Malta and the Childhood of a Ghanaian Poet

 

Nana Yaw Sarpong, a Ghanaian journalist, student, writer and poet, recalls in his blog the role that Malta Guinness played in his childhood. 

"If you are a Ghanaian, Malta Guinness will not be a strange drink to you. I remember as a young lad, whenever I was faced with making a choice for a drink, I chose Malt over fanta or Coca cola or the rest. My belief was that Malt was more nutritious than the other soft drinks.

But my belief in the nutritional values of Malta Guinness at the time was based on fact. Each time my parents bought me Malta Guiness, I turned to the back of the bottle and read the ingredients. I never knew why I did so, really. But I kept going back to it. I took interest also in the fact that the number and range of vitamins contained in the drink were written boldly and they appeared all over the bottle. It did something to me, even as a little boy.

However, things have changed. I bought a Malta Guinness a few days ago only to find my shock. There was nothing at the back of the bottle like before. The list of nutrients were also gone except for some minute information for the consumer. I was hugely disappointed! It was not for my childhood fancy, but something more like consumer confidence.

I realized that the information on the bottle was good for the buyer. At least in practice, you could know what you were drinking."

After reading this blog, I wondered why  Guinness Malta would remove their list of ingredients, specifically in Africa? The most obvious reason is reduced production cost. But because malt-based soft drinks typically contain corn syrup, and GMO corn is banned in most of Africa, removing the list could also be a clever marketing strategy. If children today grow up no longer expecting to know what is in their “healthy” soft-drink, the company can avoid future buyers' prejudice to GMO corn syrup if it should some day be legalized.
  

I was also struck by the note of pride in this account. Here, a child gets a good dose of self-esteem when  he chooses a healthy drink, thanks to informative advertising. But it is clear that the next generation of children have fewer clues as to what is healthful and what is not. They cannot experience that same self-affirming moment when choosing to drink Malta.

In the US, presently, marketing strategies urge adults to have a five-hour energy drink in the form of a 2 oz liquid injection, while artificially colored and flavored “water personalizers” are the newest fad for teens. The best-selling energy drink world-wide, caffeine rich Red Bull (which in 2009 in Austria was found to contain trace amounts of cocaine), is advertised in athletic tournaments and on sports and adventure equipment. It would seem that healthful ingredients are not a selling point when it comes to the  marketing of mainstream beverages. Rather, consumers jump at the promise of energy, sports and flash.

The active decision to consume healthful food and beverages makes us feel dignified and proud. In truly valuing our own health we value life itself. That intrinsic, unifying value is the mystery of "Mother Food" that warms and nourishes us. 

 

Malt as a Galactagogue - A Brief History

Stone Age Times through Ancient Civilizations

Before there was bread or beer, there was barley, a hardy, nutritious grain that grew in all kinds of difficult terrains. The discovery of barley as a food source was huge for the advancement of humanity. In fact, it is thought to have been discovered and cultivated as our earliest grain, even before wheat. Because grain such as barley and wheat could be dried and stored, it provided protection from hunger and starvation. This enabled humans to settle down and get on with things, building communities, domesticating animals, and generally laying the groundwork for civilization.

The cultivation of barley--planting in fields and harvesting for the winter--began over ten thousands years ago in isolated settlements. Eventually, its cultivation would spread across Europe and Asia.

Barley, when it is sprouted and dries, develops enzymes that break down the carbohydrates in the grain. This dried grain is called "the malt," and its enzymes continue working in the fermentation of beer.

Barley therefore became the primary grain used in the production of malt, beer and bread. These three forms of “food production” would be advanced and specialized, and this spurred the development of technology.

We take fermentation for granted. Fermentation allows us to enjoy bread, beer, yogurt, cheese, sauerkraut, pickles and wine. We don't think twice about fermentation as we buy our food from the store. But think what fermentation must have looked like to primitive people, to see beverages ferment into inebriating brews, to see flour puff up into bread, and to see the sprouted, dried and enzymatically digested barley grain turn into yummy malt sugar.

It must have looked like the invisible world of the gods was interacting with the human world of food.

Malt as a Galactagogue – Some Insights

I craved Ovomaltine after the birth of my first child. I guess this was my body's way of getting malt.

The word malt  triggers memories of Ovomaltine, Malt-O-Meal, malted milk and shakes. These icons of childhood are beloved due to their taste which is warm, nuanced, sweet and bitter. Malt’s flavor speaks to its range of sugars, with their array of subtle taste differences, in combination with the satisfying bitterness of malt’s high mineral content.

