Is Sauropus androgynus safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what NIH LactMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's authority on medicines and breastfeeding, reports about Sauropus androgynus. This is a summary of that source — not our own verdict.
Effects on the breastfed infant
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Effects on milk supply
A nonblinded, multicenter study in Indonesia gave healthy mothers of newborns either Sauropus androgynus (katuk) 300 mg tablets 3 times daily and a vitamin and mineral supplement once daily for 15 days (n = 48). A control group received only the vitamin-mineral supplement (n = 48). At the age of 18 or 19 days, the baby s weight before and after breastfeeding was measured for 24 hours to calculate breast milk volume. Milk samples were also analyzed for protein and fat content. The group that received the katuk tablets produced 264 mL of milk compared to 198 mL of milk in the group that received only the vitamin-mineral supplement. The increases in milk supply from baseline were 199 mL in the treatment group compared to 132 mL in the control group. These differences were statistically significant. There were no statistically significant differences in milk fat or protein content. This study suffers from a lack of a true placebo and blinding and unequal treatment of the two groups (intervention 3 times daily vs once daily).[ 1 ] A nonrandomized, nonblinded study gave one group of mothers one capsule of Sauropus leaf extract twice daily for 30 days and another group of mothers nothing. At the end of 30 days, 70% of the mothers taking the Sauropus exceeded the milk production needed by their infants while only 6.7% of the untreated mothers did.[ 8 ] This study has so may design flaws that the results are meaningless. A nonrandomized, nonblinded study in Indonesia gave 28 mothers of infants 3 to 30 days of age biscuits made of mung bean combined with star gooseberry ( Sauropus androgynus ). The control group of 27 mothers was given mung bean flour biscuits. All mothers ate 5 biscuits daily for 30 days, although this was not confirmed by investigators. No mention was made of whether breastfeeding was exclusive, or some babies were given supplements. The intervention group had significantly more vitamin A and fat in their diet than the control group, but about the same calo
Levels in milk
No components of Sauropus androgynus have been measured in milk after its ingestion, but some components have been measured after the ingestion of other foods. 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.[ 6 ] 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.[ 7 ] 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.