When can you eat tomatoes while breastfeeding? Is it possible for a nursing mother to eat tomatoes: fresh, salted and pickled tomatoes while breastfeeding

After the birth of a baby, a nursing mother should review her entire diet. Often, rather familiar foods that were consumed almost daily before and even during pregnancy fall under the taboo. These foods include tomatoes. We will figure out whether it is possible to eat tomatoes while breastfeeding, and how to do it correctly.

Tomatoes have earned their place in our daily menu not only because of their taste, but also because of the incredible usefulness of these fruits.

The benefits of tomatoes

Fresh fruits of tomatoes, as well as juice squeezed out of them, have the following useful properties:

• increase immunity due to the high content of vitamin C,
• provide the body with vitamins E, A, PP, B, K, folic acid, iron, zinc, manganese, magnesium, potassium and many other trace elements,
• strengthen the cardiovascular system,
• calm the nervous system with the help of the trypophane contained in them,
• have anti-inflammatory properties,
• have an antibacterial effect on the body,
• reduce the manifestation of allergic reactions,
• thin the blood, preventing the formation of blood clots,
• increase the level of hemoglobin in the blood due to the high content of choline,
• stabilize blood pressure
• improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, preventing the occurrence of constipation,
• increase metabolism, helping to cope with excess weight,
• normalize the water-salt balance of the body,
• have a diuretic effect and improve kidney function,
• produce substances - antioxidants that stop the development of cancer cells.

Even in tomatoes that have undergone heat treatment, many of these properties are preserved. For example, in stewed tomatoes, vitamins decompose under the influence of temperature, but all other useful substances do not lose their qualities. And lycopene, under the influence of heat, passes into a form that is more absorbed by the body.

When a woman breastfeeds, she has a huge responsibility for the health of the baby. Any food eaten indirectly has a positive or negative effect on the baby's body. A nursing mother has to give up a lot of products. And all for the sake of making the baby feel good. Breastfeeding tomatoes are also on the taboo list. But the ban applies only to the first few months of a child's life.

Tomatoes are popular "vitamin" vegetables that taste good. In the middle and at the end of summer, these fruits especially tempt us with their appetizing taste. The vegetable has not only a beautiful bright appearance, but also a whole range of useful substances (vitamins, trace elements, fiber, etc.). Let's figure out why tomatoes are not allowed when breastfeeding in the first months?

Properties of tomatoes

What are the benefits of tomatoes:

• They have a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system, as they promote hematopoiesis, lower cholesterol levels, and strengthen the walls of blood vessels.
• They have a positive effect on the nervous system. Regular consumption of tomatoes even improves mood, fights depression.
• The digestive system also benefits from tomatoes. They contain a lot of fiber, which thoroughly cleanses our intestines. They enhance the secretion of gastric juice, which is useful for people with low stomach acidity. Eaten tomato improves appetite.
• Tomatoes increase immunity and body resistance to diseases.
• Tomatoes are able to increase hemoglobin in those who have it lowered.
• Tomatoes have a mild diuretic effect. This property is suitable for people suffering from hypertension and swelling of the extremities.
• Strengthen bones and teeth, have a beneficial effect on vision.
• Tomatoes are also useful in home cosmetology: they make excellent face and hair masks.

Still, tomatoes can be harmful:

• The likelihood of an allergic reaction in the baby increases. The bright color of the vegetable warns us of the danger of allergies! In addition, the fruits contain a lot of ascorbic acid, which also often becomes the culprit of allergies.
• Tomatoes can provoke intestinal colic and loose stools in a baby. This is due to the fiber that tomatoes are so rich in.
• Vegetables sold out of season and fruits brought from afar are usually stuffed with nitrates. They will do more harm than good. Therefore, it is better for a nursing mother to refuse them.
• Fresh fruits can increase the acidity of the stomach, which will lead to heartburn in the mother and problems with the gastrointestinal tract in the baby.
• Laxative properties that have a beneficial effect on the mother's body, the baby's body can be brought to diarrhea.
• In individuals suffering from diseases of the biliary tract or urolithiasis, the consumption of tomatoes can exacerbate and worsen the condition.

