Tips for Healthy Eating Patterns for Breastfeeding Mothers to Maintain Breast Milk Quality

JAKARTA – World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every August. Coinciding with this moment, PT Ajinomoto Indonesia with Clinical Nutritionist at Melinda Hospital, Bandung, dr. Johanes Chandrawinata, MND, SpGK, shared information about the role of glutamate in breast milk to breastfeeding mothers in Indonesia.

As is known, breast milk is an important nutrient for baby’s growth and development. Therefore, it is important for breastfeeding mothers to know that a healthy lifestyle and diet will produce good breast milk. There are tips that can be applied by mothers to run a healthy diet through their daily food.

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According to dr. Johanes, breast milk is very important as the earliest protection for newborns, and also beneficial for their growth and development because breast milk contains many nutrients such as glutamate or free amino acids (FAA) which are good sources of nitrogen.

“Glutamate, various macronutrients, micronutrients, and bioactive substances contained in breast milk make it the ideal first food for babies. The presence of bioactive substances in breast milk shows the importance of breast milk as a functional food that plays an important role in the baby’s endurance and health,” explained dr. Johanes through a written statement, Friday (20/8).

A study by Berthold Koletzko published in the journal Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism on December 3, 2018 explains that free glutamate levels in breast milk are six times higher than formula milk.

“In newborns, glutamate and glutamine are growth factors for intestinal epithelial cells. Glutamate and glutamine improve intestinal barrier function and affect the development of immune cells. From an anthropometric point of view, glutamate and glutamine also help increase the height and weight of babies,” explained dr. .John.

Because breast milk is very important for babies, dr. Johanes gave some tips for breastfeeding mothers so that they can adjust their diet so that milk production is not disturbed.

“During breastfeeding, the mother’s caloric needs increase by 330-400 kcal per day for breast milk production. To get these extra calories, you can increase your intake of nutritious foods such as 1 whole wheat bread with 16 grams (1 tablespoon) of peanut butter, one medium banana, or 225 grams of yogurt. Always try to choose healthy foods to help breast milk production,” advised dr. John.

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