Overweight Lactating Women Can Cut Fat and Sugar Intake

Study cautions them to consume adequate amounts of vitamin D and calcium

THURSDAY, June 8 (HealthDay News) -- Overweight women who are breast-feeding can limit their fat and sugar consumption if they are careful to maintain their intake of calcium and vitamin D, according to a report in the June issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Cheryl A. Lovelady, Ph.D., of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and colleagues randomized overweight breast-feeding women one month after they had given birth, to either a diet consisting of 500 fewer kilocalories a day, or a control group consuming a usual diet. Each group remained on the diets for 10 weeks.

The researchers found that the women on the restricted diet consumed fewer micronutrients. While their mean micronutrient intake was not significantly different from those in the control group, their mean consumption of calcium and vitamin D was lower.

"These results suggest that overweight lactating women can restrict their energy intake by 500 kilocalories per day by decreasing consumption of foods high in fat and simple sugars," the authors write. "However, they must be advised to increase their intakes of foods high in calcium and vitamin D."

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