Foods Beneficial to Increasing Breastmilk Supply

Since deciding to pump exclusively, I've been fascinated with everything related to breastmilk maintenance & production. Although the single most important way to increase milk supply is frequent breast emptying (either through effective breastfeeding or pumping), I wondered if there were beneficial foods to promote breastmilk production. The Google search engine didn't disappoint & provided me with a wealth of information to create a list of such foods besides the usual recommended oatmeal.


Some of my favorite vegetables - Trader Joe's Southern Greens Blend cooked with bits of nitrite-free bacon or coconut oil

- Almonds (raw cashews & macadamia nuts are also helpful)
- Apricots
- Asparagus
- Beer (with or without alcohol)
- Beets (good source of iron) & beet greens
- Carrots (lots of beta-carotene)
- Coconut (I like to eat my oatmeal with unsweetened Trader Joe's Coconut Milk Beverage)
- Chickpeas (hummus)
- Chicken (bone-in) (a homemade chicken soup is a good example)
- Dandelion greens
- Dark Leafy Greens (arugula, kale, Swiss chard, spinach, chicory, collard greens & others)
- Dates (as well as figs)
- Fennel (cooked or raw)
- Green beans
- Lettuce
- Onions
- Parsley
- Peas
- Pecans
- Pumpkin & pumpkin seeds
- Rice & rice cakes
- Sesame seeds
- Sweet potatoes & yams (lots of beta-carotene)
- Watercress

Lactogenic spices include garlic, ginger (avoid if you lost a lot of blood during birth), sea salt, gomasio, dill, caraway, basil, marjoram & turmeric (also prevents breast inflammation).


The herbal tea blend I drank throughout my pregnancy is also beneficial for breastmilk production (a combination of 1 part nettle leaf, 1 part red raspberry leaf, 1/2 part alfalfa leaf & 1/2 part oatstraw)

The following grains & legumes increase breastmilk supply: oats (I love Bob's Red Mill Organic Whole Grain Steel Cut Oats which I found at Costco), millet, barley, rice, chickpeas, mung beans & lentils.

It's important to include healthy fats such as fish oil, butter, coconut oil, cold-pressed virgin oil, cold-pressed sesame oil or flaxseed oil in one's daily diet.

Breastmilk is rich in probiotics so it's helpful to eat a probiotic yogurt or take a probiotic supplement daily to support one's intestinal flora & decrease the incidence of colic & allergy in baby.

Additional Resources:

1) Foods to Increase Breastmilk Supply by MomEinstein.com

2) Lactogenic Foods and Herbs by Hilary Jacobson based on her book Mother Food for Breastfeeding Mothers

3) Which Foods Can Boost Your Milk Supply? by Motherwear's Breastfeeding Blog