This Super Bowl Recipe May Increase Your Milk Supply, & It's A Classic

The food you eat absolutely impacts your milk supply, as well as your overall health. Maintaining a balanced diet and drinking plenty of water are the most important things, but when Game Day comes along, I know you'll be craving those super satisfying snacks, in both salty and sweet form. If you're nursing and whipping up treats for the game this year, you should know that this Super Bowl recipe may increase your milk supply, thanks to its abundance of healthy fats and nutritious vegetables, one of which is a well-known galactagogue.

First of all, what are galactagogues? Essentially, this mouthful of a word just refers to foods, drinks, and herbs traditionally believed to stimulate breast milk production. Obscure-sounding galactagogues run the gamut from fenugreek to Brewer's yeast, but there are a lot of common fruits and vegetables on the list, too. Most deliciously, avocado has reportedly been known to increase milk supply, noted Pregnancy Magazine, but of course there's no science to truly back up the claim. But that doesn't mean you should go without. With avocado on the list, it only stands to reason that guacamole should be a go-to Game Day recipe for anyone who wants to snack healthfully. Breastfeeding moms everywhere will love this Spring Pea and Fava Bean Guacamole from the food blog, What's Cooking Good Looking.

Now, I know some people think adding peas to guacamole is a scandal — Slate reported on the gourmet controversy when The New York Times first published an avocado and peas recipe. (Yes, they called it PeaGate.) When you're nursing, however, you need all the nutritious vegetables you can get, and peas are a wonderfully supportive choice. It's also crucial to make sure you're getting enough protein, which is why the unlikely fava bean makes a great addition. To prepare this recipe for guacamole, you'll need English peas, lemon, cilantro, avocados, red onion, and fava beans, too. A dash of paprika and crushed red pepper adds depth of flavor, but if you're worried about spiciness, the dish will still taste great without.

Feeling adventurous? Mix in a fruit known to boost milk supply, too. Mom Junction loves papaya for nursing mothers, and green papaya in particular. She Knows recommended pineapple as an anti-inflammatory that can help fight engorgement, so consider chopping some up and grilling for a colorful topping. Belly Belly also touted the benefits of garlic. I firmly believe that there's no recipe on earth that won't benefit from a little more garlic.

While tortilla chips and guacamole are a match made in heaven, chips — whether corn or potato — just don't have much going for them in the way of vitamins and nutrients. Luckily, almost any vegetable can magically transform into a chip if it spends enough time hanging out in your oven. What's Cooking Good Looking suggested serving your Spring Pea and Fava Bean Guacamole with root chips, a mix of turnips and golden or red beets. (In my own experience, parsnips pack a crunchy punch, too.) After slicing with a mandolin — knives work also — the chips bake for about 40 minutes on parchment paper. After they've crisped up on a cooling rack, salt to taste.

This Super Bowl Sunday, you can snack to your heart's content. Apparently breastfeeding women need more calories than usual: 300 to 500 more calories, to be exact, noted Kelly Mom. Just be sure to drink enough water, too. Breast milk is mostly fluid, and Kelly Mom explained that moms need to drink at least 64 ounces a day. In the meantime, enjoy your potentially milk supply boosting guacamole — your family and friends are sure to love it, too.

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