Hi Lactnetters,

In the 17th century, Nicolas Culpepper called cabbage the windiest of meats
( meaning foods).  Think he was on to something...

Cabbage is a member of the cole family of vegetables which also include
brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collards and "mustard greens"
- these are also known as cruciferous vegetables ( the plant family used to
be called Cruciferae, all having cross-shaped flowers, but now are called
Brassicaceae, after the genus name for most of the vegetable members,
Brassica).

There is, apparently, only one formal prospective study of food and colic in
bf babies, done here at the U of Minnesota.  The researchers recruited LLLLs
and babies as the test subjects. Researchers had moms keep food and crying
diaries over a couple of weeks - they found a statistically significant
connection with frequent consumption of cruciferous or cole vegetables and
the amount of unexplained crying in mother-baby pairs.  In this population
of moms, many were already restricting diet, e.g. those with colicky babies.
As I recall, inclusion in the study was not restricted to those with colicky
babies.

Lust, K.D., J.E.Brown, and W. Thomas. 1996. Maternal intake of cruciferous
vegetables and other foods and colic symptoms in exclusively breast-fed
infants. J. Amer. Dietetic Assoc. 96(1): 46-48.

It may be possible for cabbage chemical constituents to absorb into breast,
having both an anti-edema effect but perhaps also entering milk.   Bingel
and Farnsworth (1994 survey of galactogogue plants) speculating that the
lactating breast may be more permiable than assumed - they were pretty well
stumped as to why a full third of all galactogogue use reports that included
route data were externally applied.  No actual lactation studies to guide us
here.

Regards,
Sheila
Sheila Humphrey
BSc RN IBCLC
Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota (snow and below zero)

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