Summary of Use during Lactation

Carrots (Daucus carota) contain alpha- and beta-carotene. A poultice of raw carrots applied to the breast has been used to treat uncomplicated breast engorgement during breastfeeding;[1,2] however, evidence of efficacy is lacking because engorgement tends to improve over time regardless of treatment.[3] Carrots and the closely related wild carrots have been used as galactogogues, but valid scientific evidence for this use is lacking.[4] In Angola and Malawi, women are advised to drink carrot juice as a galactogogue.[5] No scientifically valid clinical trials support the use of carrots as a galactogogue. Galactogogues should never replace evaluation and counseling on modifiable factors that affect milk production.[6,7]

Carotenoids (beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene, zeaxanthin) and carrot flavor are transmitted into breastmilk. Carrot intake can improve maternal and breastmilk beta-carotene and vitamin A status,[8,9] but excessive maternal intake of carrots can lead to a harmless, reversible discoloration of the breastfed infant's skin. Many women believe that infant crying and fussiness is related to abdominal pain linked to feeding, and had eliminated items, such as carrots, from their diet in an attempt to change infant behavior, although there is no good evidence to support this assumption.[10] Moderately good evidence supports that maternal intake of carrots during early breastfeeding will improve their infant’s liking of carrots later in life.[11-13]

Drug Levels

Maternal Levels. Beta-carotene is a normal component of breastmilk and supplementation of nursing mothers with beta-carotene supplements increases the concentration in breastmilk.[14-17] However, beta-carotene from carrots and other vegetables are less bioavailable than from pharmaceutical supplements.[9]

A sensory panel of at least 8 participants smelled the breastmilk of 5 mothers who had been given 500 mL of carrot juice. The consensus of a panel was that the odor of carrots was strongest 2 hours after ingesting the carrot juice. The mothers were presented with timed samples of their own breastmilk and judged that the taste of carrot was strongest at 3 hours after carrot juice ingestion.[11]

Twelve women were given fresh carrot paste containing 15 mg of all-trans beta-carotene daily for 3 days. Milk samples were collected on 3 days at least 3 hours after the meal that contained beta-carotene. Milk beta-carotene levels increased by an average of about 80% over the 3-day period.[18]

A study of 39 mothers of preterm infants (24 to 34 weeks gestation) provided 184 milk and 21 plasma samples weekly up to 6 weeks postpartum. Mean lutein, zeaxanthin, beta-carotene, and lycopene concentration decreased as lactation progressed, with the highest concentrations in colostrum. Lycopene (41%) and beta-carotene (36%) were the predominant carotenoids in colostrum and for up to 2 weeks postpartum. The proportion of lutein and zeaxanthin increased with lactation duration to account for 45% of the carotenoids in mature milk.[19]

Infant Levels. In a study of 39 mothers and their preterm infants (24 to 34 weeks gestation), 21 blood samples were obtained from infants at 6 weeks of age. The carotenoid concentrations averaged as follows: lutein 76.2 mcg/l, beta-carotene 24.5 mcg/L, zeaxanthin 13.6 mcg/L and lycopene 11 mcg/L. No correlation was observed in carotenoid content between maternal milk and infant plasma at 6 weeks postpartum.[19]

Effects in Breastfed Infants

A nursing mother was eating 2 to 3 pounds of carrots a week as raw and cooked carrots. The mother's skin was yellow in color, but her sclera were clear. At 2 months of age, her breastfed infant was diagnosed as having jaundice because of a yellow coloration of the skin. Breastfeeding was discontinued and the infant's skin returned to a normal color. The mother continued her diet and examination of the maternal serum found elevated levels of beta-carotene which was probably the cause of her infant's skin discoloration.[20]

Nursing mothers ingested either 300 mL of carrot juice (n = 20) or water (n = 18) 2 to 3 hours before nursing daily for a week. Their infants were then evaluated for their acceptance of cereal prepared with either carrot juice or water. The infants who had been exposed to carrots in breastmilk consumed less flavored cereal relative to plain cereal than the control infants and they spent less time feeding. The authors interpreted these results to be a form of sensory-specific satiety in which the infants become less responsive to a flavor that they have been extensively exposed to in the very recent past.[11]

Seventeen nursing mothers were given 300 mL of carrot juice or water for 4 days per week for 3 consecutive weeks during the first 2 months of lactation. Other study groups received carrot juice during the last trimester of pregnancy or water during pregnancy and breastfeeding as a placebo. At a mean of 5.6 months of age, the infants were evaluated twice, once with cereal prepared with carrot juice and once with cereal prepared with water. Infants whose mothers received carrot juice during lactation scored higher on measures of acceptance of carrot-flavored cereal and took in more cereal than those whose mothers received water, but the latter difference did not reach statistical significance. These effects were similar, but stronger among infants exposed prenatally.[13]

Effects on Lactation and Breastmilk

In an on-line survey of mothers who noted changes in color of their breastmilk, 41 women attributed the change in color to carrots. The most commonly reported color changes were yellow or green.[21]

References

1.

