Moringa and Breastfeeding: What Nursing Mothers Should Know

World Breastfeeding Week starts on August 1st, 2021. If you are nursing and looking for ways to eat well through a demanding season, moringa is worth knowing about. #MoringaBreastfeeding may be trending on social media, but it’s not just another hashtag—moringa has been eaten as a leafy green for centuries. Moringa leaves are genuinely nutrient-dense, and in many cultures around the world they have long been part of what a new mother is fed. What we can tell you honestly is what is in the leaf: protein, calcium, iron, vitamin K, vitamin B6, vitamin C and riboflavin, in a plant you can drink as a tea or stir into a meal.

What we will not tell you is what it will do to your milk. In several parts of Asia, moringa sits alongside oats and fenugreek in the local repertoire of herbs traditionally eaten after childbirth — a reputation built by generations of custom rather than by settled science. Researchers have looked at the question in nursing mothers, including mothers of infants born before 37 weeks, but those studies are small and the picture is not settled. How much milk you make is driven mostly by frequent, effective milk removal, a good latch, rest, fluids and enough calories. If yours is worrying you, the right person to ask is an IBCLC lactation consultant or your healthcare provider — not a tea, and not the internet.

What moringa actually brings to a nursing mother’s diet

Moringa is a meaningful source of calcium

Calcium needs stay high while you are breastfeeding: lactation draws on maternal calcium stores, and your baby needs calcium for normal growth and bone development. Moringa is unusually rich in it. In fact on a gram for gram basis, moringa leaf is reported to provide 17 times more calcium than milk. That does not make it a replacement for a balanced diet, but it does make it a useful thing to add to one.

Iron, and why tiredness is worth taking seriously

While moringa is a good food for the whole household, it is worth a mother’s attention in its own right. Most breastfeeding mothers are tired, and much of that is simply the newborn season. Some of it can be nutritional: iron contributes to the normal reduction of tiredness and fatigue, and new mothers are often low in iron after losing a lot of blood during childbirth. Moringa powder is a source of iron — a single serving contains 10% of your daily iron requirement — and it mixes easily into a green smoothie or juice. If you are exhausted well beyond what broken sleep explains, ask your provider to check your iron rather than guessing at it.

Vitamin K contributes to normal blood clotting

Moringa is rich in vitamin K, which helps contribute to normal blood clotting. Vitamin K matters for both the newborn baby and the mother — though it is worth knowing that a newborn’s vitamin K is given directly at birth, on your hospital’s or midwife’s schedule, and is not something a mother’s diet is meant to cover.

How to include moringa into your diet?

Moringa is easy to live with: mild, caffeine-free, and flexible enough to disappear into food you are already making. Nutrition is one of the few parts of the postpartum weeks you can actually steer, and this is a simple way to get more out of it.

Here are a few ways you can add moringa to your diet:

• Moringa tea - This soothing tea is an easy way to incorporate moringa into your diet, and being caffeine-free it works as well at 2am as it does at breakfast.

• Mix it into your smoothies - Smoothies are a great way to get greens into a day that got away from you. You can add moringa to any of your favorite smoothies.

• Add it to your food - Whether you are having pasta or a salad, just sprinkle some moringa powder on top and enjoy it.

One last plain word: while you are breastfeeding, run any new herbal product past your OB-GYN, midwife or lactation consultant before you start — this one included.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Information provided by this website or this company is not a substitute for individual medical advice.