>Does anyone know really how many calories it takes to make milk?
>

I think this is a great question and one that I have wondered about
quite a bit.  One thing I feel pretty sure of, though I have not a
shred of evidence to back it up with, is that 'calories in' (extra
food in mom's diet) does not strictly equal 'calories out' (milk
produced).  There must be some economy of production in there.  In my
two experiences of lactation (measured in years) I don't think I
maintained that postpartum voracious appetite for very many months
before settling down to a more regular food intake level.

I am most interested to hear others' thoughts on this.

>By the way, I should admit...this subject of conversation came up when
>I was trying to figure out how one could determine how many calories
>were needed to manufacture a pint of blood.  Could one lose weight by
>giving a pint of blood several times a week?  ;-)  (this is a joke,
>but no one seems to know how one would calculate this...if anyone has
>any ideas, I'd love to hear them off list, since this ends up being
>rather off-topic compared to the milk!).

At least one person has taken a crack at this in print, and decided
on about 600 calories to make one unit of blood (Redelmeier DA, 600
reasons to donate blood, Transfusion Medicine, Oct 2001).

>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>Fio
>ressource person with Allaitement Québec
>Mama to Sandrine, 3 years 1 month, and Nyssa, 5 mos, tandem nursing.

Margaret
mom of 2, LLLL
Longmont, Colorado

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