For some mums, breastfeeding can be a bit of a struggle, especially if they suffer from low supply issues. While frequent direct latching of their baby will help mums increase their supply, there are certain foods that can also give the quantity of breastmilk they produce a boost.
These foods are known as lactogenic foods or galactogogues. They can easily be integrated into healthy, well-balanced meals and many of them are traditionally used around the world to help nursing mums increase their supply.
This article brings you 10 delicious recipes to increase breastmilk supply. The recipes, which are both savoury and sweet, are from around the world. They are oh-so-yummy, easy to make, and use well-known galactogogues to help up your supply. Enjoy!
Recipes to Increase Breastmilk Supply
1. Dark chocolate and pomegranate overnight oats
Oats are a well-known lactogenic food, thought to be so because of their high iron content.
The oat milk that is used in this recipe gives lactating mums a great boost of iron and calcium. Add to that the antioxidant properties of both dark chocolate and pomegranate and you’ve got yourself a milk-boosting winner!
Ingredients
– 120g rolled oats
– 1 tablespoon dark chocolate chips
– 120g pomegranate seeds
– ½ cup Magnolia Oat Milk
Instructions
1. Stir all ingredients together in a resealable container, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
2. Stir again before serving the next morning, adding more oat milk if you prefer a thinner consistency. Try adding a tablespoon of ground flaxseed for texture and to add another layer of breastmilk-boosting power to this delicious recipe!
Recipe from Magnolia; Image from oh my veggies
2. Malunggay muffins
Malunggay or moringa leaves are used in parts of Asia as a popular lactogenic food. This leafy vegetable contains a host of nutrients, including vitamins C, A and E, iron, protein, and more.
Try this delicious and unusual muffin recipe to boost your breastmilk supply.
Ingredients
– ½ cup butter
– ¾ cup sugar
– 3 eggs
– 2 cups all-purpose flour
– 3 teaspoons baking powder
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 1 teaspoon vanilla
– ½ cup milk
– 3 tablespoons blended malunggay leaves
Instructions
1. Sift together all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs and mix.
3. Add and mix vanilla, milk, and blended malunggay leaves. Add this wet mix to the dry ingredients.
4. Pour mixture into greased muffin tins and bake in preheated oven at 200 degrees Celcius for 25 minutes. Cool and enjoy!
Recipe from Cris on the sideline’s weblog
3. Boobie bites
Give your hardworking boobies a boost with the oatmeal, flaxseed, and Brewer’s Yeast contained in this recipe! Busy mums will love how easy it is to make these little milk-boosting treats too.
Ingredients
– 1 cup of old-fashioned oatmeal
– ½ cup peanut butter
– ½ cup ground flaxseed
– 1 cup shredded coconut
– 1/3 cup of honey
– ½ tablespoon Brewer’s Yeast
– 1 teaspoon vanilla
– ½ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
1. Combine the dry ingredients first: oatmeal, coconut, chocolate chips, Brewer’s Yeast, and flax seed.
2. Add the peanut butter, honey, and vanilla, and turn your mixer on low (or stir together).
3. Refrigerate mixture for at least one hour.
4. Remove from the refrigerator and roll the mixture into small balls. Enjoy!
Recipe and image from I Can Teach My Child
4. Fenugreek soup
Fenugreek is another well-known lactogenic food, believed to have been used as a milk booster since biblical times. Diosgenin – a key compound of the herb – has been shown scientifically to increase breast milk flow.
Fenugreek can increase a nursing mum’s supply within 24 to 72 hours, making it, without doubt, one of the best galactogogues around. Try this quick and easy Indian recipe for Fenugreek soup.
Ingredients
– 1 cup fresh fenugreek leaves (try Tekka market for these)
– ½ cup finely chopped onion
– 1 finely chopped ripe tomato
– 3-4 cloves minced garlic
– 2 cups water
– Salt and pepper to taste
– 2 teaspoons sesame oil
Instructions
1. Wash, clean and chop fenugreek leaves.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add onion, garlic and sauté until onions turn transparent.
3. Add tomatoes and cook for a few more minutes.
4. Add chopped fenugreek leaves and sauté until the greens wilt.
5. Add 2 cups of water and salt to taste, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add pepper to taste. Serve hot!
Recipe and image from Padhu’s Kitchen
A lactation smoothie is a quick and easy way of getting a substantial dose of the good stuff into your system. It helps that this one is packed with fruits and veggies high in phytoestrogens, essential fatty acids, and omega-3 fatty acids, all of which are thought to promote healthy breast tissue and lactation.
Ingredients
– 1 cup almond milk
– ½ cup fresh young coconut meat
– 2 tablespoons hemp protein powder (from health shops)
– 2 to 3 dates, pitted
– ½ teaspoon vanilla flavour
– 2 large handfuls of fresh spinach
– 1 cup frozen strawberries
– handful of ice
Instructions
Combine the almond milk, coconut meat, dates, spinach, and vanilla in a blender, and blend until completely liquified. Add in the frozen strawberries and ice, and blend again until smooth. Serve immediately.
