How to Find the Best Protein Powder for Women After Delivery

📌 Overview and Key Takeaways

This is a Certified Nutrition Coach’s guide on how to find the best protein powder for women after delivery.

Discover how to safely meet your postpartum protein needs.

Last Updated
May 28, 2026

Author and Medical Reviewer

Written by Jack, CNC

Jack is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Nutrition Coach.

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for personalized medical advice. Consult a licensed healthcare professional before making changes to your diet.

Protein Powder for Women After Delivery

Is Protein Powder Good for After Delivery?

Yes, protein powder can be beneficial for women after delivery when used as part of a balanced diet.

In the months following childbirth, your body needs extra nutrients, including protein, to support tissue recovery and breastfeeding.

For mothers who choose to breastfeed, it is important to eat a balance of healthy, nutrient-rich foods because nutrients are transferred from mother to infant through breast milk.

For many new mothers, however, the desire to lose baby weight can take priority over eating foods that support milk production and recovery.

A low carbohydrate diet is often chosen for weight loss, but it is not recommended for most new mothers (Nutr Res, 2024).

Caloric restriction should also be avoided in the early postpartum period before lactation is well established, and for women who are already at normal weight or undernourished (NEJM, 2000).

This is important to note because protein powder is often marketed as a weight loss tool.

Protein powder, particularly in the weeks after delivery, should only be added to your diet to help you get the protein and calories you need.

It is particularly useful for women who struggle to get enough protein from foods like eggs, fish, and meat, as it can be easily incorporated into a variety of recipes.

How Much Protein Do I Need After Delivery?

Breastfeeding mothers need extra nutrients to support postpartum recovery and milk production.

The recommended protein intake during lactation is 1.3 grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day (NEJM, 2024).

This is considerably more than the 0.8 g/kg/day recommended for non-pregnant, non-lactating adults.

If you are struggling to eat this much protein, adding protein powder to smoothies, oatmeal, and other recipes can help you meet your protein goals.

Not all protein powders are created equal, however.

What Is the Best Protein Powder for Women After Delivery?

Many protein powders contain ingredients that might cause gut health issues for mothers and infants.

Among these concerning ingredients are food additives and protein concentrates and isolates.

🚫 Avoid Food Additives

Regularly consuming emulsifiers, thickeners, artificial sweeteners, and other ultra-processed additives might alter the composition and function of your gut microbiome (North Clin Istanb, 2020).

These changes, known as gut dysbiosis, have been associated with multiple adverse maternal health outcomes including gestational diabetes and excessive gestational weight gain (Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol, 2023).

Maternal gut dysbiosis is also associated with alterations in infant gut microbiome composition through breastfeeding (Mol Nutr Food Res, 2024)

Changes in infant gut health, in turn, might lead to increased risk of metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes later in life (Diabetologia, 2016).

It is important to note that while the preliminary evidence is compelling, more research is needed to clarify this relationship.

⚠️ Here is a list of the most common food additives in protein supplements:

• acacia fiber
• acacia gum
• acesulfame potassium
• artificial flavors
• ascorbic acid
• aspartame
• calcium carbonate
• carrageenan
• cellulose gum
• dextrin
• dicalcium phosphate
• dipotassium phosphate
• erythritol
• gellan gum
• guar gum
• gum arabic
• inulin
• locust bean gum
• maltitol
• maltodextrin
• mono- and diglycerides
• ‘natural’ flavors
• rice bran extract
• rice dextrin
• rice hulls
• rosemary extract
• silica
• silicon dioxide
• sodium alginate
• soluble corn fiber
• sorbitol
• soy lecithin
• sucralose
• sunflower lecithin
• tocopherols
• tricalcium phosphate
• xanthan gum
• xylitol
• zinc oxide

As a general rule, if you cannot find an ingredient in nature or make it at home, it is probably a food additive.

🚫 Avoid Protein Concentrates and Isolates

You might also want to avoid protein concentrates and isolates.

Most protein supplements are made from one or both of these ultra-processed protein sources, which have been mechanically and chemically stripped of everything but the protein.

This includes the enzymes, fiber, and other natural digestive aids that help you break them down.

You therefore might not digest them in the same way that you do whole foods, which could affect your gut health.

For example, one study shows that regularly consuming protein concentrates and isolates might disrupt your gut microbiome (Nutrients, 2018).

Another study shows that it could cause the formation of toxic byproducts in your gut (Mol Nutr Food Res, 2024).

Although further research is needed, individuals with sensitive stomachs can play it safe by choosing protein supplements made from minimally-processed protein sources like egg whites and almonds.

They might be more gut-friendly.

Order Samples to see for yourself.

Sources

1. Nutrition Research (Nutr Res). Carbohydrate restriction during lactation: A systematic review. 2024.
2. The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The Effect of Weight Loss in Overweight, Lactating Women on the Growth of Their Infants. 2000.
3. The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Guidance on Energy and Macronutrients across the Life Span. 2024.
4. Northern Clinics of Istanbul (North Clin Istanb). Food additives and microbiota. 2020.
5. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research (Mol Nutr Food Res). Effects of Maternal Diet on Infant Health: A Review Based on Entero-Mammary Pathway of Intestinal Microbiota.
   2024.
6. European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology (Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol). Maternal gut microbiota in the postpartum Period: A Systematic review. 2023.
7. Diabetologia (Diabetologia). Microbial transmission from mothers with obesity or diabetes to infants: an innovative opportunity to interrupt a vicious cycle. 2016.
8. Nutrients (Nutrients). Effect of a Protein Supplement on the Gut Microbiota of Endurance Athletes: A Randomized, Controlled, Double-Blind Pilot Study. 2018.
9. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research (Mol Nutr Food Res). In Vitro Fermentation of Animal and Plant Protein Isolates by the Human Gut Microbiota Under High and Low Carbohydrate Conditions. 2024.

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This article was written by a Certified Nutrition Coach and reviewed by a Registered Dietitian. We rely on peer-reviewed research and trusted medical sources, and regularly update our content to ensure accuracy and clarity.