There was a post on the Lactivist Facebook wall recently by a mum who said her midwife had told her that her milk would be lower in calories during the afternoon. I hadn’t heard that before so I googled, and now I’m sharing it. This article by Gwen Dewar says
“Because fat constitutes the majority of calories in breast milk, this means that some women produce more calorie-dense milk than others. Moms producing fewer calories in breast milk will need to nurse their babies more frequently.”
I’ve copied bits of the article here but for the full thing, which is fascinating, please visit – http://www.parentingscience.com/calories-in-breast-milk.html
“Precise measurements of the calories in breast milk require fancy lab equipment. But you can get a rough idea of how the calories in breast milk change over time by collecting milk from a breast pump. A study by Wang et al (1999) has demonstrated that calories in breast milk can be estimated from the amount of cream that floats to the top of collected milk.
The researchers used a centrifuge to separate the cream from the milk. You probably don’t have one, but you can still observe the amount of cream that forms at the top of a cup of freshly expressed milk.
After pumping, put the milk in a transparent container (so you can observe the cream column from the side). Leave in a cool place for 12-24 hours. This will permit the cream to rise. For best results, the container should be relatively shallow, so the cream doesn’t have to travel very far.
Measure the length of the cream column. The higher the column, the more fat and calories in breast milk.”
“Improving the quality of your breast milk
There is no convincing evidence that you can significantly change the lactose content of your milk.
But studies suggest that diet and breast feeding practices can influence the protein-, vitamin-, and fatty acid composition of breast milk (Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences 1991; Woolridge 1995).
Here are some suggestions for increasing the quality-—and calories—-in breast milk.
• Take prenatal vitamins. Don’t take additional supplements without consulting a doctor. Some vitamins—like A and D—can have toxic effects in high doses.
• Don’t skimp on protein. Although protein levels remain pretty stable across a wide range of diets, populations subsisting on very low-protein diets are associated with low protein breast milk.
• Limit saturated fats. Western diets are very high in saturated fats. Babies who consume breast milk high in saturated fat may be at increased risk of developing high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels later in life (Leeson et 2001; Mott et al 1990).
• Increase your DHA intake. The DHA levels in American breast milk are among the lowest in the world. The populations with the highest DHA levels are those that eat significant quantities of fish (Brenna et al 2007). If you don’t like fish, you can buy DHA supplements in pill form. However, I feel cautious about this. Check with your physician.
• Breastfeed on demand. This permits your baby to adjust intake in response to changes in your breast milk. In addition, more frequent feedings may boost the fat content of your milk. For more information, see my article on the infant feeding schedule.
• Let your baby take his time at each breast. As noted above, premature breast-switching can rob babies of higher-fat “hind” milk.
If you found this article on the nutrients and calories in breast milk helpful, check out the other breastfeeding articles at Parenting Science.com.
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