Nursing and Kombucha

[kwaldroping]

Does anyone know about the safety of drinking Kombucha while pregnant or nursing? I don't have any natural health folks around here to ask, and seeing as how I'm almost always pregnant or nursing (it's in the water around here! ;)), I wanted to know if I should even be drinking it, much less making endless batches! Can't wait to hear from you all!

[mamayogibear]

kombucha has a small amount of alcohol in it but aside from that i think it is okay to drink when preggo or nursing. i have drank it by the batch during my first pregnancy and while nursing my dd. although i've stopped making it i still drank it all throughout my second pregnancy and even let my dd drink it since she was about three...

[craft_media_hero]

I think its totally fine personally and probably very beneficial! However, the only possible negative I've heard is that just as it gives mama energy, can also energize nursling through the milk--something to consider.

[Jennyanydots]

From what I understand, because it helps detoxify your body, drinking kombucha can cause your milk to contain more toxins as they're flushed from your system.  I love the stuff- if I'm wrong and it really is ok to drink while nursing I would like to know!

[mamayogibear]

Originally Posted by Jennyanydots 

From what I understand, because it helps detoxify your body, drinking kombucha can cause your milk to contain more toxins as they're flushed from your system.  I love the stuff- if I'm wrong and it really is ok to drink while nursing I would like to know!

I was under the impression that kombucha cleanses by way of the gi tract. The probiotics and enzymes in it cleanse the digestive system and remove harmful bacteria via urine and bowel movements. I have not read anything (just because I haven't read it does not me there are not studies out there) that shows kombucha to detoxify via sweat, blood or breast milk. It is mostly b vitamins and probiotics so if anything I think that milk might contain a higher level of b vitamins...

[kwaldroping]

thanks everybody. I think I will go ahead a drink it in moderation... really appreciate your input!

[Koalamom]

Kombucha has a particular strain of cultures that other dont. The strain can detox heavy metals if you have then in your system. So start slow, and if you notice your nursling fussy, then back off.

[JMJ]

I would be really careful starting Kombucha while breastfeeding, and I wouldn't start it while pregnant because of the detox issues.  Your body will naturally detox into your breast milk, but the concentration of toxins in your baby's food will be about the same (with some exceptions, some will accumulate in breast milk and some will not get there at all) as the concentration in your own blood.  In pregnancy, the placenta does an amazing job of accumulating many toxins in the baby who is much more vulnerable to the toxins.  For this reason, detox (including weight loss) is not recommended at all in pregnancy, and it is recommended to detox or loose weight slowly while breastfeeding.  This would be true with Kombucha as well.

While breastfeeding, start very small, and watch yourself and your baby for signs of detox... fussiness, diaper rash, etc.  I started with 2 oz/day, increasing this amount every week or so while breastfeeding and drank it regularly for several months before becoming pregnant.  I had an aversion to it while in my first/second trimesters, and now in my 3rd trimester, I'm getting very slowly back into it.  If I hadn't done a year-long detox and been fine drinking a whole pint of kombucha daily before getting pregnant, I wouldn't be trying to restart at all while pregnant.  I'm drinking about a pint a week right now just to be careful.  It does great things for my pregnancy heartburn.