Motherhood is pure joy, or is it? While looking at your peaceful baby sleeping, smiling for no reason wells you up with joy, staying up all night and most of the day is among the pains of motherhood. This pain is worse when your milk supply is limited, yet you wish to breastfeed exclusively for six or more months, leaving you with a hungry child who can’t stay asleep for a few hours.
Fortunately, this article has a few “magic” drinks that just might help with your breastmilk frustrations. As you look through the remedies for milk production, you will come across several solutions that will seem absurd. In recent times, beer has appeared on the list of most recommended drinks’ lists for breastfeeding moms. Have you considered drinking beer? Yes, we are asking you, a breastfeeding mom to drink a little beer for milk production.
Why Beer?
For centuries, beer has been used by breastfeeding moms to increase milk production. Its recommended use comes from the composition. Beer has a high concentration of barley and barley has a polysaccharide which stimulates secretion of prolactin in moms.
Prolactin is the hormone necessary for milk production. Even though the levels of this hormone increase during pregnancy and after birth, some ladies produce the hormone in small concentrations, affecting milk production and supply.
Therefore, drinking beer can help mothers with lactation problems. It is recommended that you drink non-alcoholic rather than alcoholic beer because alcohol travels to breast milk and blood directly. With alcohol in milk, your baby will get high, and he or she will not breastfeed well. Also, alcohol reduces milk production, and milk let down.
Some of the best beers for milk production include:
Erdinger Weissbier German Wheatbeer Non-alcoholic Beer
German beer is great, and this is one of the best ones, brewed in Bavaria Germany by Erdinger. The pack has 6, 330 ml bottles of beer.
Though non-alcoholic, this wheat beer is full-flavored. If you are breastfeeding, then you can try this German beer. Brewing of this beer takes place under a 110-year-old tradition using fine wheat. The beer is free of chemical additives and it pure as it is brewed under the strictest Bavarian Purity Law 1516, using malt, water, hops, and yeast.
- It has than 0.5 percent alcohol content
- Great tasting beer
- Fast shipping
Beck’s Non-Alcoholic Beer
Beck’s non-alcoholic beer has a light finish, and it isn’t too bitter. It is a classic German beer that features a distinctive full-bodied taste, a slightly fruity but firm crispness, and a fresh ‘hoppy’ bouquet.
Its golden color and the rich, full head ensure that you enjoy this drink especially when you are breastfeeding. It is safe, and it meets the purity law of 1516.
It is important to note that this beverage has 0.5 percent alcohol and some sellers place it in the alcoholic drinks category. If you are drinking this beer when breastfeeding, you should consider drinking it when not breastfeeding and at least 2 hours before you can breastfeed or pump. It takes about two hours for alcohol to leave the blood and breastmilk.
Guinness
This has to be the most recommended beer for breastfeeding moms. Unlike other beers which have an average of 5 percent ABV, Guinness has a low alcohol content. Guinness Stout has 4.3 ABV while Guinness Draught has only 4.2 ABV.
Therefore, you can consume this Irish beer without having to worry about getting drunk fast. For breastfeeding moms, you are better off drinking one bottle of beer. Since it is alcoholic, you should wait for about 2 hours before you can breastfeed or pump.
Karamalz Classic (Non-Alcoholic Malt Beverage)
This is a case of 24 bottles of Karamalz classic non-alcoholic beer. Imported from Germany, it provides you with healthy carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, as well as trace elements.
You will like this malt beverage because it is non-alcoholic, and it has no additives in it. To keep you healthy and safe, this drink is made using pure water, hops, malt, and caramelized sugar. Its ingredients make this drink similar to apple or grape juice.
It is low in calories, 46 kcal per 100ml and it is rich in B vitamins which come from the yeast used to make the beer. It also has vitamin C necessary for a strong immune system. This is, therefore, one of the best beer for breastfeeding.
Big Drop Chocolate Milk Stout
This beer’s alcohol content is less than 0.5 percent ABV meaning that this is one those low-alcohol beers that keep the taste of the beer intact.
It has a lovely coffee-toasted taste and a malt nose, and warmth uncommon with ordinary beers. The chocolate taste isn’t overwhelming but more like a stout beer with balanced complexity and a layer of toasty flavor. With its thick flavor, this is beer as close to the real thing.
Conclusion
These are some of the best beers you can try when breastfeeding especially if you are having problems with milk production. Low alcohol and non-alcoholic beers are preferable because they don’t affect milk production or milk let-down.
While these may work, you need to bear in mind that diet plays a significant role in milk production once you give birth. You should have a balanced diet as long as you are breastfeeding and you should also destress.
Some of the best foods for you include oatmeal, almonds, salmon, beans, and spinach. The food should be balanced and able to provide enough proteins, folic acid, calcium, carbohydrates, and omega-3 fatty acids. If you think you need beer for better milk production, eat well, and have a bottle but, as mentioned above, do not breastfeed for at least two hours after drinking. Besides poor milk production, you don’t want to stay up all night because your baby cannot sleep.
