Everyone in Russia loves kvass - both adults and children. It quenches thirst perfectly, it is tasty and healthy. But its use during breastfeeding and in childhood raises certain questions. And this is quite reasonable. In this article we will tell you whether it is possible to drink kvass for a nursing mother, and also explain at what age this drink can be given to children and in what quantity it will be most useful for the child's body.
About product
To avoid misunderstandings and misunderstandings, from the very beginning you need to agree that it will be about homemade kvass, and not about what is customary to sell in stores under this name. No matter how the manufacturers assure that their product is natural, you cannot believe this, because without preservatives or at least a large amount of sugar, it would be physically impossible to bottle a batch of drink and provide it with a fairly long storage.
Store kvass is not categorically recommended for nursing or children. We're going to talk about a drink that is quite easy to make at home. It was this kind of kvass that was a primordially Russian drink, and it is about it that they talk about when they claim that it is very useful. The benefit lies in the chemical composition. As a result of wort fermentation, special microorganisms appear, which have a beneficial effect on the intestines and digestion processes.
Kvass is rich in amino acids, as well as B vitamins, vitamins A, C, E, PP. The drink also contains calcium, phosphorus and magnesium, such a set of elements is necessary for normal blood circulation, for the functioning of the nervous system. Homemade yeast kvass does not contain much sugar and has a low calorie content.
The drink is a means of increasing immunity, recognized for a long time. Healers in Russia recommended drinking more kvass to those who were sick. It was believed that drinking the drink makes a person stronger in front of an illness. And the soldiers in the tsarist army were entitled to this drink as part of the main food content, especially in wartime.
A large amount of calcium is good for the condition of teeth and hair. Calcium is good for children because their bone tissue is constantly and intensively growing. Bread kvass is especially useful for improving visual functions, as well as for gastritis with low acidity.
Thanks to B vitamins and their effect on the nervous system, a person who eats a drink begins to sleep better, is less likely to be irritable, and is less prone to depression. Kvass microorganisms cleanse the intestines and help in eliminating acne.
The harm of kvass lies in the alcohol content. The drink is secretly considered low-alcoholic, since the alcohol content in homemade kvass can reach 1.5-2%. The drink is not recommended for those who have gastritis with high acidity, urolithiasis and severe toxic and infectious liver and kidney damage.
Can lactating?
Whether to drink kvass while breastfeeding is a very controversial issue. Given the presence of ethyl alcohol, even if in a minimal amount, it is reasonable to assume that it passes into breast milk and enters the baby during feeding.
Few people want to drink kvass warm, usually it is cooled, and cold drinking does not have the best effect on the lactation process itself. And, finally, kvass is a carbonated drink, it increases gas formation in the intestines, which will not benefit the mother after childbirth. For the kid, the increased gas formation, natural for his early age, already causes a lot of suffering. In order not to aggravate colic, you should not drink kvass. Such advice to women is given by the famous pediatrician and TV presenter Dr. Komarovsky.
If you look at these arguments more critically, then the alcohol content in kvass is almost comparable to the same indicator in kefir, but kefir is recommended to drink. Carbon dioxide in the homemade drink is formed naturally, and therefore it would not be entirely correct to attribute it to the factors of gas formation.
Based on this, a nursing woman will have to decide for herself whether to drink kvass or not, perhaps by checking it out in practice. If, after half a glass of drunk homemade kvass, the child does not show allergies, indigestion, colic during the day, if his behavior remains habitual, then you can take kvass in small quantities. The main thing is not to overdo it with the amount of drink. Naturally, you don't need to drink it in liters. But eating okroshka on homemade kvass or drinking a glass in the heat is permissible.
It is popularly believed that kvass stimulates lactation. Official medicine does not have such data, but it does not refute this statement either. The only thing doctors warn nursing mothers about is that the drink should be well tolerated by both participants in the breastfeeding process - both the mother and her baby.
At what age are children given?
The presence of a small amount of alcohol in the drink automatically excludes the drink from the list of products for baby food. More precisely, it is not recommended at an early age. Children should not be given kvass either in a year, or at 2 years old, or at 4 years old. The optimal age when a child can start drinking such a drink is the age of seven.
As with any new product, you need to introduce your child to kvass gradually, gradually, starting with one sip. The daily norm for a seven-year-old child is no more than 200 ml.
If you want to give your child a store-bought drink, it is better to purchase double-fermented kvass. Homemade kvass, subject to the technology of its preparation and in small quantities, will not harm the child.
When starting to give kvass to a child, watch how your son or daughter tolerates the product: if bloating appears, and the stool turns in light colors, belching appears, it is better to refuse this drink, no matter how useful it is.
Useful Tips
Quite often, parents believe that a child, and a nursing mother, can buy kvass from barrels. A draft drink, indeed, is much healthier than a bottled one, and its shelf life usually does not exceed two days, which indicates its natural composition. But buying kvass from a barrel, you run the risk, especially in the heat.
The drink requires special storage conditions, the barrel into which it is poured must be perfectly clean. In practice, entrepreneurs do not always pay due attention to barrel cleanliness and temperature requirements. As a result, kvass can deteriorate in the barrel even before the same 48 hours, specified in the accompanying documents for the product, have passed.
A drink, even with a minimal change in chemical parameters, is a danger to a child, pregnant and lactating, because it can cause severe food poisoning.
The best recipe for kids
If you want to drink fresh and safe kvass and give it to your child, learn how to make the drink yourself. It is not hard.
For a nursing woman and a child over 7 years old, it is better to make yeast-free kvass on rye bread baked without yeast. Crackers are made from 400 grams of such bread, dried. Crackers are poured into a jar with two liters of water and 100 grams of sugar are added. After five days, kvass can be filtered, cooled and drunk.
See the next video for what you can drink for a nursing mother.
