Is Beta-Carotene safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what NIH LactMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's authority on medicines and breastfeeding, reports about Beta-Carotene. This is a summary of that source — not our own verdict.
Effects on the breastfed infant
A nursing mother was eating 2 to 3 pounds of carrots a week as raw and cooked carrots. The mother's skin was yellow in color, but her sclera were clear. At 2 months of age, her breastfed infant was diagnosed as having jaundice because of a yellow coloration of the skin. Breastfeeding was discontinued and the infant's skin returned to a normal color. The mother continued her diet and examination of the maternal serum found elevated levels of beta-carotene which was probably the cause of her infant's skin discoloration.[ 6 ] HIV-infected women in Tanzania received 1 of 4 supplements during pregnancy and lactation in a series of studies. Groups received either multivitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin B6, niacin, vitamin B12, vitamin C, vitamin E, and folic acid), multivitamins plus vitamin A and beta-carotene, vitamin A and beta-carotene alone, or placebo daily. The beta-carotene dose was 30 mg. At 24 months of age, the multivitamin-supplemented group's infants had significantly better growth parameters than the other groups.[ 17 ] One study found that the infants of mothers supplemented with vitamin A and beta-carotene had a higher rate of HIV transmission than those supplemented with multivitamins alone or placebo.[ 7 ] After 6 months postpartum, women who received vitamin A plus beta-carotene had greater shedding of the HIV virus into breastmilk than women who had not; multivitamins without vitamin A and beta-carotene did not increase viral shedding.[ 7 ] Beta-carotene appeared to have a shedding effect that was independent of vitamin A.[ 8 ] One possible explanation comes from another similar study in which those who received vitamin A plus beta-carotene alone had a 45% increased risk of severe subclinical mastitis and those who received multivitamins plus vitamin A and beta-carotene had a 29% increased risk of severe subclinical mastitis.[ 9 ] Breastmilk samples were collected at the first, third and sixth months postpartum from 39 mother-infant pairs of exclu
Effects on milk supply
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Levels in milk
Maternal Levels. A systematic review of 47 articles found the mean concentration of beta-carotene in mature milk worldwide to be 24.6 mcg/L, which would provide an average dose of 19.2 mg daily of beta-carotene to a fully breastfed infant.[ 2 ] Some of the studies in this review are discussed in more detail below. [ 11 - 15 ] Healthy nursing mothers in the United States were given either 60 mg (n = 6) or 210 mg (n = 6) of beta-carotene as capsules (Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc., Nutley, NJ) as a single dose. Both doses increased breastmilk beta-carotene levels to a similar extent, with peak concentrations of around 1.1 mcg/L of lipid occurring 2 to 3 days after the dose. Mothers with higher baseline beta-carotene levels had higher peak concentrations.[ 12 ] Healthy nursing mothers in the United States were given either 7 doses of a placebo (n = 4) or of an algae-derived beta-carotene supplement containing 64 mg of all-trans beta-carotene and 69 mg 9-cis beta-carotene (Henkel Corp., LaGrange, Il). Foremilk samples of breastmilk were obtained daily for 8 days and again at 1 month after the first dose. All-trans beta-carotene levels in milk increased to about 2.1 mg/L of whole milk after 5 days of supplementation and further increased only slightly by day 8. Levels were still elevated above baseline at 1 month. Milk levels of 9-cis beta-carotene increased steadily from baseline to day 8, with a much lower peak value of about 40 ng/L. The lower value was possibly the result of isomerization of 9-cis beta-carotene to all-trans beta-carotene.[ 13 ] Five healthy exclusively breastfeeding mothers over 1 month postpartum (average 279 days postpartum) in the United States were given 30 mg of beta-carotene as capsules (Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc. Nutley, NJ) daily for 28 days with high-fat yogurt. Milk beta-carotene levels increased an average of 6.4 fold over the 28-day period, with an average maximum concentration of about 200 mcg/L. The accumulation half-life of beta-carotene in milk
Source: NIH LactMed (National Library of Medicine).
Educational summary of an authoritative source — not medical advice. Never start, stop, or change a medicine while breastfeeding without confirming with your doctor.