Dukan diet for nursing mothers: principles, features, menus, recipes

As you know, during pregnancy many women gain excess weight - this is a fairly common phenomenon and there is nothing surprising about it. About

Usually, as soon as a young mother begins to breastfeed, the excess pounds go away on their own, but if this does not happen, then special weight loss systems come to the rescue, for example, the Dukan diet is extremely popular for breastfeeding. Let's figure out what the essence of this technique is in its classical form, and how it changes if we are talking about the lactation period.

Special Dukan diet for breastfeeding

A nursing mother is responsible not only for her own health, but also for the full development of the baby.
Until a certain time, it is she who provides the baby with important microelements and valuable vitamins. This is why women often fail to lose extra pounds. Any weight loss system will harm the child and make the milk defective.
However, there is a special Dukan diet for breastfeeding. This program allows you to lose extra pounds for those women who do not want to give up breastfeeding, but want to return their figure to normal.

Physical exercise

The Dukan diet requires mandatory walks and other physical activity. This goes well with the daily routine of a nursing mother, since daily walks with a stroller can be done at an accelerated pace, as well as doing fitness, yoga or regular exercises when the baby is sleeping.

Physical exercise is allowed only after the body has fully recovered after childbirth. A woman’s metabolism during lactation is quite high due to the constant loss of nutrients, so both dietary nutrition and physical exercise give excellent results. After some time, when the baby turns one year old, the woman’s figure will acquire the desired shape, without harm to the child or self-torture with strict restrictions.

The main principles of the Dukan diet for nursing mothers

A specially developed Dukan diet for nursing mothers comes from France. This is a nutrition program that involves following several important steps. Among these, nutritionists note the following:

• The preparatory process when the body gradually gets used to the new nutrition system.
• The active phase when active burning of calories occurs. Fat cells are actively destroyed during this period.
• Weight loss. This process can take a long time, it becomes final.

Food basket

What should you buy to lose weight using the Dukan method? Refer to the following list of products approved by Pierre.

1. Dairy products not exceeding 2% fat content.
2. Lean meat without skin.
3. Fruits/berries.
4. Eggs.
5. Fish/seafood.
6. Vegetables/greens.
7. Pasta made from hard grains.
8. Potatoes should be consumed in moderation.
9. Rice.
10. Legumes.
11. Cheese (very moderate).
12. Crispbread (whole grain).
13. Water.
14. Healthy tea.
15. Gelatin.
16. Lemon juice.
17. Yeast.
18. Oat bran.
19. Healthy seasonings.
20. Salt.

This is important to know! The daily norm of water for a pregnant woman or during lactation is 2 liters, and oat bran is 2.5 tablespoons. The bran does not have to be eaten dry; you can use it as an ingredient for preparing dishes approved by Pierre.

Nutrition rules on the Dukan diet for breastfeeding mothers

Dr. Dukan advises adhering to several important rules during breastfeeding. All of them are mandatory, do not harm the baby’s health, and allow you to lose weight gradually.

The absence of sudden changes in body weight, as well as the exclusion of sudden loss of extra pounds along with proper nutrition, makes the Dukan diet one of the safest and most acceptable.

The Dukan diet for breastfeeding is a nutrition system that involves:

• Not only a certain diet, but mandatory walks in the fresh air every day;
• Drinking plenty of water, when you need to drink 2–2.5 liters of clean water per day;
• Use of oat bran in the food system. They contain a sufficient amount of fiber, which is used by the body not only for cleansing. This component actively absorbs dangerous and toxic substances and removes them from the body. Fiber is also responsible for the normal functioning of peristalsis.

The rules of the program are as simple as possible. Dr. Dukan recommends using it for nursing mothers in the final stage. It makes it possible to gradually reduce body weight without harming your health. The program contains only valuable food products that allow the mother to recover after childbirth, as well as ensure that the baby’s body receives important components through mother’s milk.

Contraindications, side effects, precautions

When breastfeeding, nutritionists recommend that until the baby reaches the age of 6 months, mothers eat properly and nutritiously, without resorting to any diets. As for the ketogenic diet and lactation, its use is possible only if the child (or mother) does not have any manifestations of allergies. After all, allergic reactions are most often observed precisely to proteins contained in certain products.

Contraindications to losing weight using the Dukan method may be:

• chronic kidney pathologies - pyelonephritis and hydronephrosis, nephroptosis and urolithiasis, renal failure, gout;
• hypertension, atherosclerosis, other diseases of the cardiovascular and nervous systems;
• chronic liver diseases - cholecystitis, biliary dyskinesia and gallstone disease;
• duodenal ulcer (stomach), gastritis and pancreatitis;
• intestinal dyskinesia (atony), chronic constipation;
• any disorders of the endocrine system, etc.

Even if you follow a gentle (adapted) protein diet, side effects cannot be ruled out.

Most often this is:

• nausea, dizziness, acetone odor from the mouth, as a consequence of an increase in the content of ketone bodies (acetone) in the blood;
• some lethargy, slow reactions;
• absent-mindedness, weakness, depression;
• problems with the kidneys, liver, pancreas;
• swelling, increased cholesterol levels in the blood;
• constipation, intestinal motility disorders;
• complications from the heart and blood vessels, nervous system;
• unhealthy pallor, dullness and sagging skin.

For proper functioning, the body needs proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Neither one nor the other, nor the third are superfluous. If the balance of nutrients supplied with food is disturbed, the entire system of their breakdown may malfunction.