In the above section, I explain that malt traditionally derives from barley. We know that barley is highly lactogenic. It contains copious amounts of beta-glucan, a polysaccharide (long-chained sugar molecule) that studies show has the potential to increase prolactin, a central hormone of lactation. Beta-glucan is a primary reason that malt and beer are so popular among breastfeeding mothers.

There is another reason that malt is lactogenic. Through the malting process, the nutritional components in the barley grain are separated out into their smallest constituents by the malting enzymes. In a sense, the enzymes "pre-digest" or "break down" the grain for us. This means that the minerals, vitamins and micro-nutrients can be easily absorbed by a mother.

Many lactogenic foods follow this rule: they are both nutrient-rich and easily digested. The weeks after childbirth are a time of recuperation. In Eastern medicine, it is said that a mother’s digestive energy is low. Her body is healing, and putting all its energy toward creating a milk supply. Any food that offers mothers a lot of easily digestible essential nutrients is welcome and supportive of her milk supply.

Galactagogue of Ninkasi

I have described elsewhere that many dietary galactagogues are associated with mother goddesses. This connection underlines how our foremothers valued dietary galactagogues for breastfeeding. Consider Ninkasi of Sumer, the goddess of both malting and beer, shown in this statue from about 1800 BCE. Note her confident breasts. What is she carrying in the basket on her head? Could it be malt?

Consider the verses in The Hymn to Ninkasi.  This hymn contains step-by-step instructions for malting and brewing. It may have been sung by as an instructional song to pass the skill on to the younger generation, it may have been sung by the workers, helping them maintain an ecstatic state of mind while focusing on the task at hand, preparing the sacred foods of Ninkasi: malt and beer.

Malt In Europe Today

Today as in ancient times, malt is used in countries around the Mediterranean region to increase milk supply. It is popular in the rest of Europe, too. In Switzerland where I lived and had my babies, malt was given to me as a gift by my husband's aunt. She didn't know why she brought me a can of malt syrup when she visited me after the birth of my first child. She had never had children herself. But this was simply what was done--it was tradition to give a new mother malt.

"Biomalz" is the brand of malt given to mothers after birth in Switzerland. Look at this advertisement, it must have been from the mid-20th century as the German lettering is modern.

I looked at that can of "BioMalz" rather helplessly, unable to imagine any situation in which I would use the thick syrup. Years later, I learned that it is a powerful galactagogue. Whenever I lost my supply, which was highly volatile, I would take four soupspoons-full between meals, 3 - 4 times a day. Within a couple of days, my supply would fully rebound.

In Germany, birth professionals today recommend that mothers drink malt-beer, a non-alcoholic malt-based soft drink.

Although no studies directly link malt with increased milk supply, German researchers nonetheless explain this popular usage with barley malt’s beta-glucan content.

Malt for American Mothers

In 19th century America, several cook-books mention malt-tea as a galactagogue.

The tea was made by stirring 3/4 cups of malt powder into a quart of hot water, leaving it to stand and cool, filtering the tea, and drinking it throughout the day.

It is intriguing to consider that in pre-refrigeration days, powdered malt might have served the same function as today’s super-foods or energy bars: easy to store, rich in calories and contains a range of important nutrients.

Malt's Reputation as a Galactagogue is Independent of Beer

All of the above clarifies that, independent of its use in beer, malt has been known and used as a galactagogue, both in Europe and the US.

Malt is surely a galactagogue, the gift, as it were, of a Sumerian goddess.

Changes in Brewing Malt

Beta-glucan is actually undesirable in brewing. It acts as a thickening agent and is  problematic when filtering the beer, adding cost to beer production.

One way modern brewers manage this is to add other grains to the malting process such as corn, wheat, rice and other grains that contain less beta-glucan. With these other grains, however, the product’s lactogenic properties are diminished. Oats are an exception, as oats also contain lots of beta-glucan.

In recent decades, strains of barley have also been cultivated that contain less beta-glucan, and yeast has been genetically enhanced to digest more of it. This means that very little beta-glucan is found in most beer by the end of the brewing process.

It's too bad, really, as beta-glucan is healthful, immunity boosting, and good for the heart.

This stark change in the composition of malt reinforces the goal of this blog. I want to help you understand that we truly cannot compare the beer that our foremothers drank to the beer that is drunk today. To do so would be to grossly misrepresent the history and significance of beer and malt as galactagogues.

