- This topic has 10 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 3 years ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Fenugreek seeds significantly increase lactation. Palm dates and Coleus amboinicus Lour, or Mexican mint, show substantially superior effects as galactagogues. Here are the results:
Here is the podcast where Michael Greger, M.D. discusses this and other effects of fenugreek seeds:
I like to use fenugreek seeds by putting them with other seeds like fennel, caraway, and dill in a jar, adding water or tea to just over the height of the seeds, and placing in the fridge for at least eight hours until I add them to food while it cooks or right when I eat it. Many people strongly recommend rinsing nuts, beans, whole intact grains, and other seeds several times during soaking.
Hey @wetlife, how many ounces of breast milk are you producing every 2 to 3 hours?
If fenugreek really significantly increased breast milk production ABF Heaven would be drowning in breast milk. The reality of fenugreek is, it’s not all it’s hyped up to be.
Studies have shown that fenugreek decreases production in about 50% of the women that take it. It takes a lot of work to induce lactation, I’d hate to see a woman take your advice and have all of her hard work dry up in 2 days.
Dear @Elizabeth, I make no claim not explicitly stated in the abstract of the linked research: “results of 4 studies indicated that consumption of fenugreek significantly increased amount of the produced breast milk[…] However, the effect of fenugreek was substantially inferior to Coleus amboinicus Lour and palm date.” Please see for yourself at PubMed.gov. Where is the support for your claim?
@wetlife a claim of 4 studies is not fact. Furthermore, your links are a joke, as are the “studies” you reference. I am the study, along with the number of women I have spoken to that have had a decrease or completely drying up. But since you want to see studies, get ready to read, you’re about to be schooled.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK501779/
The most popular herbal remedy used around the world for increasing milk synthesis is fenugreek. Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum) is a seed product from the legume family that is commonly sold, since the dried, ripe seed and extracts are used as an artificial flavor for maple syrup. When used orally in amounts commonly found in foods, it has been granted Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status in the USA by the FDA. Although it is used by millions of women around the world to increase their milk supply, we have only one small case report which suggested it might actually increase the milk supply.
In this one study, the authors found an approximate 40% increase in milk production, although the study was not blinded, nor did they use a control population. For these reasons, we still do not know with certainty if
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00851591fenugreek works as a galactagogue.
This article clearly states the study was conducted on fenugreek as an herbal mix, that is not a controlled study.
https://www.healthline.com/health/breastfeeding/fenugreek-breastfeeding#research
Like a lot of topics that have to do with pregnancy, breastfeeding, or just women’s health in general, the benefits or drawbacks fenugreek while breastfeeding is one of the many questions that the medical science hasn’t really answered. Instead, we have anecdotes, and studies with small samples from which sweeping conclusions can’t be drawn. If you’re taking fenugreek while breastfeeding and it’s working for you, great — some people swear by it. But if you’re looking for a magic pill to make your breastfeeding experience easy, there probably isn’t any such thing. “If you’re not having good, full milk expression, that supply is going to start drying up, no matter what you eat, or drink, or take,” Cohen explains.
Studies:
Bazzano AN, Cenac L, Brandt AJ, Barnett J, Thibeau S, Theall KP. Maternal experiences with and sources of information on galactagogues to support lactation: a cross-sectional study. Int J Womens Health. 2017;9:105-113https://doi.org/10.2147/IJWH.S128517
Experts:
Katie Cohen, RN, IBCLC, The Nest Collaborative
Brittany Kelly, OB-GYN Nurse Practitioner, IBCLC
This site actually talks about the 4 studies you mentioned and points out their flaws.
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0254049
https://connect.springerpub.com/content/sgrcl/4/4/159
Furthermore, any study conducted in the first week of child birth is bullshit. It takes 2 to 5 days for breast milk to come in. In the first week of a babies like they will lose on average 7 to 10% of their body weight, so to say fenugreek increased urination and weight gain around the 7th day when Milk is established doesn’t prove anything, since babies will regain the lost weight in one to 2 weeks of birth.
Feel free to poke around fetlife and look at all of the fenugreek failure stories.
Unfortunately fenugreek is not the miracle Galactagogue. It can hinder production if used too soon and it can dry some women up rather quickly.
Legendairy who makes a plethora of products for lactating women are fenugreek free and discuss the adverse effects of fenugreek.
Legendairy; why fenugreek free
There are a lot of other great Galactagogues/lactogenic foods and supplements that support lactation way better than fenugreek. Of course with any supplement it’s trial and error for each person.
@Avery(I can’t tag him) posted before about providing Torbangun/Mexican mint/Cuban oregano to his partners and them having success. That post can be searched.
Torbangun as GalactagogueThe lactation station has great information about supplements and she also discusses fenugreek usage.
Galactogogues work differently for different women. Fenugreek dried me up so please don’t spread false information when you haven’t used any of these herbs yourself.
Fenugreek completely stopped my milk within a day.Everyones body is different.
I am always surprised at men on this site who want women to use herbs, etc. It is not your body, not your choice. As one lovely man I talked to said he much preferred women who didn’t pump or use herbs because he wanted to be part of the process from the start. If he and his partner reached milk by joint effort that was a bonus (not always possible because of schedules), but he would luxuriate in the process which, of course, is the real point of abf and anr.
I’m going to add one more bit of information to this post and then I’m done with it.
Fenugreek belongs to the legume family, anyone that has a peanut allergy could have a deadly allergic reaction to fenugreek.
Fenugreek has not been studied by the FDA, and is therefore not regulated by the FDA. There are no studies that have confirmed the amount of fenugreek that makes it’s way into breast milk. However, it is known that fenugreek is present in breast milk. So people need to do their research before taking fenugreek or any other supplements and prescription medications.
There is also a responsibility of disclosing 5o you nursing partner/s what herbs and meds you have consumed. We have no way of knowing if the fenugreek levels expressed in breast milk could cause a nursing partner to go into anaphylactic shock.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.