65 Foods That Boost Your Breast Milk Supply

Breastfeeding is hard work, and by now, you’ve probably experienced the stress and tiredness of not having enough milk supply for your baby. In case you haven’t already know, your body needs to be properly nourished in order to continuously produce sufficient milk supply.

However, with a newborn in the house, along with many other new responsibilities in life, we understand how taking care of your diet is the last thing on your to-do list right now. 

The good news is there are actually many healthy milk-boosting foods available, and they are mostly ingredients that you can easily incorporate into your daily meals with minimal preparation!

Here’s a list of 65 foods to eat to increase your breast milk supply:

“But…do they REALLY work?” you might be wondering. Well, while evidence is still mixed and limited, some mummies do find these ingredients helpful in increasing their milk supply. The best way to find out if they work for you? Try them for yourself!

On top of having the potential to boost milk supply, these are all healthy ingredients that are relatively safe for breastfeeding mothers like you to incorporate into your diet — with the exception of special medical conditions or food allergies, of course, so do check with your doctor in advance if you have any concern!

The Milk-Boosting Ingredients in Our Confinement Meals

Understanding your needs as a breastfeeding mother who is also recovering from childbirth, we at Tian Wei Signature serve breastfeeding-friendly and nourishing confinement meals to support you in breastfeeding and postpartum recovery. 

In terms of helping mummies to improve their milk supply, we include the following four galactagogues (milk-boosting foods) in our confinement meals:

1. Fenugreek

Fenugreek is known to be one of the most effective ingredients that can boost breast milk supply. The popular lactogenic herb from South Asia stimulates the sweat glands in the mother’s body. Since the breast is a modified sweat gland, fenugreek stimulates the milk ducts and increases the milk supply. Some milk-boosting dishes that use fenugreek include Fenugreek Green Papaya Herbal Fish Soup and Lemongrass Fenugreek Braised Fish Fillet.

2. Ginger

Apart from its traditional benefits of warming the body and expelling “wind”, did you know that ginger is also another popular breastfeeding mom food that many mummies have found to be effective to help boost her milk supply production? Besides providing a warm sensation after consumption, which is desired during confinement to keep mothers warm, ginger is actually a vasodilator. This means blood vessels allow more blood to flow through; this mechanism may explain the possibility of increasing milk production due to the increase in blood supply to the breast tissue.

Ginger definitely gives a distinctive flavour which infants may be able to identify via breast milk. This can be great news for mothers because when introducing solids later on down the line, babies are already accustomed to different tastes from their breast milk. 

Some of our well-loved traditional dishes that include ginger are Red Fermented Wine Chicken, Stir Fried Pork Liver With White Beehoon And Kailan and Braised Pork Trotter in Black Vinegar.

3. Green Papaya

If you don’t already know, green papaya is one of the most popular foods to eat to increase breast milk among mummies in Singapore. Boil it with some fresh fish fillet, and you’ll get a hearty bowl of milk-boosting soup! You can also prepare papaya salad and curry or mix it with other vegetables if you want to avoid taking the confinement soup. The fruit contains plenty of vitamins, proteins, and beta-carotene, essential in milk production. Green papaya is also a great oxytocin and prolactin hormone booster. Prolactin is responsible for the production of milk in the mother’s body. The alkaloids in green papaya stimulate smoother milk flow out of the breast. Some people may have allergic reactions to papaya, so you should monitor the results after consumption.

At Tian Wei Signature, we serve two variations of this soup in your confinement menu, namely Fenugreek Green Papaya Herbal Fish Soup and Fenugreek Green Papaya Milky Fish Soup.

4. Garlic

As a common aromatic that we often use in our daily meals, one of the ways this food increase breast milk is by giving a pleasant flavour to your milk and encouraging your baby to stay latched on longer, and eventually improve your milk supply. 

Garlic is widely used across many of our traditional and fusion dishes, for example, Braised Fish Maw With Marrow Green And Seaweed, Stir Fried Garlic Sesame Chicken and Spaghetti Pomodoro And Caponata.

 5. Salmon

This is many mothers’ favourite milk-booster, and we can certainly see why! On top of its extensive benefits for a breastfeeding mom and their breastfed baby, salmon is tasty and versatile, allowing it to be cooked and prepared in so many different, creative ways! 

Salmon is high in good healthy fats, omega 3! Marine source omega 3 is commonly known as DHA. Ultimately, the DHA content in your breast milk is positively associated with your’ intake of DHA. 

Sufficient intake of EPA and DHA will help to increase their concentration in breast milk as well as reduce risk of perinatal depression. Plus, it is also potentially effective at preventing asthma in babies among breastfeeding moms who have low blood levels of omega-3.

On top of that, salmon also supports healthy visual and cognitive development in babies. Isn’t it simply amazing how much a simple food ingredient can contribute to a person’s growth?

Some of our favourite salmon dishes include HK Lime Steamed Salmon, Seared Salmon With Cauliflower Cream & Black Sesame Pan Seared Salmon.

With all these benefits, it’s no wonder fish is among the top recommended proteins by a nutritionist or dietitian. Practising a healthy diet by consuming the weekly recommended amount of fish will invariably provide a smooth recovery for you as well as growth for your little one.

Interested to learn more about our fusion and traditional confinement meal packages? Call us at  +65 6727 5599 (Reachable on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; weekends and public holidays from 10 a.m to 7 p.m.). Our friendly customer service officers are always happy to help!