Is It Okay to Eat Cheese While Breastfeeding

Keeping your cravings under control is a difficult task, especially when you are pregnant. With all the hormones acting up, you tend to come up with cravings for weird food combinations. But if you love cheese, keeping your cheesy cravings at bay can be especially hard. However, since pregnancy takes such a toll on your body, you need to ensure that everything you eat is nutritionally rich. So, if you are craving that hunk of blue cheese but are wondering, “can you eat blue cheese while breastfeeding,” keep reading to know more!

Is It Safe to Consume Cheese While Breastfeeding?

A balanced diet is of utmost importance during and after your pregnancy. Since you are lactating, you need to ensure that all the nutrition is passed onto your baby through your breast milk. In this regard, owing to cheese’s lactose-rich food, it is safe to consume most types of cheeses while you are lactating. Consultations with your doctor can help you understand what kinds are safe to consume. However, soft cheeses made with pasteurized milk, such as feta, brie, camembert, can be safe to consume. So, consult with your doctor and plan out a delectable and cheesy post-natal diet plan for yourself.

Health Benefits of Cheese During Breastfeeding

Pregnant and lactating mothers need to be especially careful of their diet and what they eat since it can directly affect the child. However, if you like cheese, then we have good news! Cheese has many nutritional and health benefits that make it suitable to be included in your post-natal diet plan. Here are a few benefits of cheese for lactating mothers:

1. Excellent source of calcium: Cheese, especially natural cheeses and hard cheeses, are excellent sources of calcium. Since pregnancy and breastfeeding lead to calcium loss from the bones, adding this component to your diet can help you maintain your calcium and Vitamin D levels.
2. Excellent source of protein: Cottage cheese and hard cheeses are also excellent sources of protein, which can help you stay full and prevent snacking on unhealthy food in between meals.
3. Reduces hypertension: Cheese is another great food to help keep your blood pressure in check since increased calcium intake helps lower your blood pressure.
4. Excellent source of zinc and biotin: Zinc is necessary for new mothers in the recovery and healing of tissues, helping you recover fast after going through the nine-month-long struggle. Additionally, biotin can help you maintain your lustrous mane, which probably affects the hormonal turbulence associated with pregnancy.

Varieties of Cheese

Lactating mothers have a lot of options of cheeses to try from. With different textures, tastes, and nutritional benefits, you can choose the one that suits your needs or taste palette the most. Some of these types are:

1. Mozzarella

Mozzarella is a typical cheese for pizzas, ideal for the tremendous cheesy pull. However, it has multiple benefits for breastfeeding mothers as well.

Benefits

1. It is low in sodium and calories.
2. It contains Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus fermentum, both known for improving gut health, enhancing immunity, and reducing inflammation.

2. Blue Cheese

The bold flavor of blue cheese appeals to very few. But for lactating mothers, the nutrition of blue cheese can be highly beneficial.

Benefits

1. It has the highest calcium among all cheeses, containing 33% of the recommended daily intake (RDI).
2. Blue cheese reduces the risk of osteoporosis.

3. Feta Cheese

This soft cheese is ideal for salads and Mediterranean cuisine. While the salty taste implies high quantities of sodium, it contains one of the lowest calories among all cheeses. This makes eating feta cheese while breastfeeding essential if you have a low calcium intake.

Benefits

1. Feta contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), directly linked to reducing body fat and enhancing body composition.
2. Feta made from sheep’s milk has a greater CLA than feta made from goat’s milk.

4. Ricotta

After completing all other cheeses, ricotta is a delectable cheese made from the leftover watery parts of cattle milk. Extremely light in texture, this cheese has many health benefits.

Benefits

1. Since ricotta is made of whey, it contains massive amounts of amino acids, which enhance milk synthesis through the breasts. This ultimately leads to improved neonatal health and development.
2. Due to being easily absorbable, ricotta promotes muscle growth and reduces blood pressure and cholesterol.

Important Tips for Buying Cheese When Breastfeeding

While eating cheese is excellent for lactating mothers, it is best to buy genuine and quality cheese. So, it would be good to follow these tips to buy the best cheese:

1. What to Look For

When you go to buy cheese, you need to look out for the ingredients made with it. Buying organic cheese is always better than processed or any other cheese, especially for lactating mothers who pass on nutrition to the baby through their milk. So, always look for organic cheeses.

2. Ensure the Best Quality

While organic cheese is always one of the best options, you can go even further and go for grass-fed cheese. Grass-fed cheese is made from the milk of cattle who have been feeding on grass. So, this guaranteed extra nutrients and benefits that will benefit both mother and child.

3. Where to Buy From

Supermarkets and online stores may be your go-to when buying cheese. However, when it comes to your child, you want the very best, and so, buying from genuine farms is your best bet at getting the purest cheese. So, go to your local farms or browse through the internet for organic farms and get your fill of cheese from them.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding are times when you need to pay special attention to your diet. So, consult your doctor and choose from the many kinds of cheese to include in your diet. Depending on your body needs, the right cheese can help you recover faster while providing your baby with better nutrition.

Also Read:

Eating Peanuts During Breastfeeding

Consuming Eggs During Breastfeeding

Consuming Spicy Food During Breastfeeding