Stapleton H. The use of herbal medicine in pregnancy and labour. Part II: Events after birth, including those affecting the health of babies. Complement Ther Nurs Midwifery 1995;1:165–7. [PubMed: 9456733]

2.

Yarnell E. Botanical medicine in pregnancy and lactation. Altern Complement Ther 1997;3 (April):93–100. doi:10.1089/act.1997.3.93 [CrossRef]

3.

Mangesi L, Zakarija-Grkovic I. Treatments for breast engorgement during lactation. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2016;6:CD006946. [PMC free article: PMC7388926] [PubMed: 27351423]

4.

Erarslan ZB, Kültür S. Medicinal plants traditionally used to increase breast milk in Turkey: An ethnobotanical review. J Herbal Med 2024;44:100849. doi:10.1016/j.hermed.2024.100849 [CrossRef]

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Brahmi F, Kampemba Mujinga F, Guendouze N, et al. Benefits of traditional medicinal plants to African women's health: An overview of the literature. Diseases 2025;13:160. [PMC free article: PMC12110240] [PubMed: 40422592]

6.

Brodribb W. ABM Clinical Protocol #9: Use of galactogogues in initiating or augmenting maternal milk production, second revision 2018. Breastfeed Med 2018;13:307–14. [PubMed: 29902083]

7.

Breastfeeding challenges: ACOG Committee Opinion, Number 820. Obstet Gynecol 2021;137:e42–e53. [PubMed: 33481531]

8.

Ncube TN, Greiner T, Malaba LC, et al. Supplementing lactating women with pureed papaya and grated carrots improved vitamin A status in a placebo-controlled trial. J Nutr 2001;131:1497–502. [PubMed: 11340106]

9.

Strobel M, Tinz J, Biesalski HK. The importance of beta-carotene as a source of vitamin A with special regard to pregnant and breastfeeding women. Eur J Nutr 2007;46:I1–20. [PubMed: 17665093]

10.

Kidd M, Hnatiuk M, Barber J, et al. "Something is wrong with your milk": Qualitative study of maternal dietary restriction and beliefs about infant colic. Can Fam Physician 2019;65:204–11. [PMC free article: PMC6515974] [PubMed: 30867180]

11.

Mennella JA, Beauchamp GK. Experience with a flavor in the mother's milk modifies the infant's acceptance of flavored cereal. Dev Psychobiol 1999;35:197–203. [PubMed: 10531532]

12.

Spahn JM, Callahan EH, Spill MK, et al. Influence of maternal diet on flavor transfer to amniotic fluid and breast milk and children's responses: A systematic review. Am J Clin Nutr 2019;109 (Suppl 7):1003s–26s. [PubMed: 30982867]

13.

Mennella JA, Jagnow CP, Beauchamp GK. Prenatal and postnatal flavor learning by human infants. Pediatrics 2001;107:E88. [PMC free article: PMC1351272] [PubMed: 11389286]

14.

Johnson EJ, Qin J, Krinsky NI, et al. Beta-carotene isomers in human serum, breast milk and buccal mucosa cells after continuous oral doses of all-trans and 9-cis beta-carotene. J Nutr 1997;127:1993–9. [PubMed: 9311956]

15.

Canfield LM, Giuliano AR, Neilson EM, et al. beta-Carotene in breast milk and serum is increased after a single beta-carotene dose. Am J Clin Nutr 1997;66:52–61. [PubMed: 9209169]

16.

Mollik AH. Plants from Sundarbans to the diet of lactating mothers during puerperium of Barguna district of Bangladesh. Pediatr Nephrol 2010;25:1904. doi:10.1007/s00467-010-1577-z [CrossRef]

17.

Gossage CP, Deyhim M, Yamini S, et al. Carotenoid composition of human milk during the first month postpartum and the response to beta-carotene supplementation. Am J Clin Nutr 2002;76:193–7. [PubMed: 12081834]

18.

Haftel L, Berkovich Z, Reifen R. Elevated milk beta-carotene and lycopene after carrot and tomato paste supplementation. Nutrition 2015;31:443–5. [PubMed: 25701332]

19.

Uretzky A, Mandel D, Schwartz A, et al. Longitudinal analysis of carotenoid content in preterm human milk. Eur J Pediatr 2024;183:2671–82. [PMC free article: PMC11098918] [PubMed: 38509232]

20.

Thomson ML. Carotinaemia in a suckling. Arch Dis Child 1943;18:112. [PMC free article: PMC1987848] [PubMed: 21032250]

21.

Trehan S, Wszołek K, Rook A, et al. Colorful concerns: Exploring perceived reasons for and maternal-infant reactions to human milk color changes through a cross-sectional study. J Hum Lact 2026:8903344261431671. [PubMed: 42080305]

Substance Name

Carrot

Scientific Name

Daucus carota

Drug Class

Breast Feeding

Lactation

Milk, Human

Complementary Therapies

Food

Phytotherapy

Plants, Medicinal