Recipe and image from Detoxinista
6. Papaya fish soup
Both papaya and fish are used in traditional Chinese confinement meals and are known to boost breast milk supply. This soup has both these ingredients and is also packed with vitamin C, beta carotene, and antioxidants.
Ingredients
– 4 medium-sized golden threadfin bream
– 1 large papaya (use green papaya to turbo-boost milk supply!)
– 5 to 6 pieces of dried scallops
– 3 large dried dates
– 2 slices of fresh ginger
– 2 litres water
– 1 teaspoon of salt (to marinate the fish)
– 1 teaspoon of oil (to sauté the fish)
Instructions
1. Clean the fish and pat dry with paper towels. Rub salt on fish (inside and outside). After an hour, drain off any excess water.
2. Peel and cut the papaya into large cubes.
3. Start boiling your soup water.
4. In a pan, add oil and fry the ginger with the fish on low-medium heat, until the fish is completely cooked and the skin is slightly browned.
5. Put the fish into a soup bag and add to water.
6. Add papaya and ginger.
7. Boil for at least an hour before serving.
Recipe and image from The Chinese Soup Lady
7. Not your average oatmeal
Oats are an awesome milk-boosting food. This recipe, however, doesn’t just have oats. It has the added milk-boosting goodness of flaxseed and Brewer’s Yeast to really get your milk flowing! It helps that this quick and easy recipe is super delish too.
Ingredients
– ½ cup old-fashioned oats
– 2 teaspoons ground flax seed
– ½ teaspoon Brewer’s Yeast
– a pinch of salt
– ½ teaspoon cinnamon
– 1 cup water
– A couple of tablespoons of milk (for a creamier consistency)
– 1 to 2 teaspoons of honey
– Dried fruit, such as cranberries, cherries, apricots, etc.
Instructions
1. Add oats, flax seed, salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, and dried fruit to a microwave safe bowl. Add Brewer’s Yeast and 1 cup of water and stir.
2. Microwave on high for three minutes. For best results, stir every minute for more even cooking and a creamier consistency.
3. Stir in honey, nuts, and milk until you reach your desired consistency.
Recipe and image from The Cocina Monologues
8. Red date longan tea
Red dates, longan, and wolfberries are all favourites in traditional Chinese confinement meals. Drinking tea made with them – like this one – is bound to give your milk supply a boost.
Ingredients
– 25 pitted red dates
– the flesh of 18 longan fruits
– A handful of wolfberries
– 1 litre of water
– Brown sugar to sweeten
Instructions
1. Add 1 litre of water to the saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. While water is boiling, soak the red dates, longan, and wolf berries. Drain and repeat once.
3. When the water is boiling, add the dates, longan, and wolfberries. Boil over medium heat for 20 minutes.
4. Add around 3 tablespoon of brown sugar (more or less according to preference).
5. Stir for a while then turn off the fire.
6. Strain the ingredients before serving warm or at room temperature.
Recipe and image from “misskafkaesque”
9. Tapioca pearl pudding
This Indian recipe using tapioca pearls – which some mums swear boosts their milk supply – is creamy, delicious, and a great dessert.
Ingredients
– 1/3 cup tapioca or sago pearls
– ¼ cup sugar
– 5 cups milk
– 6 to 8 cashew nuts, chopped
– 5 almonds, blanched and slivered
– a few strands of saffron
– ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
– 1 teaspoon ghee
Instructions
1. Soak the tapioca pearls (in just enough water to cover them) for 1 hour. The pearls should look fluffy and plump after soaking.
2. Heat the ghee and roast the nuts (cashews and almonds) and raisins separately.
3. Soak saffron in a tablespoon of milk.
4. In a heavy bottomed pan, bring the milk to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
5. Add the soaked tapioca pearls to the milk and cook until soft. Keep stirring every now and then so that they get cooked evenly.
6. Add saffron and sugar and cook until sugar dissolves. Then add the nuts, raisins, and cardamom powder. Mix well and serve hot or cold.
Recipe from Padhu’s Kitchen; image from Pinterest
10. Lactation cookie bars
Many breastfeeding mums crave sweet snacks. With this sweet treat, you can actually satisfy your cravings with “good” calories. It also uses well-known galactalogues like Brewer’s Yeast, coconut oil, oatmeal, and flax seed.
Ingredients
– 1 cup extra virgin coconut oil at room temperature
– ½ cup flax seed meal (from health shops)
– ½ cup water
– 1 cup sugar
– 1 cup brown sugar
– 1 cup coconut flour (from health shops)
– 3 cups oat flour
– 2 cups rolled oats
– A good handful of dark chocolate chips
– 2 tablespoons Brewers Yeast
– 1 teaspoon baking soda
– ¾ teaspoon salt
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celcius.
2. Mix flax seed meal in the water and set aside for three to five minutes.
3. Cream coconut oil and sugar. Add flax seed mixture and Brewers Yeast, mixing until light and fluffy.
4. Add coconut and oat flour, baking soda, and rolled oats. Mix well.
5. Stir the chocolate chips through. If the mixture seems dry, add in a little more water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
6. Spread mixture in a 9″x13″ pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the middle is set and the edges are golden brown.
Recipe from the Eco Friendly Family
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