Categories
Confinement meals

Nourishing Your Body with Chinese Confinement Meals: A Postpartum Nutrition Guide

A Balanced Plate for Your Recovery

During the confinement period, Chinese confinement meals offer the perfect blend of tradition and nutrition, supporting your healing process and enhancing lactation. These meals are designed to nourish the body, boost energy, and aid in recovery after childbirth.

Herbal Soups to Replenish Your Energy

confinement meals

Herbal soups are an integral part of the Chinese confinement diet. Nourishing and filled with ingredients that promote recovery, these soups offer a warm, comforting experience. Let’s look at some of the most popular herbal soups:

  • Radix Astragali, Codonopsis Pilosula Black Chicken Soup: This rich black chicken soup is packed with herbs that tonify and nourish the kidneys and liver, ideal for those experiencing Yin deficiency. It also helps to alleviate fevers.
  • Eucommia Bark, Chinese Angelica Root Chicken Soup: Known for its ability to strengthen the lungs, liver, and kidney, this herbal soup is designed to restore your strength and immunity after delivery.
  • Nourishing Cordyceps with Threadfin Fish Soup: Cordyceps flower, a prized herb in traditional Chinese medicine, helps strengthen the lungs, liver, and kidneys. This nourishing soup is perfect for rebuilding your body after childbirth.

Boosting Immunity with Nutrient-Rich Soups

confinement meals

  • Papaya & Peanut with Pork Rib Soup: Papaya is known for promoting milk supply, while peanuts are a galactagogue in Asian culture, promoting healthy milk production. This hearty soup provides key nutrients like Vitamin A, C, and B, and helps in tissue repair.
  • Sheng Hua Soup: A purifying tonic, Sheng Hua Soup helps with detoxification and replenishing Qi (energy). It aids in expediting the discharge of lochia and cleanses the mother’s body post-delivery.
  • Polygonum, Black Bean Chicken Soup: This nutritious soup replenishes the liver and kidneys, boosts vital essence and blood, and strengthens tendons and bones—ideal for recovery and rejuvenation.

Supporting Digestion and Strengthening the Spleen

confinement meals

  • Astragalus Root and Codonopsis Root Pork Rib Soup: A powerful soup that supports digestion, boosts energy, and improves blood circulation. It’s particularly effective for toning the spleen, enhancing Qi, and supporting overall recovery.
  • Sheng Hua Soup: Known for its purifying properties, it aids in cleansing toxins, expelling lochia, and balancing hormones.

Cleanse and Restore with Herbal Soups

confinement mealsTraditional Chinese confinement meals often include herbal soups that help cleanse and restore the body, especially after the strains of childbirth.

  • Eucommia Bark, Chinese Angelica Root Chicken Soup: This herbal soup is perfect for strengthening your body and immunity post-delivery, providing essential nutrients for recovery.
  • Nourishing Cordyceps with Threadfin Fish Soup: Ideal for supporting postpartum recovery, it helps strengthen vital organs and enhance overall health after childbirth.

Traditional Herbal Remedies: The Secret to Postpartum Recovery

confinement meals

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) plays a significant role in postpartum care. Many confinement soups contain herbs that assist in digestion, boost milk production, and enhance overall well-being.

Before adding any herbal remedies to your diet, it’s crucial to consult with your doctor or a nutritionist. This ensures the herbs are safe for your condition and effectively support your recovery.

Looking for the perfect confinement soup to aid your postpartum recovery?

Explore Nouriche’s Confinement Herbal Soup collection today, where we offer a variety of nutritious, traditional herbal soups that promote healing, energy, and overall well-being.

Incorporating Healthy Foods into Your Confinement Diet

confinement meals

Alongside these herbal soups, ensure you’re nourishing your body with a variety of healthy foods:

  • Fruits and Vegetables: Packed with essential vitamins and minerals.
  • Protein: Lean meats, eggs, and fish help in tissue repair and boost energy.
  • Carbohydrates: Rice and whole grains provide sustained energy.
  • Hydration: Water and nourishing soups are key to staying hydrated and supporting recovery.

Postpartum Emotional and Mental Health

The postpartum period is a time of change, and your emotional health is just as important as physical recovery. Stay supported by your family, friends, and healthcare providers. Nutrition plays a significant role in maintaining good mental health, so opt for foods that nourish both body and mind.

