Why You Should Be Careful About Eating Strawberries While Breastfeeding

Strawberries are incredibly delicious. Tell me something I don’t already know, you may be thinking. Okay, here are 6 things you probably didn’t know about strawberries. And there’s something else: if you’re breastfeeding, it’s better to be careful about eating strawberries. Shocking? I had no idea either.

At the time of writing, I’m not (yet) a mother. Hopefully that will happen someday. In any case, I’m not breastfeeding now. Still, I found the discovery about breastfeeding and eating strawberries bizarre. Strawberries are super healthy, right? So why is it better not to eat them while breastfeeding? Error all around. As I learned, there are at least 3 reasons for this.

1. Allergy

Strawberries are fairly well-known allergens. Not everyone reacts badly to them, but they can cause reactions if you’re sensitive to them. Allergens can be passed on through breast milk. An allergic reaction in a child who receives only breast milk can only be caused by what the mother eats. For example, your baby may develop itching or a skin rash. The annoying thing is that you only know whether there may be an allergy once such reactions occur. But because strawberries are fairly well-known allergens, it’s still better to be cautious.

2. Pesticides

We’ve written about it several times before: contaminated fruit. Pesticides, PFAS—it’s unfortunately still found on a lot of the fruit you buy at the supermarket. If you eat such contaminated fruit yourself and you’re breastfeeding, you can pass those toxic substances on to your child through your breast milk. That doesn’t sound like a pleasant thought. But then again: is not eating fruit the alternative? In that case, it’s best to choose organic fruit. Far fewer pesticides are used for it. Also, always wash your fruit thoroughly.

3. Acidity

Strawberries are sweet to begin with. Still, they can naturally be fairly acidic too. If you eat too many acidic foods as a mother while breastfeeding, this can eventually be unpleasant for your baby’s digestive system. The result: stomach cramps. And lots of crying.

Don’t panic

Of course, strawberries themselves are healthy. They’re packed with vitamin C, antioxidants and folic acid. Strawberries are also included in the Dutch Wheel of Five from Het Voedingscentrum, which recommends simply following it during the breastfeeding period. Het Voedingscentrum advises being particularly careful with caffeine, alcohol, oily fish (a maximum of 2 portions per week), and herbs and tea containing anise, fennel and cinnamon. The latter may contain plant toxins that your baby can quickly consume too much of.

So what should you do about those strawberries? Keep your portions moderate and always choose the organic variety. Then you most likely won’t have anything to worry about.

Also read: 

• With this farmer’s tip, you can keep your strawberries fresh for a really long time
• Allergens aren’t listed and you have an allergic reaction: what can you do?
• Research shows that unborn babies can vomit from the smell of kale

Source: The Cookist