Is Fenugreek safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what NIH LactMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's authority on medicines and breastfeeding, reports about Fenugreek. This is a summary of that source — not our own verdict.
Effects on the breastfed infant
A study in mothers of preterm infants less than 31 weeks gestation compared the use of fenugreek 1725 mg 3 times daily for 21 days to placebo. No adverse effects were noted in the infants given the breastmilk.[35] A small manufacturer-sponsored, double-blind, randomized study compared Mother's Milk tea (Traditional Medicinals, Sebastopol, CA) to lemon verbena tea in exclusively breastfeeding mothers with milk insufficiency. Each Mother's Milk tea bag contained 35 mg of fenugreek seeds as well as several other herbs. Mothers were instructed to drink 3 to 5 cups of tea daily. No differences were seen between groups in infant digestive, respiratory, dermatological, and other maternal-reported adverse events. No differences were seen in the growth parameters of the breastfed infants between the two groups.[36] In a study of exclusively nursing mothers receiving fenugreek seed 200 mg, turmeric 100 mg and ginger 120 mg (Fenucaps; Herbal Acharn's Home Co. Ltd., Thailand) 3 times daily for 4 weeks, no adverse events were reported in their infants, although the method used to determine this finding were not reported.[37] In a survey of nursing mothers in Australia, 421 mothers were taking fenugreek as a galactogogue. Seventeen percent of mothers taking fenugreek reported experiencing adverse reactions, most commonly weight gain and various gastrointestinal effects.[38]
Effects on milk supply
Forty women who complained of an insufficient milk supply at 5 days postpartum were given a combination herbal supplement as 2 capsules of Lactare (Pharma Private Ltd., Madras, India) 3 times daily. Each capsule contained wild asparagus 200 mg, ashwagandha ( Withania somnifera ) 100 mg, fenugreek 50 mg, licorice 50 mg, and garlic 20 mg. By day 4 of therapy, no infants required supplementary feeding. Infants were weighed before and after each feeding on the fifth day of maternal therapy to determine the amount of milk ingested. On the day of the test weighing, infants' milk intake averaged 388 mL, and the fluid and caloric intake was considered adequate.[39] This study cannot be considered as valid evidence of a galactogogue effect of these herbs because it lacks randomization, blinding, a placebo control, and maternal instruction in breastfeeding technique. Additionally, infants were breastfed only 6 to 8 times daily, which is insufficient to maximize milk supply. A study of healthy women who delivered a full-term infant and desired to breastfeed for at least 4 months compared fenugreek, torbangun ( Coleus amboinicus ) and a product containing placental extract and vitamin B12 (Molocco+B12) for their effects on breastmilk volume. No mention was made of any breastfeeding support provided to the women. Participants were randomly assigned to receive one of the products for 30 days and followed for another 30 days. Capsules containing powdered fenugreek seeds 600 mg (Bullivants Natural Health, Auckland, New Zealand) were given 3 times daily. Infants were weighed before and after each nursing at 2-week intervals during the study to measure 24-hour milk volume. At no time point during the study was milk volume in the fenugreek group (n = 22) statistically different from the reference group (n = 22) who received Molocco+B12, although the torbangun group did have a statistically significant increase. The daily volume of milk actually decreased in the fenugreek group over ti
Levels in milk
No components of fenugreek have been measured in milk after its ingestion, but some have been measured after the ingestion of other foods. Quercetin can be found in breastmilk of mothers with normal diets.[32] Maternal Levels. Milk samples from 17 nursing mothers on uncontrolled diets were taken at 1, 4 and 13 weeks postpartum at times between 10 am and 1 pm. Average quercetin levels in breastmilk were 48 nmol/L at week 1, 60 nmol/L at week 4 and 51 nmol/L at week 13. Kaempferol concentrations ranged from 7.8 to 71.4 nmol/L, increasing from weeks 1 to 13 (and from weeks 4 to 13. Because of the uncontrolled diet and varying sampling times, the range of values among individuals was large.[33] Quercetin was measured in the milk of 11 mothers after they received an onion soup that contained either 0.8 or 1 mg/kg of quercetin glucosides. A baseline milk sample was obtained after a 5-day low-quercetin diet, and 7 milk samples were obtained over the 48 hours following soup ingestion. Baseline total (from conjugated and unconjugated) quercetin in breastmilk averaged 45 nmol/L. An average peak milk quercetin level of 68 nmol/L was attained at an average of 11.9 hours after the soup meal. The average half-life of quercetin in breastmilk was 50.3 hours.[34] Infant Levels. Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
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.