When can a nursing mother eat tomatoes?

At what age can tomatoes be with HB? Product features do not imply their use immediately after childbirth. Moreover, it is better to refuse tomatoes in the first month after childbirth. The optimal age when you can eat tomatoes while breastfeeding is from 4 months of a newborn's life. When starting to introduce a vegetable into your menu, it is important to remember the amount of food. For the first time, 1 slice of vegetable will be enough. If the baby does not have allergies and colic, you can gradually increase the portion of tomatoes. The average, quite acceptable, daily intake of tomatoes during breastfeeding is 2-3 fruits or 1 glass of tomato juice. Start introducing tomatoes into your diet with yellow, green, or orange varieties.

In what form is it better to eat tomatoes during lactation?

yellow fresh tomatoes

They are considered a diet variety. In yellow tomatoes, there is much less ascorbic acid. So, they are more gentle on the stomach. Yellow tomatoes are also considered hypoallergenic. They can be safely advised to nursing mothers.

Pickled or pickled tomatoes

One of the common questions: can a nursing mother eat pickles and tomatoes? Any pickled vegetables with HB are strictly prohibited. Canned tomatoes contain vinegar and other harmful substances that can be passed on to the baby. Salted vegetables are prepared, as a rule, without the addition of vinegar. But they contain a lot of salt, which retains fluid in the body. If you really want, you can sometimes treat yourself to a salted tomato. The main thing is not to abuse the product. Otherwise, after eating salted tomatoes, lactation may worsen.

It is known that tomato juice is very useful. When breastfeeding, you can sometimes afford to drink a glass of such juice, but not earlier than 4 months of a child's life. To begin with, it is advisable to make juice from yellow tomatoes, and then gradually replace them with red fruits.

stewed tomatoes

Heat-treated vegetables lose some of their vitamins, but become safer for women during lactation than fresh tomatoes. Before use, you can lightly simmer vegetables in a pan. At the same time, you should not fry them in oil, since this product will definitely not benefit the baby.

Tips for nursing mothers on eating and choosing tomatoes

• When introducing a tomato into your diet, do not forget about the amount of the product. Follow the measure so as not to provoke complications in the baby.
• Choose vegetables with a thin, but whole (nowhere damaged) skin for nutrition.
• Give preference to local fruits.
• Do not buy tomatoes in winter.
• Don't buy spoiled fruits.
• Discard the fruit that is pale pink in color or has rough veins in the cut, most likely it contains a lot of pesticides.
• Do not buy tomatoes out of season - this is the time when you are most likely to buy vegetables with a lot of chemicals.

Watch video tips on how to choose the right tomatoes:

If the main period of consumption of tomatoes is scheduled for the “off season”, then prepare for it in advance: during the ripening period of vegetables, buy fresh tomatoes (preferably small ones, cherry tomatoes) and freeze them in the freezer “for future use”.

Summarizing

Tomatoes are very healthy and tasty. They have a beneficial effect on all body systems. In addition, they strengthen the immune system and prevent the development of anemia in people. However, tomatoes can harm the baby: cause allergies or tummy pain. Therefore, a nursing mother should be extremely careful when introducing this product into her menu. Try to consume fresh tomatoes - make salads with sour cream or vegetable oil from them, eat them as a snack.

In any case, when introducing new foods into your diet, do not forget to consult your doctor.

Tomatoes are such a favorite and familiar product on the table that the question of whether it is possible for a nursing mother to eat tomatoes is bewildering. However, despite the naturalness and presence of vitamins, each type of product must be examined for an allergic reaction. Tomatoes are no exception. After all, the element of food enters the mother's milk, and when breastfeeding is sent to the baby's body.