Guinness Stout and a few other dark beers are maintaining their reputation with breastfeeding moms. With Guinness, flakes of raw barley grain  are purposefully added to the brew in order to increase its beta-glucan content. Here, its function as a thickening agent is desired.

The identical principle applies when oat flakes are added to produce Oat Stout. Oats also contain beta-glucan.

Barley and oats are well-known galactagogues!

Do I recommend Malt as a Galactagogue?

No, I do not. At least, not as a main galactagogue.

Sign up to my newsletter here and receive a free handout of my Recommendations for Beer as a Galactagogue.

The reason?

Powdered malt sugar--even from "good" brands--is often mixed with dextrose (corn sugar), which in the US is undoubtedly derived from GM corn.

Malt powder, too, that is used to make malted milk or malted milk shakes, is commonly combined with dextrose from GM corn.

If you follow my work, you know that I do not endorse GM foods.

Another negative: all barley products contain gluten, which many breastfeeding mothers will want to avoid.

In the United States, several products do claim to be pure organic barley malt syrup.  Eden Foods Organic Barley Malt Syrup is an example. It can be found online and in health food stores.

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This article represents my original research, and is an excerpt from a book in progress, The History of Low Milk Supply and the Lactogenic Diet. All rights reserved. Do not re-print or use without my permission ©hilaryjacobson 2011-2016

Beer as a Galactagogue – A Brief History

 

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Starting in Sumer

The ancient civilizations of Sumer and Egypt discovered the secrets of malting and brewing over three thousand years ago, using the barley grain. Barley is thought to be the first grain ever cultivated by humans, about 10,000 BCE. It contains a certain polysaccharide that increases the milk-production hormone prolactin, and barley is used around the world in many different forms as a milk-supply boosting galactagogue.

According to pictorial hieroglyphs, women and slaves were involved in the labor of large scale beer production in Egypt. Later, in Greek and Roman times, barley was just one of many ingredients that might be freely combined in a variety of alcoholic recipes. When these ingredients included lactogenic herbs and fruit, the effect was doubtless noticed by breastfeeding women. The Greek doctor Dioscorides (1st century C.E.) gives us an alcoholic beverage to increase milk supply. It was made using dried black figs, freshly pressed grapes, fennel and thyme--all of which are known lactogenic ingredients. The Greek surgeon Antyllus (2nd century CE), mentions a fermented grain beverage that was combined with the crushed unripe seeds of the sesame plant and crushed palm dates--another potential galactagogue. In all likelihood, these were just two of many beverages that were enjoyed by breastfeeding women across the ancient world.

Moving on to Europe

During the Dark Ages, when the skills and knowledge of the ancient world were largely forgotten (suppressed), the art of brewing was kept alive in monasteries across Europe. Eventually, however, with the growth of farmsteads, brewing techniques again passed into the hands of women as domestic work. Each thriving family farm brewed its own beer, and the term “Brewster”  referred to a woman who brews in her home.

Brewsters used barley and other grains with a range of herbs added in for their taste and medicinal properties. The preferred herbs had a bitter taste to balance the sweetness of the grain, were antiseptic to keep the drink free of pathogens, and were anti-parasitic (for instance, they killed intestinal worms). Lactogenic herbs such as pepper, cinnamon, coriander, caraway and anise were also used in brewing. They might have been added in when the Brewster was breastfeeding. Mind-altering, narcotic and sexualizing herbs might also be used in brewing. Such drinks were later ascribed to the practice of witchcraft and were forbidden.

Hops flowers, a bitter, relaxing and slightly narcotic herb, and an herb which reduces sexual drive and potency, eventually became standard for brewing. Hops is an estrogenic galactagogue with a strong reputation for the milk-ejection reflex. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), an influential nun, author, herbalist, songwriter and philosopher of her day, is said to have strongly advocated for hops as the standard herb used in beer. My guess is that Hildegard knew what she was doing for mothers. Thank you, Hilde!

For several centuries, brewing remained domestic work. It eventually became a source of family income, with beer sold through local pubs or directly from the farm. As economies began to evolve, however, the upper classes passed laws that successfully suppressed these small family businesses. Brewing recipes were strictly regulated, and fees and fines imposed. Brewing became impractical for small domestic breweries and pub houses, so the way was free for large industrial breweries that have prospered to the present day.

