FLAVORS OF BREAST MILK DURING BREASTFEEDING: SALTY, SWEET, BITTER ...

The virtues of breast milk on another type of infant feeding is determined especially by its composition, since it adapts to the needs of the infant and varies throughout breastfeeding, throughout the day, and even during each feeding.

For this reason, and for the beneficial effects for the development of the baby that gives that intimate act between mom and her son, the World Health Organization (WHO), recommends exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of the baby's life and continue with the chest, along with other foods that complement the diet, up to two years or more, while mother and child wish.

But for mom and baby to enjoy all the advantages of breastfeeding, it is not necessary to follow any special diet nor is there any prohibited food during this stage, according to the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP), although It is shown that the aroma of some foods changes the taste of breast milk.

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There are no prohibited foods

According to the Lactation Committee of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP), women who breastfeed do not require special diets: this implies neither eliminating nor adding any food: "The best diet comes from a healthy and varied diet, avoiding additives and contaminants. Only in some cases, due to illness or nutritional problems, can the doctor advise some supplements."

And he adds that It is proven that the aroma of food passes into milk and can change its smell and taste, but there is no prohibited food during breastfeeding.

"Those taste changes that breast milk experiences help the baby become familiar with various flavors, which will allow him to more easily accept complementary feeding."

The AEP explains that it may only be necessary to avoid a specific food if the baby shows any type of discomfort (vomiting, diarrhea, rash, discomfort or rejection of milk) repeatedly, after eating the mother.

There are also no mandatory foods during breastfeeding. A healthy and varied diet is recommended, as in any other time of life, and satiate hunger, without resorting to an excess of sweets or snacks.

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Changing flavor throughout breastfeeding

And having said all of the above, the conclusion is that breast milk does not have a unique taste, but changes according to the foods that mom takes, but also the stage of breastfeeding in which she is, how to extract it ... without that It means that it is better or worse.

Why the idea that the baby prefers a neutral taste to drink the milk without qualms when it has been shown that before a new taste they even suck with more desire?

In fact they do not know milk with a neutral flavor and they get used to their different tastes since they are born:

Colostrum, the first milk, still contains little lactose, so its flavor is more salty.
If there is engorgement or mastitis, the milk is more salty. Some children might not like it and reject it, but it is a passing situation.
The extracted milk has a more sour and powerful taste on the palate, because of lipase, an enzyme that is responsible for fragmenting the fat in the milk so that it is better digested by the baby.
Also some foods that contain volatile substances or essential oils that give the milk bitter aromas and flavors that the baby may not like (such as garlic, cabbage, asparagus, onion ...). The list of foods not recommended for that reason is very extensive, and even changes depending on the country or source, which would imply that Mom could barely taste a bite.

It is advisable to get carried away by common sense and experience. If you notice that the baby makes funny faces or drinks less milk, you can look for an alternative or reduce the amount of that food that you suspect he does not like.

And just the idea recommended by the AEP is the opposite: follow a healthy diet, which includes all kinds of fruit and vegetables, so that the baby gets used to all the flavors and so, when at six months he starts with solids, not You will miss the flavors.

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