There is no consensus on whether tomatoes can be breastfed. Both doctors and nursing mothers give and argue different answers. Let's look at both the positive and negative effects of this product on the body of mother and child.

Useful material

Fresh natural tomatoes have a lot of useful substances that contribute to the healthy development of the human body. The product contains anticancer, antidepressant and antioxidant substances. Eating tomatoes will boost your mood and reduce your risk of cancer.

The peel stimulates the intestines, and the seeds thin the blood. By the way, natural tomato juice favorably affects the exchange of salt in the body and normalizes the process of lactation.

Do not forget about yellow tomatoes, the composition of which includes a large amount of vitamin B. They put in order the metabolism and hormonal levels, strengthen the nerves, heart and blood vessels. At the same time, they contain less acid.

Yellow tomatoes during breastfeeding are not only possible, but also necessary. They will be a great alternative for women with allergies to red foods and for mothers with high acidity.

The Dangers of Eating Tomatoes

However, the use of tomatoes can also have negative consequences:

1. They can cause an allergic reaction in both the child and the mother. These are mainly red tomatoes, which contain difficult to digest lycopene;
2. They increase the acidity of the stomach and cause heartburn in a nursing woman. As a result, the newborn is irritated by the gastric mucosa;
3. They increase gas formation, which subsequently causes colic in the baby.

You should not exclude tomatoes from the diet due to side effects. You have to wait until the baby turns up. two to three months. To avoid trouble, follow the rules for taking tomatoes when breastfeeding.

Rules of use

• Wait two to three months after the baby is born. This is necessary to ensure the healthy development of the newborn, so that immunity is strengthened and the body functions normalize;
• Introduce the product into the diet gradually and carefully monitor the reaction of the child. If the tomato causes allergies, then you should stop using it for at least two months;
• To check the child's reaction, eat half a tomato in the morning and monitor the baby's well-being throughout the day;
• Choose organically healthy vegetables. It is good if they are from the garden without nitrates, preservatives and other harmful elements;
• Do not exceed the allowable limit. Two or three tomatoes or one glass of fresh tomato juice is enough per day;
• Eat tomatoes raw, in salads, and tomato paste. Avoid fried, salted, or pickled tomatoes. During heat treatment, they will lose useful elements and vitamins. And vinegar, which is added to pickles or marinade, will disrupt the normal functioning of the intestines and stomach of the newborn;
• Stewed tomatoes will add variety to the dishes. After processing, they retain their beneficial properties, except for some vitamins. By the way, lycopene is easier to digest in a stew.

How to choose the right tomatoes

If you do not have the opportunity to eat products from the garden, you will have to buy. Nitrates and other harmful substances will cause great damage to the baby's body and cause allergies. Therefore, vegetables, fruits and berries should be purchased in seasonal time. Pay careful attention to the choice of products.

• Press your finger on one of the tomatoes. If the peel remains intact, and the surface is wrinkled, then the product cannot be bought.
• Lightly toss the tomato over a hard surface. If the peel does not burst during the rebound, then the product contains nitrates;
• Slice the tomato. Pale pink or white streaks indicate the presence of chemicals;
• Assess the color and integrity of the peel. Do not take unripe or rotten fruits. Avoid red-green or red-orange tomatoes.
• Make sure that there are no black dots, spots and cracks on the product;
• Do not buy fruits with too hard skin that resembles plastic.

If the feeding period falls in the winter, then you can freeze the tomatoes in the summer. For freezing, choose small cherry tomatoes. Thoroughly wash and dry the tomatoes, lightly freeze on a plate, pack in bags and put in the freezer. Remember that you can not freeze the product more than once!

Nursing mothers often ask if they can eat cucumbers and tomatoes, if it will harm the baby. Vegetables are very useful - they contain vitamins necessary for the body. Moms when breastfeeding a child need to eat vegetables, but it makes sense to introduce them into the diet carefully and in turn. It is necessary to take into account the state of health of the mother and baby, take into account the possible intolerance of certain products by the body. Is it possible for a nursing mother to eat tomatoes - let's look at this material.

