Breastfeeding: garlic and breast milk

Mothers, if you want to stimulate your baby’s appetite, eat a little garlic one hour before breastfeeding. Yes, it might seem unusual, but the strong flavor and smell of garlic in breast milk encourage the baby to drink more milk. This interesting fact is the result of research conducted at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.

To verify this hypothesis, scientists gave half of the breastfeeding mothers a garlic capsule while the other half received an inactive capsule. A drop of milk taken as a sample from the mothers who consumed garlic had a strong aroma. However, the babies liked it. When the milk smelled like garlic, babies stayed longer at the breast, sucked more, and generally drank more milk.

In contrast, a sip of alcohol before breastfeeding is a way to discourage the baby from drinking more milk. This contradicts the folk belief that a little beer, wine, or spirits before breastfeeding increases milk production and enhances the baby’s appetite. On the contrary, babies of mothers who drank orange juice mixed with alcohol drank significantly less milk.

Scientists believe that strong flavors generally stimulate a baby’s appetite, while in the case of alcohol, it leads to reduced appetite, weakened sucking ability, or less milk production.

The text is taken from Jean Carper’s book, Food: Your Miracle Medicine

Franjo Lenac