Is Cocoa Safe in Breastfeeding
Question
I am a breastfeeding mother and i want to know if it is safe to use Cocoa? Is Cocoa safe for nursing mother and child? Does Cocoa extracts into breast milk? Does Cocoa has any long term or short term side effects on infants? Can Cocoa influence milk supply or can Cocoa decrease milk supply in lactating mothers?
Cocoa lactation summary
- DrLact safety Score for Cocoa is 1 out of 8 which is considered Safe as per our analyses.
- A safety Score of 1 indicates that usage of Cocoa is mostly safe during lactation for breastfed baby.
- Our study of different scientific research also indicates that Cocoa does not cause any serious side effects in breastfeeding mothers.
- Most of scientific studies and research papers declaring usage of Cocoa safe in breastfeeding are based on normal dosage and may not hold true for higher dosage.
- Score calculated using the DrLact safety Version 1.2 model, this score ranges from 0 to 8 and measures overall safety of drug in lactation. Scores are primarily calculated using publicly available case studies, research papers, other scientific journals and publically available data.
Answer by Dr. Ru: About Cocoa usage in lactation
Cocoa contains theobromine (Dimethyl-3,7-xanthine), a caffeine derivative with a less neuro-excitability effect. In those cases of maternal overuse (more than 400 g a-day) irritability or colicky pain may appear in the infant. 100 g of chocolate contains 120 to 230 mg of theobromine and 20 to 30 mg of caffeine.