Hi there !

Mom, i appreciate your coming forward and helping new moms, by the means of your experience....would like to see your replies more often !

Nima,,,you observed it right that i have never suggested them or never took them personlly because they are extremly hot foods and they are hard to get in US and most of the times,,proper care has to be taken while making them,eating them and handling them ! which is not possible for people like me staying alone and feeding 6people in house just after a csection !

frankly saying i was hardly able to cope with my regular food,like making it after taking care of 6 people all males(dad,bils,brother,uncles,) no females werre present during my delivery time except my aunt and my aunt herself had never done a single delivery !!! so you see, i have had a chance to take care of myself that good !

now about your shatavari and all milk boost foods that mom is talking about---------
Shatavari in itself is cold food. but surprisng though it sounds,,shatavari is not for everyone !
many people have faced the problem of bed wettng, overexcitement, restlessness whenever these were taken !! its not the food in itself that causes such disturbances but its their behaviour in certain environment,,and all body environment are different and respond differntly for each individual food !
Nima, your body is hot nature body and you are having hot flashes which means that you might be living in an environment which has given you high level of anxiety,and your body just coming out of pregnancy/post natal deprsn,,so is delicate enough to respond with hormonal imbalances,,..for you,,,having lot of dairy foods, flaxseed and protein rich food,esp tofu will help ! all these are healthy foods and will help you give a good milk supply as well !

if in past you have had problems of low glucose in your blood reports,,this might have caused you night sweatng or hot flashes,whenver the sugar level goes down,,,,,
make sure to be out of anxiety and pressures,,keep yourself calm and relaxed.go for post natal massages, it will help you..forget for the time being about all problems that you are facing,,your baby is most imp person to your life !! concentrate for him, on him and do everything it takes you to keep yourself fit.

ayurvedic drs are careful in givng this herb,,and most of times, this herb is often prescribed with ashwagandha or some other herb that has stress relieving or emotion controllng qualities/relaxing qualities,,, so that all the negative effects of shatavari are worked out in positive way.
however, this being mild-moderate herb,,its unlikely that all women will be sensitive to it !
now about the herb giving you hot flashes,,i want you to go thru these links which will give you some idea about hot and cold foods and how they behave, in ne healthy human body :

http://www.indiaparenting.com/boards/showmessage.cgi?messageid=1139&table_name=dis_breastfeeding

and if you see in mom's diet, she has been takng enough dairy,ghee and juices( dpends on fruit you select),(salads are not hot or cold, unless you are eating raw chillies or onions or garlic in them, raw foods behave differntly in digestives)which helped her in dealing with all the hot foods she was suggesting.

about my breastfeedng exp,bm links,,, please go thru below:

http://www.indiaparenting.com/boards/showmessage.cgi?messageid=1314&table_name=dis_breastfeeding

it will tell all about length of breastfeedng,my baby health and my health and everything...and you observed it right, i was havng good supply,with all i keep suggestng, with all those simple foods so i never felt the need to gettng into all these cooking based foods !

and about ediblie gum, its hot in nature, and its not for all body types/nature...ne body that is sensitive to hot foods might feel uncomfortable with edible gum(irrespective of cooked properly or not) !
i had methi ladoos with edible gum, my baby was colicky with it,i stopped it ! i never had more thn 1 ladoo..the reaction in baby was that instant !

if you have someone who knows it well to make all these foods,,i would reinforce what mom said about those foods and see if eating those foods helps boost your milk supply.But, rem one thing, these foods are heavy to digest for your baby which might mke your baby uncomfortable or like in MOM case, her baby responded with irregular or too many bowels,,because of indigestion of heavy milk qualities.

at the same time, be very careful because nething that is too much is not balanced and everyone body do not react the same way to particular food, at a particular given time,,esp the post delivery time,,when body itself is very sensitive to lil things.
so if you are not comfortable in certain foods,which will be reflected in your body very much,,that will determine your health conditions but that does not mean that your milk supply will stop just because you stopped those foods !
many people dont know about the foods i ate or mom was eating,,but still they were breastfeeding right ! its in mind when it comes to acceptng or believing in these things.
now other thing is,,please read my reply to Lata, the recent one,,and remember onething,,if you want to breastfeed, yes you can !

Food has nothing to do with body own capacity to produce healthy breastmilk,,,if your body is healthy enough(get rid of hot flashes,,or if they are severe, your baby will get colicky)..many people dont get two times meals properly,,and surprisingly,thr kids body are well built thn ours ! make a visit to village and see thr babies ! you will know,,wat all they are lacking,,and you will also know how healthy thr babies are ! down the line, thr kids can work in hot sun,,do all that labour work required,,but when our kids play in hot sun for a while, they get tired !!!!! so many things are involved in breastfeeding and not just one mindset !

so the crux of this whole issues,
1. treat yourself with foods tht your body is comfortable with,,listen to your body signals and your baby reactions to it,,first,,likewise calculate how that new food will affect your health...dont try blindly just because someone else tried or even i suggested,,,,try if you think/believe your body will respond to it,just the same way that person body responded..
check your body nature first !

2. about herbs and medicines,,take under consultation of your dr, and for ne such recipes, make sure they are cooked well or under the supervision of elders/knoledgable person who knows all about that food,,, and proper care in storage and takng them along with other foods(balanced food with lots of fluids,opposite foods that nullify the stronger effect in order to give the right result),,

try your best in breastfeeding, dont give up until your BODY gives you signal,that i cant do it nemore
and its upto your highest tolerance,,after that dont keep the guilt about bf,,,dont extend your reaches to the level that your body is sufferng ! healthy mom is able to give a healthy life to baby ! so recover from all the problems you are having esp physical in order to give a positive and healthy upbringing to your child !

so hope this clears all your doubts ! Hetal replied. http://www.indiaparenting.com/boards/showmessage.cgi?messageid=1139&table_name=dis_breastfeeding