Taking soy may affect breast milk production

Soybeans came to the market a few years ago, positioning itself as a clear alternative to cow's milk for those children and adults allergic to cow's milk protein or lactose intolerant (although there are now lactose-free milks) and even for those mothers and fathers who by belief prefer to avoid dairy foods.

This causes many mothers who are breastfeeding, either by conviction or because someone has recommended that they avoid dairy (if it is suspected that the baby may be feeling bad), drink soy milk.

The point is that it could happen that some mother who drinks soy milk has affected its production, since soybeans contain substances that act in the body as if they were estrogens, reducing the amount of milk.

Last April I went to the Breastfeeding Congress that was held in Ávila and there I had the opportunity to attend a talk by Dr. Jose María Paricio, which we interviewed in Babies and more in relation to medication in breastfeeding.

In that talk we were all surprised by commenting that soy could decrease the mother's milk quantity, because it contains isoflavones that in the body behave like phytoestrogens.

Knowing that estrogen can decrease milk production and that for this reason you cannot take contraceptives while breastfeeding, unless you do not carry estrogen, such as CerazetIt seems logical to warn mothers that soy could have that effect.

I remember a mother who came to the breastfeeding group of the Health Center where I work that explained that she had noticed that the girl was going hungry, as if she were withdrawing milk. It left me baffled. I was asking him about developments in their lives, in case something very tragic had happened, in case the girl took less to the breast, in case it could be necessary to do an analysis to see how her hormones were (especially the thyroid) and if there was made some change at the feeding level. "A few days ago I don't drink dairy and I'm bloating soybeans," he told me at the end.

As he explained to me, someone recommended that he not take dairy products to prevent the girl from having colic and instead he drank soy milk and soy yogurts, but not a little, but a lot.

I told him about the possibility that soy was the cause of the decrease in milk and that he tried to stop drinking. The following week, without taking soy, everything went perfectly again. I don't know if the culprit was soy or the reason for the decrease was another (maybe I should have taken soy again to confirm that production was going down), but we both stayed with the “could be”.

If you enter the e-lactation website, that great bible that talks about drugs and breastfeeding, and you look for “soy,” you will see that it says the following:

It contains lecithin and isoflavones such as genistein, glycytein and daidzein. Lecithin are phospholipids with lipid lowering properties. Isoflavones behave like phytoestrogens, so they are also used in hyperlipemia and menopausal disorders. It is not convenient to abuse its consumption, since estrogens can decrease milk production.

That is could affect production and might not do too much. Just in case, if you are a nursing mother, keep that in mind.

Video: "10 Super Foods that Help Improve Breast Milk Supply" (March 2024).