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My name is Christine Marquette and I am a registered dietitian with the Austin Regional
Clinic and I am going to talk to you about the South Beach Diet and breastfeeding. The
South Beach Diet in the first couple of phases is very low carbohydrate so the actual author
of the South Beach diet himself does not recommend that a mother who is breast feeding enter
into the first stage. It would be best to either enter stage 2 or stage 3. The other
recommendation is that the mother make sure that she does not consume any fewer than 1,800
calories. 1,800 calories is generally the bare minimum to make sure that you have enough
energy to actually have a sufficient milk supply for your infant. The other thing to
keep in mind is that you want to make sure that you are having several meals throughout
the day because there again you do have a much higher need for energy while you are
breastfeeding and you have to make sure that you are getting all the nutrients that you
need for milk production so you do need a good source of calcium as well as protein,
healthy fats, and all of your vitamins and minerals so the best thing is to make sure
that you are eating a balanced diet that includes a little bit of all of your major groups.
Make sure that you are consuming at least 1,800 calories that includes a variety of
foods. You do need carbohydrates in there from all of your grains since that is your
primary source of energy so again it is not advisable to follow the first stage or even
the second stage of the South Beach Diet when you are breastfeeding.