The timing of the introduction of tomatoes in the diet

Why do many pediatricians believe that it is better to exclude tomatoes from the menu of a nursing mother? Tomatoes are among the red vegetables that can potentially cause allergies in babies. The red color is given to them by lycopene, which is quite abundant in this vegetable.

Many nursing mothers, however, eat tomatoes without any consequences for the child. How to determine who can eat tomatoes during breastfeeding and who cannot? The simplest test: if a woman has not experienced allergic reactions to tomatoes before and during pregnancy, she can safely eat tomatoes, only they should be introduced into the menu gradually and little by little. The first month is not a safe time to introduce the product into the diet, it is better to postpone the first samples until 2-3 months of HB.

You need to eat a piece of tomato in the morning and see how your baby reacts to it, eat 2 pieces next time. Thus, the child will receive useful substances from the mother, which are contained in tomatoes. When the baby is completely used to the product, you can make yourself a tomato salad and eat it a little.

Useful properties of tomatoes

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Tomatoes contain tryptophan, a substance from which serotonin is formed. Serotonin affects mood, improving it, increases the secretion of prolactin, gives a charge of vivacity. Prolactin, in turn, contributes to the normalization of the lactation process, that is, the use of tomatoes increases the amount of breast milk.

Table of the chemical composition of tomatoes in 100 gr:

Is there any harm from tomatoes during lactation?

Some doctors forbid women from eating tomatoes while breastfeeding, arguing that tomatoes are an allergenic product, the presence of its trace elements and enzymes in breast milk can cause an allergy in a baby. In fact, only a prenatal allergy to tomatoes in a woman can serve as a basis for a ban on this product.

Currently, tomatoes are not recommended to be included in the menu of a young mother, not because of allergies, but because of their high content of nitrates. Producers who want to sell their product at a higher price treat the vegetable with nitrate to make it larger and last longer. Given this, tomatoes can only be eaten during their natural ripening period, in July and August, excluding the use of greenhouse tomatoes in winter. It is advisable to grow them in your own garden and not treat them with harmful substances, or buy them from friends who summer residents.

You should not include salted and pickled tomatoes in the menu, which will not benefit either mother or child. As for fresh vegetables, they should be eaten in moderation. If a nursing mother overeats tomatoes, she herself may develop heartburn, and the baby will suffer from bloating and colic.

Picking Good Tomatoes

Which tomatoes to choose when breastfeeding a newborn (see also:)? There are several signs of a bad tomato:

• if it has too thick a skin, it has obviously been treated with nitrates;
• if, after pressing on the vegetable, a dent remains and does not go away for a long time.

You should not buy yellow unripe tomatoes, as their quality is difficult to determine. A sign of the use of nitrates is the light flesh and whitish streaks inside the tomato. Slightly spoiled tomatoes should not be cut and eaten - putrefactive elements can spread to the healthy part of the vegetable.

How to get the necessary vitamins in winter? You can make your own tomato paste or ketchup in the summer. Their recipes are pretty easy to find. By adding them to food, you will get the necessary vitamins and minerals. Tomato paste and ketchup from the store will not work for this purpose. They contain many additives that are harmful to the child's body.

Delicious recipes for nursing mothers

The recipes are based on the book "Useful Menu for Mom and Baby" edited by Elena Dobrova and Svetlana Khvorostukhina.

Tomato borscht

We will need:

• 200 gr. tomatoes;
• 200 gr. beets;
• 300 gr. cabbage;
• 300 gr. potatoes;
• 100 gr. carrots;
• 1 onion;
• 1 bunch of greens;
• 2 l. beef broth;
• sour cream, salt to taste.

