# Why hasn't lactation been advocated as a weight loss method for women? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 24, 2004, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-lactation-been-advocated-as-a-weight-loss-method-for-women/236038 "2004-03-24T01:11:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dre2xl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@dre2xl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dre2xl)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-lactation-been-advocated-as-a-weight-loss-method-for-women/236038/1 "2004-03-24T01:11:25Z")
Just like the title says. It’s easy to induce lactation (with the right drugs) and it burns calories easily (200-1,000). With obesity such a huge problem in America… why aren’t doctors pushing for lactation instead of prescribing drugs that put a hole in your heart? ---
**Author:** ![Jake4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc8723/32.png) [@Jake4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake4)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-lactation-been-advocated-as-a-weight-loss-method-for-women/236038/2 "2004-03-24T01:18:27Z")
You don’t, by any chance, happen to work for Acme Breast Pumps, do you? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![miss\_smartypants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6bbea6/32.png) [@miss\_smartypants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_smartypants)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-lactation-been-advocated-as-a-weight-loss-method-for-women/236038/3 "2004-03-24T01:29:25Z")
Haha Jake. Good one. ---
**Author:** ![dre2xl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@dre2xl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dre2xl)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-lactation-been-advocated-as-a-weight-loss-method-for-women/236038/4 "2004-03-24T01:32:24Z")
> [@Jake4](#): > > You don’t, by any chance, happen to work for Acme Breast Pumps, do you? 😉 Nope, I’m not even the slightest bit overweight, just genuinely curious. Seems like it’d be a natural and proven method of melting off fat… So many people are willing to kill themselves to get thin (smoking, fen-phen, stomach stapling, meth), why not lactation? There has to be some kind of drastic side effect I’ve not heard about (other than sore boobies). ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-lactation-been-advocated-as-a-weight-loss-method-for-women/236038/5 "2004-03-24T01:35:50Z")
i dont know. I know some doctors trick the body into thinking a woman is pregnant with HCG. never heard of this before. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-lactation-been-advocated-as-a-weight-loss-method-for-women/236038/6 "2004-03-24T01:38:08Z")
WAG: because milk contains a good deal of calcium and heavy lactation is going to lead to calcium deficiency and possibly Ricketts. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-lactation-been-advocated-as-a-weight-loss-method-for-women/236038/7 "2004-03-24T01:43:45Z")
One stab at it: Because it doesn’t work that way for all women. For some women, the pounds just melt away. There seem to be some percentage of women, however, whose bodies seem to use lactation as a signal to sock some fat away. It would make sense (although I don’t know if there is a sound basis for this) in that the body wants reserves to be able to keep providing for a baby if the mother’s food supply gets lean. Second stab at it: Because getting the milk out of the breasts is a part of the process, and it’s not always easy to do, either. Some breasts are more “pumpable” than others. Mine needed a baby to really get the milk out. If the milk doesn’t come out, you have two problems. One is REALLY PAINFUL breasts. The other is the body signalling that it needs to make LESS MILK (if milk isn’t taken the body assumes it is overproducing). Not sure if that would lessen the efficacy of the lactation drug, however. ---
**Author:** ![Quint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/76d3ee/32.png) [@Quint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-lactation-been-advocated-as-a-weight-loss-method-for-women/236038/8 "2004-03-24T06:35:47Z")
> [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](#): > > Second stab at it: Because getting the milk out of the breasts is a part of the process, and it’s not always easy to do, either. Some breasts are more “pumpable” than others. Mine needed a baby to really get the milk out. If the milk doesn’t come out, you have two problems. One is REALLY PAINFUL breasts. The other is the body signalling that it needs to make LESS MILK (if milk isn’t taken the body assumes it is overproducing). Not sure if that would lessen the efficacy of the lactation drug, however. Not to mention the possibility of blocked ducts (see REALLY PAINFUL breasts above) or [mastitis](http://www.medela.com/NewFiles/mastitis.html). Lactation can be a pain in the ass, and I’d doubt many women would be willing to pump every two to four hours day and night as a weight loss method. Excercise would likely be easier, the avoidance of which is why people opt for crazy drugs and operations in the first place. Perhaps the OP is suggesting lactation without ever expressing milk, I don’t see how that would work. ---
**Author:** ![vasyachkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c5a1d2/32.png) [@vasyachkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vasyachkin)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-lactation-been-advocated-as-a-weight-loss-method-for-women/236038/9 "2004-03-24T14:46:47Z")
if you’re willing to f\*ck with hormonal drugs why not just take thyroid hormone ( T3 ) which i take by the way, it directly modulates metabolic rate. even better, take DNP which is a phosphorylation uncoupler, meaning it just dumps MASSIVE amounts of calories directly into heat. none of that particularly legal though, or safe. in fact DNP alone can kill you by a way of heat stroke from all the calorie burning it induces, combined with T3 … ---
**Author:** ![vasyachkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c5a1d2/32.png) [@vasyachkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vasyachkin)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-lactation-been-advocated-as-a-weight-loss-method-for-women/236038/10 "2004-03-24T14:50:04Z")
of course, diet should ALWAYS be the core of any weight loss program regardless of the arsenal of drugs at your disposal. any drugs are used only to ENHANCE the diet effectiveness. ---
**Author:** ![dre2xl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@dre2xl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dre2xl)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-lactation-been-advocated-as-a-weight-loss-method-for-women/236038/11 "2004-03-24T15:23:29Z")
Thanks for the responses all. I didn’t realize that lactation was such a big PITA–not that I intend to ever find out. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-lactation-been-advocated-as-a-weight-loss-method-for-women/236038/12 "2004-03-25T12:19:21Z")
forget lactation - only good for women. What about bleeding, TB, or tapeworms. All good for losing that odd pound. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-lactation-been-advocated-as-a-weight-loss-method-for-women/236038/13 "2004-03-25T13:24:53Z")
[Food](http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/milkmen.htm) [For Thought](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Male_lactation) [The Master Holds Forth Upon This Most Delicate Subject 😃](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_321.html) Cartooniverse