Terry:  I'm glad your asking about this important and timely topic.  While
there's lots in the news about phytoestrogens, there's not a whole lot of
research that is breastfeeding related.  I have two things to offer which
support the idea that phytoestrogens are not a problem.  First, if soy and
other phytoestrogens WERE a problem, then high-soy consumption countries
such as Japan would have died out a long time ago due to bf failure.
Second, I have had great success in my practice of using other
phytoestrogens to combat menopausal-like symptoms in Lactational Ammenorrhea
without any negative effects on bf supply or MER.  I should state that I do
not recommend the use these herbal supplements in the first six weeks, but
moms don't usually complain of vaginal dryness, hot flashes, night sweats,
insomnia, loss of libido, etc. that early.  It is only at 4+ months that
they start to ask questions about these.

I've often thought we need to do a well-controlled study on this, but
getting funding and human subjects approval is very difficult in this doubly
sensitive area (bf and herbs).  I hope this helps some.
Warmly,
Chris Hafner-Eaton, PhD, MPH, CHES, IBCLC    [log in to unmask]
mom, wife, educator, lactation consultant, researcher, scientist, author,
organic gardener, photographer, lapidary creator, lousy cleaner.

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