Beer as a Galactagogue – A Brief History

Does beer increase milk supply, and if so, which kinds?

More than three thousand years ago, Sumerians and Egyptians brewed beer-like alcoholic beverages based on barley--the most lactogenic, milk-supply boosting grain. According to pictorial hieroglyphs, women and slaves were involved in the labor of large scale beer production. Later, in Greek and Roman times, barley was just one of many ingredients that were freely combined in a variety of alcoholic recipes. When these ingredients were strongly lactogenic, the effect would have been noticed by breastfeeding women. The Greek doctor Dioscorides (1st century C.E. in Rome) records an alcoholic recipe to increase milk supply that was made with dried black figs, freshly pressed grapes, fennel and thyme. The Greek surgeon Antyllus (2nd century C.E. in Rome), mentions a fermented grain beverage that was combined with the crushed unripe seeds of the sesame plant and crushed palm dates. In all likelihood, these recipes were just two of many. Lactogenic ingredients would have been mixed and matched in alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and enjoyed by breastfeeding mothers across the ancient world.
 

During the ensuing Dark Ages, when the skills and knowledge of the ancient world were largely forgotten, the art of brewing was kept alive in monasteries. 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. 

Across Europe, beer-like beverages using barley and other grains were brewed with a range of herbs added in for their taste and medicinal properties.  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, and were probably added in when the brewster was breastfeeding. Less well known is that mind-altering, narcotic herbs might also be used; such drinks were later ascribed to the practice of witchcraft and forbidden.

Hops flowers, a bitter, relaxing herb that eventually became standard for brewing, is a potent, 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 supposed to have strongly advocated for hops as a standard ingredient in beer. My guess is that Hildegard knew exactly what she was doing for breastfeeding women. Thank you, Hilde!

For several centuries in early European civilization, brewing remained domestic work, and 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 were sensitized to the profit potential of brewing. They passed laws that successfully suppressed these small family businesses: recipes were strictly regulated, and fees and fines imposed. Brewing became impractical for small domestic breweries and pub houses, and the way was free for large industrial breweries that have prospered to the present day. 

Guinness, one of these breweries, produces stout that is made not only  with barley malt, but also the barley grain. The added grain makes the stout "silkier" and "thicker" due to  beta-glucan, the lactogenic substance in barley. It makes perfect sense that Guinness is 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 for  beer to barley, hops, yeast, and water. There were reasons for this that went beyond taste preferences. By limiting the grain used to barley, and prohibiting the use of wheat, more wheat was available for baking bread. But limiting production this way also forced various other types of beer into obscurity, and it formed a protective barrier to the importation of foreign beer. These restrictions would influence the international production of beer, as brewers in neighboring countries conformed to the restrictions of the large German market. 

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

Beer – A Historic Galactagogue

Alcohol is an 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, fooling the mother into believing she is  producing more. And because her baby drinks longer (milk flow is reduced, so it requires more time for baby to remove milk from the breast) the mother believes that her baby is drinking more. 

However, if, as in traditional beer, significant amounts of lactogenic ingredients are used in brewing, these  ingredients may prevail over the effect of the alcohol, and more milk be made.

I have ascertained that this is likely to be true by reading along in forums for exclusively pumping mothers. These pumping mothers will not be fooled by how their breasts feel or how long their baby drinks, and 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. Clearly, something in the beer is over-riding the let-down inhibition of alcohol. I would encourage mothers to try locally produced stout beer made with barley or oats, to support their local breweries. 

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! 

 

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, historical 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 galactogogue.


Malt Beer 


During the 19th century, "temperance movements" formed in many countries around the world to discourage the use of alcohol. As a 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.

Today, many new brands of malt-beer are available commercially, the best known of which 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, and about how malt  has changed from yesteryear, and how that may affect the lactogenicity of beer, see my next article Malt as a Galactagogue .



Please comment here and share your own experiences with beer. Thank you for reading! 

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Disclaimer: History is amazingly complex and any "brief history" is a simplification. If you would like to enrich my knowledge base, please email me at hilary@mother-food.com (email not linked to avoid spam). Much appreciated!