Conclusion

Your postpartum period is a special time, and nutrition plays a key role in your recovery and well-being. Traditional Chinese confinement meals, with their carefully chosen herbs and ingredients, are designed to help you heal, regain energy, and feel your best.

Don’t let the stress of meal planning overwhelm you. Nouriche offers a selection of nourishing confinement meals, including herbal soups, that are crafted to support your recovery and enhance your overall health.

Let us help you stay nourished as you focus on the most important task of all: recovering and bonding with your newborn.

Key Takeaways for New Moms:

  • Rest is Key: Recharge and listen to your body.
  • Stay Hydrated: Drink water regularly to stay energized.
  • Nourish Your Body: Load up on nutrient-rich foods for recovery.
  • Talk to Your Doctor: Address any dietary concerns with your healthcare provider.
  • A Balanced Diet: Essential for postpartum recovery.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are your confinement herbal soups breastfeeding friendly?

Yes. It is important to stay hydrated during the confinement month and soups provide the necessary fluids. Breast milk consists of 87.2% water. Our soups in the menus are TCM-approved and breastfeeding friendly. In total, we serve a wide variety of 46 protein-rich herbal soups to provide energy for milk production and increase milk supply.

Can I order only herbal soups?

Our sincere apologies that we do not provide confinement herbal soup packages separately. We follow the principles of TCM-led confinement nutrition, where the postpartum body repairs and revitalizes in two crucial phases. Our confinement meals come with 1 Soup, 2 Dishes, 1 Rice, and 2 Teas to provide the complete nutritional needs that every new mother requires for a swift recovery.

How does your confinement herbal soups benefit me?

In general, our soups help new mothers in the following ways:

  • Revitalize blood circulation and movement of Qi within the body.
  • Replenish Qi or energy, and blood expended during labour.
  • Enhance the immune system and strengthen the body constitution.
  • Provide energy for breast milk production and increase milk supply.
  • Make it easier for the postpartum body to absorb the needed nutrition, along with the dishes.

Do I need to order pre-packed confinement herbs for soups separately?

There is no need to order pre-packed herbs for soups separately. As our menus are carefully crafted for an effective TCM-led confinement diet, the postpartum body is treated as an integrated whole. Natural herbs are carefully picked and paired with fresh ingredients to ensure accuracy and authenticity. All our confinement soups and dishes are served accordingly in two crucial phases to enable swift recoveries and deliver health benefits for the long term.

Ready to order your nourishing confinement meals? Click here to place your order today and enjoy the convenience of meals that support your postpartum recovery.

Categories
Confinement meals

Vegetarian Confinement Food: Foods That Vegetarian Mothers Should Eat

Meat is traditionally viewed as a vital component of postpartum confinement meals in Singapore. This is because meat is believed to come with warming characteristics in TCM, and is often used with the aim of nourishing and rebalancing the mother’s body. But with vegetarian diets increasingly gaining traction for health, ethical, and environmental reasons, many have started to reduce their reliance on daily consumption of animal products. How then, can vegetarian mothers still gain the necessary nutrition without compromising on their choice of diet? We’ve put together this list of foods that vegetarian mothers can consume to ensure they don’t miss out on essential nutrients during their confinement.

Ginger

Ginger is one of the most commonly seen ingredients in the preparation of confinement meals. Known for its anti-inflammatory properties, it is often used for clearing phlegm, stopping coughs, and the detoxification benefits it comes with. That said, the main reason it is included in so many confinement meal deliveries is its warming elements.

TCM believes that the elements that cause a new mother’s body temperature to drop are harmful. Hence, ginger is used to keep the body warm, eliminating ‘wind’, and preventing ailments such as rheumatism and body aches in the future.

Carrots

Carrots confinement meal delivery

Carrots are high in fibre which can help to prevent constipation in new mothers after delivery. In addition, they are also rich in beta-carotene which helps to boost the immune system.

Lotus roots

Lotus root is a rich source of polyphenolic compounds that come with many health benefits ranging from antioxidative to anti-inflammatory properties. Lotus root soup is usually given to new mothers for its high levels of nutrition, on top of keeping the bodies of new mothers warm. Add some papayas into lotus root soup as a natural sweetener, and to boost milk production for breastfeeding mothers.

