extremely tasty cereal with meat, vegetables and herbs cooked in the oven or in a slow cooker.