beer for breastfeeding... yup.

[peterj]

I have a lot of opinions about why this isn't the best idea. But I don't want to tell you or your wife how to do your thing and I'm sure you and your kids will be fine in any case so I'll just shut up. Right after this!

I gotta say, to me fenugreek beer sounds even more disgusting than Mother's Milk tea (and yes I've tasted it...). I don't personally buy the thing about beer being a galactagogue, but if your wife is into it then why not just drink the milk tea and chase it with a *tasty* beer instead of some weirdo foot-spiced "medicinal" beer? Beer is to be enjoyed, not tolerated - that's my opinion.

And please ask your pediatrician whether they agree with the beer-for-breastfeeding angle. I am not saying it's harmful, but I really don't believe that beer is a galactagogue regardless of what the ancient Egyptians believed. They believed a lot of ridiculous things. I'm not a doctor so I can't dismiss it outright (though I am smart enough to be skeptical of "studies" that don't account for other factors) but I have one more thought about it and then I'll shut up: If you feel weird about asking your pediatrician what s/he thinks, maybe it's because deep down you know this is a little bit ridiculous.

To sum up: Medicine is medicine and beer is beer. Both are awesome in their own ways. There's no rational reason to conflate them.

Regarding Imitation Maple Syrup: it tastes nothing like fenugreek, even if that is a component of the flavoring. If you want the idea of fenugreek flavor, think Indian lentil soup. Nothing wrong with that, but it wouldn't exactly go well in a beer (BTW, the Mother's Milk tea is mainly fenugreek so that's what it tastes like.)

Man, I hate it when people post stuff like this to me when I have a fun crazy idea. Sorry to be the party pooper but SCIENCE demands it!

I know this post is like a month old, but I think you're not really getting the point of this. I don't think anybody is advocating making a beer to aid in lactation and then solely drinking that beer as a galactagogue supplement/medicine. The way I'm understanding it is if my wife likes to drink beer and is going to drink a beer anyway, I might as well make a tasty, low ABV beer that may (or may not) give a little extra aid with lactation.

Also, I've never made a beer with fenugreek, but there may be a way to make a good tasting one with it. People have used a lot weirder stuff to make good beer before! That mother's milk tea smells pretty good to me, kind of anise and licorice like. Seems like that could go well in a stout or something.

Chocotaco you are right. We are also using some other things as well. The idea is she is a beer lover and to have a drink every now and again (like one every other night or so.) We did talk this over with our pediatrician (who is one of the best in the area) and she is also intrigued by the idea. Keeping it sessionable (3 or less) and keeping it malty is key to keeping the positive effects while negating the negative ones.

And the OP did ask their pediatrician about it.