The predatory nature of industry, and the collusion of industry with the wealthy class and government is illustrated in this example with beer. Small breweries today are attempting to break free from the stranglehold of big industry. If you enjoy beer, I urge you to support them!

Guinness, one of the big breweries, specializes in stout that is made with barley malt and barley grain. The added grain makes the stout "silkier" and "thicker" due to  beta-glucan, the polysaccharide (long-chained sugar molecule) in barley that increases prolactin. It makes  sense that Guinness would be the commercial beer most frequently recommended today by breastfeeding mothers, as it is one of the very few to still contain beta-glucan. (See my article Malt as a Galactagogue for more information on beta-glucan in brewing.)

Beginning in the early 1500s, German law limited the ingredients to be used in beer to barley, hops, yeast, and water. Reasons for this  went beyond taste preferences. By prohibiting the use of wheat, more wheat was available to bake bread. But limiting the ingredients also forced various other types of beer into obscurity. It effectively got rid of competition as the law formed a protective barrier to the importation of foreign beer. These restrictions would come to influence the international production of beer, as brewers in neighboring countries conformed to the restrictions of the large German market so that they could compete there.

Today, almost all major brewers incorporate "extra" ingredients such as corn, rice, wheat or oats into their brews. Luckily for breastfeeding mothers, the “pure” ingredients defined by German-type beer, barley, malt, hops and yeast, are intensely lactogenic. This is why classical European beer is recognized by breastfeeding mothers as the best beer-type galactagogue.

Once upon a Beer

Alcohol is anti-galactagogue. Studies on animals and humans show that alcohol impairs the milk ejection reflex, slows the flow of milk, and leads to a reduced intake of milk by the baby during approximately four hours after drinking. Because of the back-up of milk, the breast feels fuller. Because the flow of the milk is slower, it requires more time for a baby to remove milk from the breast. Because the breast feels fuller and the baby drinks longer, researchers say the mother believes that her baby is drinking more milk.

However, in traditional beer, particularly the "small beer" and "second brew" (see next section), lower levels of alcohol are present in the beer. In this case, the lactogenic ingredients used in brewing may prevail over the effect of the alcohol. Other factors that can override the anti-galactagogue effect would be whether the mother drinks the beer on an empty stomach, and how soon after drinking she breastfeeds again. It is likely that if several hours pass between drinking and nursing, the effects of the alcohol will have worn off, and the effects of the lactogenic ingredients will still be potent.

This seems to be the case, according to reports by exclusively pumping mothers. Pumping mothers will not be fooled by how their breasts feel or how long their baby drinks. They report that by drinking one glass of beer in the evening (beer rich in barley or hops, such as Guinness Dark Stout or non-alcoholic, malty St. Pauli Girl), they pump measurably  more milk the next day. Some also say that they have more and stronger let-downs at the pump that same evening.

Small Beer - Big Effect

Historically, the beer used by mothers to increase their supply was nutritionally rich and low in alcohol. In

home brewing, the so-called “mashing” (or boiling of malt, grains and herbs) was performed twice with the same grains and herbs. Whereas the first mashing returns a strong alcoholic beer, the second mashing returns a low-alcoholic beverage called “small beer” that was loosely filtered—a thin, porridge-like fluid that could practically be eaten!

She who buys her beer at the store is happier and healthier than the mom who makes beer herself at home. Thus do industries undermine women's competence and self-confidence.

Up until 150 years ago, “small beer” was viewed as a healthy, nutritious beverage that could be given to children, servants, to men performing hard labor, and to pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. In Germany, the second mash was called “Nährbier,” meaning, literally, “nutritional beer.” Into the mid-20th century, Nährbier was produced in Germany commercially and  recommended to breastfeeding mothers as nutrition and to enhance their milk production.
This then is the typical historic beer used by breastfeeding mothers: stronger in nutrition, weaker in alcohol. It is quite a different brew from any commercial beer today.

It is important to keep this in mind. Our typical, light-colored alcoholic beers do not contain enough lactogenic ingredients to counteract the anti-galactagogue effects of alcohol. These beers can lead to a decrease in supply! Non-alcoholic beer, however, especially if rich in barley or hops, can be a good galactagogue.

Our Grandmothers were Right!

Clearly, our foremothers knew what was happening in their bodies. They would use either a classic stout-type beer, rich in beta-glucan, to support their milk supply, or they would drink "small beer."

