Ephedra and Breastfeeding

Just as ephedra should not be taken during pregnancy because of the health risks it poses to both mother and child, this herb should also be avoided by breastfeeding women. Ephedra has been associated with too many side effects, the reason for its ban in weight loss supplements by the U.S. FDA in 2004.

Why Ephedra Is Unsafe For Nursing Women

While many women find it best to avoid ingesting traditional pharmaceutical medications when breastfeeding, some have the mistaken notion that herbal medications are safe alternatives. The fallacy is challenged by the fact that a number of herbs pose their own risks. Ephedra is a plant that has been illegalized as an ingredient in all weight management supplements because of its roster of contraindications and side effects. It is currently available only in prescription drugs.

Nursing mothers must refrain from taking ephedra to help in their postpartum weight loss. Ephedra can pass its dangerous alkaloids, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, on to breast milk and consequently to the nursing infant.

Effects of Ephedra On Nursing Infants

As a powerful substance that affects the nervous system, ephedra can, at the least, cause these common reactions in babies:

• Disturbed sleep patterns
• Listlessness
• Irritability
• Colic
• Diarrhea
• Rashes and other allergic reactions
• Excitement
  

More serious adverse responses would include infant anorexia.

The Alternative

The best advice for losing postpartum weight is to do what was traditionally done before weight loss supplements and drugs ever came on the scene, and that is: diet and exercise. If you are breastfeeding, you actually expend more calories and can lose weight faster than those who don’t nurse. This is because the body uses up more energy to produce breastmilk in copious amounts.

La Leche League International, a global non-profit organization that promotes breastfeeding, says that generally, mothers who breastfeed are likely to lose 1.3 to 1.6 pounds per month for the first four to six months after birth, without the aid of diet, exercise or weight loss pills. In this case, adding a moderate diet and increasing your physical activity will help you greatly in your weight loss efforts.

It is not healthy at the breastfeeding stage to lose more than a few pounds per month, according to La Leche, because doing so can trigger environmental toxins stored in body fat to spill out to the bloodstream and cross over to the baby through breast milk. Women who breastfeed must pace their weight loss at a slow rate. Weight loss supplements, especially ephedrine-based ones, are then undeniably the unhealthy way to go.