Why all lactating mothers need to add galactagogues to their post-partum diet
For many breastfeeding parents, ensuring a steady milk supply can be a significant concern. While the woman’s body is designed to produce milk, various factors can impact production. This is where Galactagogues come into play. Despite their complex name, galactagogues have a pretty simple function: to increase breast milk production in breastfeeding mothers.
These chemicals can be found in various forms, including foods, herbs, and supplements. Using galactagogues to enhance breastmilk production isn’t new. Evidence suggests that the use of galactagogues and lactogenic substances dates back to ancient times—possibly from the very beginnings of human history. Did your well-meaning mother insist that her daily breakfast of oats kept her breastfeeding troubles at bay? Perhaps your maternal and child health nurse suggested swapping your morning latte for fennel tea. While these suggestions might seem questionable at first, it's important to recognize that the practice of sharing such advice and using complementary substances alongside breastfeeding has deep historical roots.
While there are a lot of known herbs that act as galactoguges. The two prominent ones are Fenugreek and blessed thistle. Fenugreek is often used as a natural remedy to support breast milk production in nursing mothers. It contains compounds like phytoestrogens, which may help stimulate milk flow. In a study involving postpartum mothers, participants were randomly assigned to receive either an herbal tea, a placebo, or no treatment after delivering healthy infants. The herbal tea contained various ingredients, including fenugreek, which is known for its potential galactagogue properties. The mothers who consumed the Still Tea produced significantly more breast milk by the third day postpartum compared to those in the placebo and no-treatment groups. Additionally, infants in the herbal tea group experienced less maximum weight loss and regained their birth weights more quickly.
While fenugreek is the most popular galactogue, blessed thistle is the second most well-known one. It is of great significance to take blessed thistle as a lactating mother because it stimulates the mammary gland, balances hormones and provides nutrients which can increase milk supply. In a survey of nursing mothers in Australia, 98 mothers reported using blessed thistle as a galactagogue.
For this reason, Nutrifactor has introduced a product called LECTAMOR, which combines these two effective galactagogues, helping to ease one of the many stresses that lactating mothers face.
