"Nancy Hurst RN IBCLC in Houston has been conducting
a study on fenugreek among her mothers of premature infants. One of the
biggest obstacles she has run into is that it is hard to come up with a
placebo if the mom is aware that fenugreek usually causes sweat and
urine to smell like maple syrup."

I would think that the hurdle referred to here is that the mothers don't like the maple syrup scent, because nurslings tend to like it.  While nursing my fifth adopted baby, I drank a quart of strong fenugreek tea each day, and he loved the scent of it!  When he became mobile, he would go through the laundry and find a piece of my clothing with the scent on it and carry it around, like a security blanket.  Sometimes, when he was toddling around, he would periodically come up and rub his hand under my arm and then go off smelling his hand.  That brought a few strange looks from people who saw him do it!  I have also wondered if my use of fenugreek while he was nursing is one reason that Joseph's favorite foods, which he can enormous amounts of, are pancakes, waffles and french toast, since fenugreek is one of the main ingredients in the imitation maple flavoring that I use in the syrup I make.

I don't think it is an offensive odor, and I try to reassure mothers who need something to increase milk production not to let that keep them from trying it.  As far as herbal galactogogues go, fenugreek is one of the easiest to use, and also the most economical when whole seeds are bought in bulk.  The seeds will maintain their essential oils until they are either ground or soaked in water, and they are very easy to strain from tea.  The dry seeds can also be washed down whole, like little pills, or ground and sprinkled on food.  The softened seeds from tea can also be eaten, alone or added to salads or other foods.  They can be sprouted too, although I don't know if that changes the properties that have the galactogogic effect.   

Darillyn

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