#AskTheExpert session with Phyllis Choong, certified trainer from Confinement Angels

If you are planning to have modern confinement, this is not a problem as all! Some parents are worry that confinement foods are too ‘heaty’ for their kids as tradisional practice of confinement foods are contains big amount of gingers and wines. Modern confinement foods are emphasis at balance of nutrition which is suitable to eat for all your family members including your bigger kids.

Hi as I cannot confirm what is your sister dietary preference so I share with you the confinement diet tips for diabetes mum. Dietary to follow for gestational diabetes: 1. Cut sugar 2. Low carbs intake & choose complex carbs 3. Eat more protein 4. Eat healthy fats like from olive oil, nuts, omega-3 5. Load up fibre aka vegetables 6. Food pairing i.e. eat a balanced diet comprise of vegetables, protein, fats and carbs during a meal. Never eat carbs on its own 7. Eat small frequent meals Confinement meal serving if you have Gestational Diabetes: 1. Practice less sugar cooking 2. Serve lean protein from fish, chicken, pork, tofu or egg for EACH meal 3. Use olive oil & black sesame oil only in our cooking 4. Serve vegetables for each meal 5. Serve each meal which is balanced with appropriate amount of fibre, protein & carbs

For breastfeeding mothers It is advice that to eat a balanced diet of fruit, vegetables, grains, protein foods and diary each day. Example; protein foods 2-3 times per day such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, beans, nuts and seeds. Eat three servings of vegetables, including dark green and yellow vegetables per day. Eat two servings of fruit per day. Include whole grains such as whole wheat breads, pasta, cereal and oatmeal in your daily diet.

Firstly, less consume of cold drinks. Cold drinks are believed to have a “cooling” effect which slows down recovery and may lead to poorer health. You are advised to take hot drinks and many traditional practices recommend drinking hot teas as part of the confinement diet. Other than that, there are some ingredients need to be avoid too during confinement which included caffeine, spicy food, cold and raw foods. This one might be difficult for coffee lovers, although you may learned to limit your coffee intake during pregnancy. However, caffeine can get into your breast milk and irritate your baby’s digestive system as it is still weak. It can also elevate your heart rate and cause insomnia so it is recommended that you avoid coffee as much as possible while you are breastfeeding. It is even advised that you limit your chocolate intake as it contains caffeine. Eating spicy food can cause discomfort to your baby while breastfeeding, although the level of discomfort can vary between bab

A lactose-free meals at normal day are suitable to consume during postpartum period. The food preparer need to ensure the ingredients use are lactose-free or replace it with same nutrition ingredients etc replace fresh milk with soy bean milk.

As every body are unique, it is advice that to visit a TCM to check your body condition first. A TCM will advice the food ingredients/herbs to consume less or more based on your body condition. There are some confinement herbs provider in the market provide customise confinement herbs based on body condition which you can consider it.

You wife must very happy when she saw this! During confinement period, husband role is to accompany and comfort mummy’s mental health to release post partum stress. In confinement diet wise, husband can participate by ensure all food ingredients are fresh and well keeping, sufficient healthy snack are on stock for your craving wife, encourage your wife to drink more fluid and had nutrition meals to fast recover from postpartum. If you are a good cook, cook her favorites' dishes to surprise her!

A nutrition diet during postpartum is very important. However stress and anxiety may cause to no appetite on consuming food. In this situation, the one who make the preparation of confinement meal act as important role. He/she can put some effort on the food presentation to let mummy have appetite and feel delight when saw the meals. The food preparer can also prepare the food in more creative way to let mummy easy to consume.

Below are example of Five nutrition should include in confinement meal and how do we get Vegan food sources. 1. Protein: Nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, tofu, seitan, tempeh, quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, whole grains, and soymilk. 2. Omega-3 fatty acids: Flax oil and ground flax seeds, chia seeds, walnuts, canola oil, soybean oil, algae foods fortified with DHA. 3. Iron: Fortified breakfast cereals, lentils, tofu, kidney beans, chickpeas, dark leafy greens, spinach, raisins, and fortified grains. 4. Calcium: Fortified plant-based milk alternatives, Tofu made with calcium sulfate, fortified breakfast cereals, dark leafy greens such as spinach and kale, chia seeds, pinto beans, broccoli, and figs. 5. Zinc: Fortified breakfast cereals, baked beans, pumpkin seeds, cashews, chickpeas, oatmeal, almonds, kidney beans, green peas.

TCM or herbal tonics will brings benefits to most of the postpartum mum as long as the tonics are fit with their body needs. So it is advice that to consult the TCM physician during the pregnancy period to tailored customised the confinement herbal bundle for each individual mother-to-be as each bodies are unique. Most postpartum TCM are safe to consume but do not forget to mention if you had any allergic or G6PD to your TCM supplier when purchase TCM package.