What are the best hydration drinks for breastfeeding?

drink wholesome makes the best hydration drinks for breastfeeding.

Written by Jack Schrupp & endorsed by Baylee Reller, RDN

What is the best way to hydrate while breastfeeding?

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Staying hydrated is essential while breastfeeding. On average, breastfeeding mothers produce over 750 milliliters of milk per day. In order to produce all that milk, breastfeeding mothers need to drink extra water.

In order to hydrate properly, you have to drink water AND electrolytes. Electrolytes are minerals carrying positive or negative charges that play a crucial role in maintaining fluid balance throughout the body. They are depleted when you sweat or urinate, and need to be replenished.

According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, breastfeeding mothers should drink about 4 liters of water per day, which is almost 50% more than what the average adult woman needs. It follows that breastfeeding women also need more electrolytes.

Most breastfeeding women should be able to get enough electrolytes from eating a balanced diet, but some women, like those experiencing morning sickness, may need to supplement their electrolyte intake. This is where hydration powder can help. Drinking extra electrolytes while breastfeeding can help you maintain an electrolyte balance and stay hydrated. 

What is the best hydration drink for breastfeeding?

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Although most hydration powders are considered safe for breastfeeding, many contain ingredients that you should think twice about putting into your body. These include fake sweeteners, fake flavors, and food additives (anti-caking agents, preservatives, etc.).

Fake sweeteners, fake flavors, other food additives can disrupt your gut microbiome — the collection of microorganisms living in your gut. This is a big concern for breastfeeding mothers because research shows that a healthy gut microbiome can directly (and positively) support your child’s immune system and digestive health.

It follows that the best hydration powder for pregnancy is made with a short list of simple ingredients. The fewer the ingredients, and the more the ingredients look like real food, the less likely your hydration powder will be to compromise your gut health. Remember, your gut is meant to digest unprocessed or minimally processed real foods, not artificial or refined ingredients. Continue reading to learn more.

Why drink wholesome? 

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drink wholesome is made with real foods.

We make the best best electrolyte powder for breastfeeding because we use only real food ingredients. Nearly all other hydration powders contain ingredients that look NOTHING like food. 

our ingredients: 

blueberries, coconut water, maple sugar, sea salt

the alternative:

SUGAR, DEXTROSE, CITRIC ACID, SALT, SODIUM CITRATE, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, MONOPOTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, CALCIUM SILICATE, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, CARAMEL COLOR, RED 40

Because fake flavors, fake sweeteners, and food additives hardly look like real food, they are hard to break down – especially for someone with pre-existing gut issues. As a result, they spend extra time in your gut, causing your colon to absorb extra water. This can lead to diarrhea. Partially digested ingredients also feed your gut bacteria which release gas as they eat. Extra gas can cause bloating, flatulence, stomach pain, and slow colonic transit – the time it takes food to move through the colon – which can lead to constipation. 

Gastrointestinal (GI) side effects are the least of your worries. Regularly eating fake flavors, fake sweeteners, and food additives can disturb regulatory pathways in the intestines, increasing your risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other systemic inflammatory disorders. Added ingredients, particularly artificial sweeteners, can also create a dysbiotic gut microbiome. 

In addition to affecting the quality of breastmilk, a dysbiotic gut microbiome has been identified as a key driver of inflammation in the body. It has also been associated with the development of several chronic diseases, which checks out because your microbiome acts as a defensive barrier against harmful pathogens, educates your immune system, and influences many physiological processes. So, to summarize, the fake flavors, fake sweeteners, and food additives used in most hydration powders can cause painful side effects and long-term gut health issues, which is the last thing you want if you are breastfeeding.

We make the best best hydration powder for breastfeeding without any artificial or refined ingredients. We use exclusively simple, natural ingredients like real fruit, coconut water, maple sugar, and sea salt. Real foods like these are easy to digest and gut-friendly. In case you were wondering, the coconut water and sea salt contain the bulk of the electrolytes, and the fruit and maple sugar help deliver these electrolytes to the tissues that need them the most. This is the best hydration for breastfeeding.

★★★★★

simple

“I’m 6 months pregnant and loving this! I was drinking coconut water, but stopped when I realized how much sugar it has. I use their vegan protein powders too. It’s nice knowing exactly what you’re putting into your body.” – Allison

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