Learn more: 4 Ways Soups Can Help During Your Confinement Period

King oyster mushroom

King oyster mushrooms aren’t just delicious, they are packed full of health-supporting benefits, such as naturally occurring antioxidants. King oyster mushrooms contain high levels of ergothioneine, an antioxidant found in the mushroom’s mycelium and fruit bodies that help reduce damage from free radicals and oxidative stress. These superfoods have also been shown to lower cholesterol and help with weight loss.

Tofu and soybeans

Tofu is essential for the body’s tissues and cells to heal, which is necessary for a mother’s recovery following childbirth. Adequate protein intake supports the immune system by building antibodies and prevents loss of muscle mass for breastfeeding mothers.

Iron and copper, which are the two minerals important for red blood cell formation to replenish lost blood after delivery, are also found in soybeans. Additionally, soybeans contain omega-3 fatty acids which are beneficial for the brain development of babies.

Black beans

Black beans confinement meal delivery

New mothers are often at risk of anaemia and other complications related to the blood loss that occurs with the delivery of a baby. Therefore, it is important for meals to contain iron-rich ingredients such as black beans for the replenishment of blood.

Black beans are also good sources of folate, vitamin B6 and much more. Research shows that B vitamin supplementation has been linked with improving anxiety levels of those who are feeling stressed. This provides a good reason for new mothers who might be feeling stressed about the transition to motherhood to incorporate black beans into their confinement meals.

Green leafy vegetables

Leafy green veggies like spinach and broccoli are filled with vitamin A, a good non-dairy source of calcium and contain vitamin C and iron. Green leafy vegetables are also filled with antioxidants and are low in calories.

Chestnuts

Chestnuts confinement meal delivery

Chestnuts are rich sources of vitamin C which can help to boost the immune system of new mothers. Chestnuts also come with properties that reduce cholesterol levels in the blood and therefore support cardiovascular health.

Red dates

Red dates are often boiled along with Longan and served as tea to new mothers to substitute drinking water. Dates are widely known for their sweet taste. However, they are also vital ingredients in confinement herbal soups because of their calming effects. This is recommended especially for mothers dealing with postpartum depression.

These are but a few of the ingredients used when preparing the best vegetarian confinement foods. That said, it is best to leave your confinement meals in the good hands of those who are trained in this field. If you’re searching for confinement soup packages, look no further than to NouRiche for all your nutritional needs. Get in touch today for more information!

Categories
Confinement meals

10 Herbs To Get For Your Postpartum Confinement

Confinement can be a particularly stressful period for new mothers who have to attend to a newborn baby while their body recovers from the toils of the delivery process. From the TCM perspective, this is a crucial period to nourish a mother’s body and restore her energy to optimal levels. Traditional confinement practices involve the usage of herbs to improve a mother’s immune system and regain the ‘Qi’ which was depleted during labour. This is regarded as the main element to help with postpartum recovery, and is often used in Chinese confinement food, beverages, and even baths. NouRiche is a leading provider of confinement food in Singapore, and this article dives into the herbs that mothers should consume during confinement, and how these herbs can be incorporated into their lifestyles.

Red dates, Dang Shen and wolfberries: Teas and soups

Confinement food Singapore Red dates, Dang Shen and wolfberries: Teas and soups

Cold beverages are believed to have a “cooling” effect which slows down the recovery of a new mother, and may result in poorer health. That is why mothers are advised to take only hot beverages, with traditional practices recommending hot teas and soups as part of a confinement diet. Adding wolfberries into teas and soups is beneficial for being high in antioxidants and packed with minerals that detoxify the body. It is also known to reduce stress and fatigue, on top of being excellent for nourishing the liver and kidneys.

Red dates, paired with several other herbs such as longans, are often prepared as a nourishing tea to replenish the necessary nutrients and revitalise blood that a mother has lost during delivery. This is especially remedial as a rich source of iron that replenishes red blood cells and enhances the immune system.

Dang Shen is commonly used in Chinese confinement food to correct ‘Qi’ and improve blood circulation to revitalise the body. In addition, it is also known to stimulate appetite and boost immunity levels.

Dang Gui, Bei Qi, Chinese Yam: Herbal soups

Confinement food Singapore Dang Gui, Bei Qi, Chinese Yam: Herbal soups

Herbal soups not only restore warmth and energy in the body of a mother, but also aids in boosting immunity. Dang Gui, also known as the Angelica Sinesis, is frequently used in soups to enrich the blood, promote circulation and regulate the body’s immune system – all of which are crucial for the restoration of health for new mothers.

