Linda writes: >I still hear professionals telling moms to drink alcohol (especially beer) >to increase their milk supplies or to help let-down reflex. This is another >example of non-research-based myth. I have sometimes recommended trying a beer when mums are experiencing transitory low milk (either real or perceived), based on a letter I have from JAMA Feb. 19/88 Vol. 259 No. 7, p. 1016 (I think--my copy is very poor) that cites 2 studies on beer and milk production. The author of the letter is responding to an question by a physician in the Oct. 16/87 issue of JAMA that asked "if there is any scientific basis for the use of beer by lactating women as a stimulant to milk production." The letter writer, Dr. Elmer R. Grossman of Berkeley, California, says that the 4 consultants replying to this question "agree that there is no such evidence, apparently having overlooked two pertinent studies. De Rosa et al gave equal amounts of beer and ethanol to 11 normal women and showed significant increases in serum prolactin from mean basal levels of 11.6 ng/mL to mean peak levels of 27.1ng/mL within 30 minutes of drinking 1L of 6% ethanol-containing beer. There was no significant change after drinking 6% ethanol solution or sparkling water. Carlson et al gave 800 mL of beer that contained 4.5% ethanol to five men and seven women and an equal amount of nonalcoholic beer to one woman. In men, the prolactin levels increased from a mean of 7.0 ng/mL to 12.0 ng/mL; in women, the levels increased from 9.6 ng/mL to 22.6 ng/mL. The subject who drank nonalcoholic beer had a similar response. Pretreatment of the women in the study with naloxone had no effect on prolactin response. A further group of eight women had a test drink of 240 mL of cocoa; their prolactin levels did not rise." The letter writer goes on to say: "Taken together, these two studies suggest a scientific basis for the commonly observed success of beer in increasing mothers' milk. Until I saw this work, I had thought that the increased lactation I observed in my pediatric practice was probably due to what Frank Falkner, MD, describes as a soothing effect, but a specific increase in prolactin seems to be a more likely reason. Even old wives are sometimes correct." The citations, which I can barely read on this copy, for anyone who would like to dig them up and see if they agree with the conclusions, are: 1. Beer and the breast-feeding mom, QUESTIONS & ANSWERS, JAMA 1987: 258, 2126 2. De Rosa, G., Corsello, SM, Ruff??, MP, et al. Prolactin secretion after beer, Lancet 1981 2:934 3. Carlson, HE, Wasser, HL, Reidelberger, RD. Beer-induced prolactin secretion. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1985, 60: 673-677. Leslie Ayre-Jaschke, BEd, IBCLC Peace River, Alberta, Canada mailto:[log in to unmask]