Wash the beets in their skins, peel, cool and cut into strips. Put the tomatoes in boiling water, remove the skin from them and chop them. Simmer vegetables over low heat until half cooked. At this time, grate the carrots on a coarse grater, finely chop the onion, add to the pan with vegetables. Chop the cabbage and add to the boiled beef broth. After 5 minutes, add diced potatoes and stewed vegetables, season with salt, cook until tender (15-20 minutes). Serve the finished dish seasoned with sour cream and herbs.

We will need:

• 200 gr. cherry tomatoes;
• 300 gr. sweet bell pepper (we recommend reading:);
• 150 gr. hard pears;
• 100 gr. sour cream for dressing;
• salt, cilantro and parsley to taste.

Wash the pepper, remove the stalk, remove the seeds and partitions. Cut pepper and pear into strips, combine with halves of cherry tomatoes. Season with sour cream and herbs, salt to taste.

Salad from the "holiday" series, suitable for nursing mothers with "experience of breastfeeding" from 3 months.

We will need:

• 300 gr. cherry tomatoes;
• 200 gr. pickles;
• 300 gr. ham;
• 100 gr. hard apples;
• half a can of canned green peas;
• 4 quail eggs;
• 150 gr. sour cream;
• parsley and salt to taste.

Wash the tomatoes and cut into quarters. Finely chop the eggs, grate the apples on a coarse grater. Cut pickled cucumbers. Combine the ingredients. Add peas, diced ham. Dress the salad with sour cream, herbs and salt to taste.

Is it possible to eat tomatoes with HB in the first month after the birth of a child? The benefits of tomatoes during breastfeeding are definitely great not only for the mother, but also for the baby. However, at 1 month it is not recommended to use them and before the baby reaches the age of 3 months with their use, it is important to be extremely careful, because. red tomatoes are allergenic products and in the first months of life can provoke serious allergic rashes in infants.

Since what day?

Attention! It is advisable for a nursing mother to try to introduce tomatoes into her menu three months after giving birth.

You need to start with one piece and observe the reaction of the baby for several days. If the child does not react, then you can gradually introduce this vegetable into your diet. All the vitamins and nutrients contained in tomatoes will very well help a nursing mother to renew her strength after pregnancy and childbirth.

Benefits of the product for mother and newborn

Thanks to the use of tomatoes during breastfeeding, the body of the mother and child receives a whole set of minerals and trace elements.

Also very useful tomato juice, which not only enhances lactation, but also normalizes the water-salt balance in the body.

Harm

As mentioned earlier, tomatoes for babies are dangerous because they can cause an allergic reaction. Therefore, pediatricians do not recommend starting to eat tomatoes for nursing mothers before the baby reaches the age of three months. However, if the mother herself is allergic to tomatoes, then you should not eat them at all.

You also need to be careful with the use of tomatoes, because they increase the acidity of the stomach and can cause heartburn in the mother, and in the baby - irritation of the gastrointestinal mucosa. And also tomatoes can cause gas and colic in babies.

Selection and storage

The most useful and safe vegetables are those that many people grow in the garden in the summer. Therefore, if the feeding period falls on winter time, then you can freeze them in advance in sealed bags, so they retain their beneficial properties.

Important! In winter, it is advisable to completely abandon the use of tomatoes, because those tomatoes that are sold in supermarkets at this time of the year are grown with the help of various chemical additives, which is dangerous not only for a child, but also for adults.

When using tomatoes during breastfeeding, you should pay attention to some features:

• no allergic reaction to tomatoes in the mother;
• eating only seasonal vegetables, since in most cases allergic reactions can be caused by a high concentration of nitrates in a vegetable;
• tomatoes are best consumed without preservatives and prefer fresh vegetables rather than pickled or salted ones;
• moderation in eating tomatoes, i.e. during the period of breastfeeding, it will be enough for the mother to eat 2-3 tomatoes or drink a glass of natural tomato juice;
• You need to introduce tomatoes into your diet gradually, not earlier than 3 months of age, observing the child's reaction to a new product.

Thus, with the right choice and use, as well as the absence of allergies, tomatoes will definitely benefit nursing mothers and their babies.