Bei Qi comes with anti-inflammatory properties and protects the cardiovascular system. This herb also contains antioxidative, as well as anti-ageing capabilities.

Chinese yam is an ingredient that has been found to aid digestion, nourish blood and strengthen the spleen. It also contains antioxidants and properties that improve kidney and liver function.

Ginger, Lemongrass: Herbal bath

Confinement herbal baths are traditionally used by Asian women after childbirth, and are vital for the recovery of postnatal mothers. The most common herbs include ginger and lemongrass which help expel wind, remove dampness, disperse swelling, and alleviate pain.

Black date tea

Confinement food Singapore Black date tea

Black dates are another common Chinese herb used in soups and teas. More “heaty” compared to red dates in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), these herbs are especially suited for women undergoing confinement. Additionally, black dates are often also added in teas for sweetness, and to “tonify” the spleen and stomach.

Du Zhong

Most commonly included in herbal soups, Du Zhong is known to regulate and improve the immune and central nervous systems. It comes with benefits such as nourishing the liver and kidneys, as well as strengthening bones and muscles.

We hope this article has provided some insight into the Chinese herbs that you should incorporate into your postpartum confinement. The herbs mentioned all play significant roles in boosting immunity, restoring energy and blood levels, and driving out the wind from the body. Try incorporating them in your confinement foods for maximum benefit.

NouRiche is a provider of confinement catering services in Singapore that aims to support new mothers with the nutrients they need for an effective and speedy recovery. Speak with us today to find out more about our confinement food packages!

Categories
Confinement meals

Foods To Eat During Confinement To Boost Breast Milk Supply

The issue of milk supply can be a constant source of anxiety for breastfeeding mums. If your baby seems to be hungry shortly after feeding time, then it’s possible your little one is not getting enough to eat. Mothers who breastfeed need to maintain a balanced and nutritious diet to meet the various demands placed on their bodies. Your plate should feature the five food groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy and protein. NouRiche takes pride in providing nutritious meals including confinement food for new mothers in Singapore, and we’ll share the types of food you can incorporate into your confinement meals that will support lactation and help naturally increase your milk supply.

Barley

confinement meal in a jar

Whole grains are very nutritious for breastfeeding moms, and they are also thought to have properties that support the hormones responsible for making breast milk. Barley is an excellent choice for your intake of whole grains with one of the richest dietary sources of beta-glucan. Beta-glucan is a polysaccharide that has been shown to increase prolactin, the hormone responsible for lactation. High in fibre and a good source of niacin, a vitamin B that protects against cardiovascular risk factors, there is no denying the health benefits barley brings.

Oats

Oats and oat products are a great addition for a healthy breastfeeding diet and as confinement food. These food products come with many positive effects on nursing mothers. With the abundance of nutrients in oats, it’s considered a superfood when it comes to increasing a woman’s milk supply. Oats contain iron, which is a must for breastfeeding mothers, helping to promote lactation.

Papaya

papaya slices for confinement meals

Despite its sweet taste, papayas have low sugar content and are an excellent food option to include in confinement meals. They possess a number of benefits and high nutritional value that are useful for you and your baby. Apart from aiding in digestion to soothe your baby’s tummy, papayas also have the essential vitamins and minerals that you need to recover from giving birth. Additionally, papayas are known to have a lactogenic effect, which helps increase milk production in nursing mothers. This is especially so in green papayas, and hence, nursing mothers should definitely also try out different recipes incorporating them.

Fenugreek

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) is a type of herb that often is used in Asian and Middle Eastern recipes. It can range in taste from slightly maple-flavoured to bitter, depending on your palette. Most often used to increase milk supply, it has been reported to be an excellent galactagogue for some mothers, and is thought to boost the production of breast milk due to an effect on the stimulation of sweat production. Most women can consume fenugreek without any complications. However, do speak with your healthcare professional before using it if you’re allergic to peanuts or chickpeas, or if you take blood thinners or medication for diabetes.

Lean meat

Protein is essential in ensuring a steady supply of milk. Adding lean meat in your confinement meals is a great source of iron and protein which has proven to increase milk supply. Eating lean meat in general is recommended to fuel both you and your baby.

NouRiche ensures the confinement food we serve is filled with the best ingredients for both mother and baby. Reach out to find out more if you’re looking for a pregnancy meal delivery service in Singapore.

[]