To minimize the risk of negative consequences:

• drink at least 2 liters of water per day (30 ml per 1 kg of weight, tea, compote and other drinks do not count here);
• to compensate for the deficiency of vitamins and minerals that may arise during weight loss according to the Dukan method, additionally take vitamin complexes for nursing mothers (check the names of drugs, regimens and dosages with your doctor);
• take walks (walk for at least 20 minutes a day, or better yet, much more), go swimming, Pilates, yoga, etc. (you should have at least 2 workouts per week);
• While following the Pierre Dukan ketogenic diet, at any stage, be sure to consume oat bran every day.

It is important! If soon after switching to a protein diet you experience any unpleasant sensations or your condition worsens, you should stop the diet and consult a doctor immediately.

In 2000, Pierre Dukan published his book “I Can’t Lose Weight.” It was after the publication of this book that the protein diet gained great popularity and entered the “star” list. And the creation of the French nutritionist itself became a bestseller - it was published in 32 countries and translated into 14 languages. This book contains chapters that describe the features of a protein diet during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Drawing up a diet on the Dukan diet for breastfeeding

The Dukan diet allows you to:

• Eat not one, but two servings of fruit at once. You should make sure that mommy eats allowed foods that will not harm the baby.
• Eat fermented milk products, which not only saturate the body with B vitamins, but also help replenish the lack of calcium. It is fermented milk products that supply the body with the lion's share of this component, which is easily absorbed.
• A protein day may not be arranged for women who are breastfeeding. If there is a need and desire, it can be done less often than with standard weight loss programs according to the Dukan system.
• After achieving results, you should return to a normal diet gradually. This often happens 35 weeks after the start of the program.

• Bananas and grapes should not be consumed. Gradually you need to remove green apples from your diet. They can be replaced with less sweet foods. You should do the same with green tea, using other drinks instead.
• It is recommended to eat vegetable salad every day. You can also use vegetable oil as a tasty dressing.
• Only after 4-6 weeks of following the Dukan diet will it be possible to gradually include rice and whole grain pasta in the diet. Other grains should be present in the diet every day. This is where you should start your day.

Features of maternal nutrition in the first months

The diet during lactation changes slightly. Most of the nutrients contained in breast milk come from the mother's body, and if the mother is fasting or eating poorly during this period, the baby still receives the necessary nutrients. That is why a nursing mother does not need to double her portion of food, and is allowed to adhere to a reasonable, balanced diet, especially if she wants to quickly get into shape the figure that has become blurred during pregnancy.

The Dukan diet is partially suitable for women during lactation, but only its third and final stage. By adhering to the rules of Consolidation, and making some adjustments, especially important in the first three months, you can quickly and without compromising your own health, lose a few kilograms.

Along with milk, the baby also receives some substances contained in the foods the mother eats. The imperfection of the baby's digestive system during this period forces the mother to limit to a minimum the amount of plant fiber, which can cause increased gas formation and colic in the child. This means that the following should be excluded from the diet:

• Fresh fruits, replacing them with boiled or baked ones.
• Fresh vegetables.
• Legumes.
• Protein day.

You can eat any cereals, all types of protein products, dairy and fermented milk dishes without exception.

The Dukan diet excludes the consumption of sugar, confectionery, and sweets. This goes well with the diet of a nursing mother, since the abundance of starch and glucose in the menu has an adverse effect on the baby’s digestion during adaptation.

Sample menu of the Dukan diet for breastfeeding

It is better to create a diet yourself, using diet tips. As an example, you can use a ready-made menu for one on the Dukan diet for breastfeeding:

• Breakfast – buckwheat porridge with a piece of lean meat. Can be replaced with pancakes with minced meat and juice. Instead of juice, you can sometimes drink kefir or unsweetened yogurt.
• Second breakfast - use a fruit basket, but in limited quantities.
• Lunch – boiled fish fillet. You can include vegetable soup with meatballs in the program. There should be a place in the program for vegetable salad.
• Afternoon snack – tea with a small piece of cheesecake or savory casserole.
• Dinner – stewed vegetables with meat. You can use lentils with fish.

The main principle of nutrition on the Dukan diet is rationality and moderation. It is important that the baby receives valuable components from the mother’s milk, but the woman herself does not lose them and does not gain extra pounds.

About the weight loss program

The secret of Dr. Dukan's diet lies in the limited consumption of carbohydrates and the predominance of proteins in the diet, which is why this weight loss program is often called a protein diet. Why squirrels? The fact is that protein foods are excellently satiating, so people losing weight according to Dukan do not suffer from hunger attacks, they do not break down and do not overeat.

In addition, proteins spend about a third of their calorie content to burn themselves, which cannot be said about carbohydrates or fats. The undoubted advantage of the method is the absence of restrictions on the amount of protein consumed per day and quick results. Dukan fans see daily weight loss; they don't have to wait for years to see themselves slim in the mirror. Such news motivates, charges with positivity and energy.

DETAILS: Six petals diet - menu for every day. How much weight can you lose?

As for pregnant or breastfeeding women, Pierre Dukan recommends that they lose weight, regardless of how much excess weight is observed, by adhering (with minor amendments) to the diet of the third stage of his program, which is called Consolidation or Consolidation. Of course, the results will not be immediate, but you can be confident that nothing threatens your body and baby.

Meet Pierre Dukan - the author of the miracle technique