A total of 50 healthy women were enrolled during lactation received either oral treatment with micronized Silymarin (420 mg/day) or an identical placebo and equally distributed into two groups based on age and other demographic factors. Women had borderline low production of breastmilk at the time of enrollment. All women were assigned to a 2600 kcal diet. Breastmilk was measured to include both the milk sucked by the newborn (double weighing, before and after sucking) and the milk expressed with the breast-pump after each sucking to empty the breast. A portion of the milk sample was used to carry out the quantitative analysis of water, fat, protein and carbohydrate content. After 63 days, women treated with Silymarin showed a clear galactagogue effect with an increase of 85.94% in their daily milk production, compared to a 32.09% increase in the placebo group. There was no change in the macronutrient content of the breastmilk. No drop outs or side effects were reported in either group. Authors concluded that silymarin is a safe and effective herbal product that can be orally administered in order to improve the daily milk production in healthy women after delivery, without affecting milk quality. Acta Biomed. 2008 Dec;79(3):205-10. PMID: 19260380.