The British OBGYN, Charles Routh, writes about beer in his book Infant Feeding and Its Influence on Life (1869). He writes that too much beer and not enough food will reduce supply and risk alcoholism. For these mothers, he suggests one oz of beer taken together with one oz cream (delicious!) every few hours--I believe he was weaning these mothers off of their beer habit. He also recommends certain stouts/ales used by successful wet-nurses.

Malt Beer

Malt and Hops - the ingredients of beer - long understood to be a support for mothers after birth.

During the 19th century, "temperance movements" formed in many countries around the world to discourage the use of alcohol. In response, beer industries produced  non-alcoholic beer-like beverages using hops, yeast and malt. In the US, malt beer was called Near-Beer; in Germany, Malz-Bier, and in France, bière de nourrice, or "wet-nurse beer." All were recommended as nourishing beverages for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, and were reported to support milk supply.

Malt is derived from barley grain, and both as gooey malt syrup and as a powder is a widely used historic galactagogue.

Today, many new brands of malt-beer are available commercially. The best known is Guinness Malta. Malt beers are very popular in South America, Africa and Israel. Many mothers swear that Malta helps support their supply.

For more information about malt-beer and malt as a galactagogue, about how malt has changed and how this change may affect the lactogenicity of beer, see my article Malt as a Galactagogue - A Brief Overview.

Do I recommend beer as a galactagogue?

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This article represents my original research, and is an excerpt from a book in progress, The History of Low Milk Supply and the Lactogenic Diet. All rights reserved. Do not re-print or use without my permission ©hilaryjacobson 10.2011-2016

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The Meaning of "Mother Food" -- Examples from Poetry and Myth

While working on my book, I went back and forth on the title. When "Mother Food"  came to mind, it instantly struck me as right. It conjured up images of creation and feelings of wholeness.

I googled the name. This was 2003, and I found the name only in studies from China in which "mother food" meant, simply, the nourishment of the mother. Today, a similar search brings up many more references from different cultures, to describe to the mother's diet.

Carl Gustav Jung said that in our dreams and art, the ocean often represents the source of life, the mother, the womb, as well as the subconscious mind.  

In the same way, "Mother Food," to me, represents the source of life, the sustenance of life, and the interconnections between good food and the survival of our species, as well as the quality of our existence and culture--beginning with pregnancy and birth of every child.

In Hinduism, the lotus is called "padma," and "Padma" is also the name of a mother goddess of the harvest. In Hinduism, the lotus represents the creative womb of the universe. Out of the lotus, which resides on the "Great Water," (ocean) the universe is born. The root of the lotus is also used in India to increase milk production. I do not believe that such connections are  coincidence. Plants that increase milk production are frequently part of the imagery and tale of religions. 

 In world mythology, I have found many examples of galactagogues that are associated with mother goddesses, affirming to me that "Mother Food" (lactogenic foods and herbs) are historically linked to the "Great Mother." In many instances, these foods and herbs are used to make beverages that increase milk production. For instance, barley, the sacred grain of Demeter, the ancient Greek goddess, was used to make barley water, a renowned galactagogue. Often, the same drink used as a galactagogue was also used in religious rites, sometimes combined with hallucinogenic herbs. This was the case with Demeter. Barley water was combined, most probably with poppy, and used in her rites that were said to give visions of the afterlife.

Another example: pulque, the fermented juice of the manguey cactus, is used traditionally in Mesoamerica to enhance milk production. Pulque itself is pale white, and looks like mother's milk. Pulque is also sacred to the breastfeeding mother goddess Mayahuel, who lives within the cactus. Mayahuel was called a goddess of many breasts, and was sometimes depicted breastfeeding a baby. 

Pulque is also associated with the Great Mother Goddess of Mesoamerican tradition, and was used, with added, hallucinogenic ingredients, in her sacred rites.

In the writings of Lao Tse, the great Chinese mystic philosopher, I recently found an English translation of a verse that refers to mother food that I find particularly inspirational.  

 


Point of beginning is always there, it is the motherfood.  
Door to the birth, it is the root of the world. 
Babies exist, yet motherfood is not exhausted. 

An understanding for the meaning of Mother Food is rooted deeply in traditional cultures. Mother Food is an archetype for the inexhaustible source of life that for a baby is represented by breastmilk, and for a mother by the foods and herbs that promote the production of her breastmilk while maintaining her best health.  

Deny that Mother Food exists (as is still commonly the case in the west), trivialize its importance for the mother and the baby, and the interconnection between food and optimum health and the development of human society is blurred at best.