Can the foods or herbs you are eating decrease milk production?  Are there any foods or herbs that increase production?  These questions and more explored!

A Deeper Look:

What is a Galactagogue?

A galactagogue is a substance that acts to boost milk production.  Galactagogues can be prescription medications, herbs, and food.  Use of galactagogues is not a substitute for effective milk removals, but it can help increase milk production in tandem with good pumping habits.

For more information on pharmaceutical galactagogues, click here.
For more information on how to increase your milk supply, including a discussion on good pumping habits, click here.

Generally, food galactagogues are safe to consume without consultation with your healthcare professional; however, the use of herbs should always be under the guidance of a knowledgeable expert—a doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine, naturopath, herbalist—and communicated to your healthcare professional and your baby’s health care provider, who can make sure the herbs you take do not interact negatively with any medications or conditions you or your baby may have.

Food Galactagogues

Examples of lactogenic foods—foods known to promote milk production—include the following non-exhaustive list:

• Whole Grains: brown rice, millet, maize
• Legumes: kidney beans, black or white beans, chickpeas
• Quinoa
• Oats: oatmeal or cookies (ex. quick or old fashioned, not instant oats)
• Barley
• Brewer’s Yeast
• Fennel
• Nuts and Seeds: almonds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds
• Dandelion leaves
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Sweet potato
• Asparagus 

Herbs that May Increase Milk Production

Before we dive in, I think it’s important to remember that every mama’s body is different and not all galactagogues will produce the desired results, if any result at all.  

As discussed above, the best way to approach herbal galactagogues is with the help of a professional trained in herbs—a doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a naturopath, or an herbalist.  These professionals can help you select an herb that supports other areas of concern, such as low iron or stress.  They can also help you select a quality herb from a reputable source—one that is not contaminated with heavy minerals, pesticides, fumigants etc—and the proper form (tincture, powder, tablet, capsule, steeped in tea) and dosage.  Although galactagogues can be used at any point in a mama’s breastfeeding journey, they are most effective during the first 6 weeks postpartum.

Although I’ve included some of the most popular herbal galactagogues below, Making More Milk: The Breastfeeding Guide to Increasing Your Milk Production, by Diana West, IBCLC, and Lise Marasco, M.A., IBCLC, provides an excellent overview of herbal galactagogues.  I recommend reading that book for additional information on galactagogue use and other herbs.  As the book explains, “Herbal galactagogues likely help by doing one of three things: stimulating lactation directly, stimulating lactation indirectly by aiding the letdown reflex for more milk removal, or helping hormonal imbalances or nutritional deficiencies that may be interfering with good production.”  And with that, here are a few herbs that are known to increase milk production:

• Goats Rue: used to stimulate breast tissue growth
• Shatavari: used for hormonal support
• Fennel: used for milk release issues
• Alfalfa: thought to stimulate milk production
• Blessed Thistle: thought to stimulate milk production
• Chasteberry: may regulate prolactin
• Marshmallow root: may help milk flow and reduce clogged ducts
• Fennel: may help with let-downs
• Fenugreek: see below

Because of its popularity, I wanted to discuss fenugreek in a bit more detail.  Fenugreek is thought to increase supply and the rate of your milk flow and is often used in conjunction with blessed thistle.  Fenugreek is generally recognized as safe, but if you have blood sugar, thyroid issues, or take prescriptions or over-the-counter medication, you should check with doctor to make sure fenugreek is right for you.  If you have hypothyroidism, and use fenugreek, you may find that your milk supply actually decreases because of the way fenugreek may have interacted with your thyroid.  Individuals with a peanut allergy should also be cautious about using fenugreek.  The amount of fenugreek necessary to increase milk production will make your skin and urine smell like maple syrup. 

Herbs that May Decrease Milk Production

While some herbs increase milk production, others can contribute to low milk production.  Sometimes the decrease in milk production is due to the quantity being ingested and other times it’s the regularity of your exposure.  Sage, parsley, oregano oil, peppermint (including peppermint tea, real peppermint toothpaste, and peppermint candy canes), and jasmine flower extract are known to have a negative impact on milk production if consumed in large quantities or regularly.  

The EP&Me Take:

If you’ve read my post on increasing milk production, which can be found here the next few paragraphs may sound familiar:

The endless pursuit for more milk is exhausting and it often feels elusive.  I worried every single day about the amount of milk I was producing—a sentiment that I’m sure many of you share.  

In the beginning of my pumping journey I felt wildly unconfident in everything related to pumping.  I was largely uninformed about the ins and outs of pumping, and I constantly felt like I was teetering on the edge of not producing enough milk.  In an effort to boost milk production, I tried oatmeal, multiple brands of lactation cookies, emergency brownies, special melon and fruit punch drinks, and drops of something that tasted vaguely orange-y.  All of them were allegedly meant to increase milk production, but none of them did a darn thing.  I later learned that at the time I was trying these galactagogues, I was using the wrong size flange and was very likely not effectively removing the amount of milk from my breasts needed to signal my body to increase milk production.  I now know that without proper milk removal, no galactagogue can have a real or lasting impact on milk production because by failing to remove enough milk you are telling your body not to make more. 

Months later, when I had a better handle on how to effectively pump, I felt more confident in my ability to manage my milk production using only physical techniques and did not see the need to pointedly include galactagogues in my pumping regime.  However, when my Little began eating solids and we learned she liked oatmeal, I began eating the leftovers here and there, and I do think it had a small impact on my milk production when I consistently ate it.

Although I cannot personally attest to the efficacy of particular products I tried because I was not using them properly in conjunction with good pumping habits, I can tell you which products tasted yummy!  My favorite cookies were the Munchkin Milkmakers lactation cookie bites in Oatmeal Chocolate Chip.  I also really liked the Milky Mama Pumpin’ punch and Milky Melon drinks.

Although I tried very few herbal galactagogues myself, one of my favorite breastfeeding books—The Nursing Mother’s Companion— recommends the More Milk Plus blend by the Motherlove Herbal Company and More Milk Special Blend for mama’s with undeveloped breast tissue or PCOS.  I have not personally tried either blend, and I probably wouldn’t in the future because it contains fenugreek, but I would love to hear about any mama’s experience with this product if they are willing to share!

If you decide to try some herbs to boost your milk production—whether it be in tea form, tincture, capsules, whatever—I urge you to talk to your healthcare professional first.  If that is not something you decide to do, please take a careful look at who you are buying from (make sure they are reputable) and the ingredients used in the product you are buying.  To give you an example of my concern, I have hypothyroidism, and some of the products I came across clearly stated they contained fenugreek and were not right for someone with hyperthyroidism.  However, other products I came across that also contained fenugreek had no such warning.  Perhaps if I had taken a supplement with fenugreek, it may not have negatively affected me, but I certainly did not want to take that risk.  Good luck mama—I hope you are able to find a galactagogue that works for you!