Excess Lipase in Breastmilk, Part 2

Upon discovering that my properly-stored breast milk consistently tasted sour, I talked with other moms and did research to try to solve the mystery of what was making it taste so bad. I discovered that the likely cause was an excess of lipase.

Lipase is an enzyme contained in breast milk that breaks fats down into individual fatty acids. Lipase is part of why breast milk is so easily digestible for babies. It’s good that we have lipase in our breast milk. However, too much lipase results in fat being broken down too quickly. (The fat in milk is apparently what makes it taste good.) The end result? Sour-tasting milk.

My first suspicion was that my milk, for whatever reason, had too much lipase – more than the average breastfeeding mother. I wondered what was making my milk that way. Was it something I was eating or drinking? Was it the vitamins I was taking?

The solution offered for too much lipase in the actual breast milk is to briefly scald the milk before storing. To do this, a mother needs to heat freshly-pumped breast milk on the stove until small bubbles form around the outside of the pan. When breast milk is scalded on the stove (not scalded in the microwave, not boiled in the microwave or stove), it stills retain its amazing properties, but the lipase will be inactivated.

I’m a little wary of this, because I figure God put lipase in breast milk for a reason. I don’t like the idea of inactivating any part of breast milk. If you’re able, feeding your baby directly from the breast is probably healthiest. However, if you need to pump, scalding is definitely a better option than switching to formula, and is still good for your baby.

After doing a little more research, I found another explanation for excess lipase. Many mothers blame the excess lipase found in their breast milk on metals found in their tap water. They feel that, when the breast pump and/or bottles are washed in tap water, the metals in the water stick to the pump and containers and get into the breast milk when it is stored.

The solution offered for excess lipase caused by water is to simply wash the breast pump, storage containers, and bottles in distilled water.

I like this idea much better, because nothing has to be done to the actual milk.

I haven’t tried either method, because I’m at home all day with my baby, and there’s no immediate need for me to do so. If I decide to test these methods, I’ll keep you posted on the results. In the meantime, I’m hoping this blog will help other mothers who have suffered frustration because of excess lipase.

Excess Lipase in Breastmilk

My daughter rarely takes a bottle. My fulltime job is staying home and taking care of her, so there isn’t any need for her to get nourishment from any place other than me. Every once in awhile, however, I get curious about how she’d handle taking breastmilk from a bottle.

For about a month, I was pumping and storing milk in case of an emergency. I figured if something happened to me and I’d be unable to breastfeed her, it would be nice for her to have a little comfort from breastmilk while she was slowly weaned off of it.

Sometime during that month, I was once again overcome by curiosity over how she’d handle a bottle. I took a container of frozen milk out of the freezer, put it in a cup of warm water, and waited for it to thaw.

One it was ready, we settled into the recliner, and I put the bottle in her mouth. She gave a few sucks, then pulled her face away and spit out the milk. I tried again, and got the same result. “Wow, she really doesn’t want it from anything but the boob,” I thought. I tried singing to her, switching positions, whatever else I could think of, then gave her the bottle again. This time she gagged for about 10 seconds. I decided to taste the milk to make sure it didn’t have an overpowering plastic-y taste from the bottle.

The second the milk hit my tongue, I ran to the sink, also gagging. It was sour.

My first emotion was pity. I felt awful for my poor baby, having a bottle of sour milk forced into her mouth. I got a fresh container of frozen milk out of the freezer, prepared the bottle, and smelled the milk before giving it to her, just to be sure.

It was sour, too.

My next emotion was anger. I assumed our refrigerator/freezer must not be working properly, because the milk hadn’t been in there very long. I muttered under my breath about worthless landlords who were too cheap to replace appliances that didn’t work.

Next, I felt sad. I realized all of my pumping and storing had been for nothing. I dumped all of the stored milk in the sink, staring sadly as the frozen chunks slowly melted down the drain.

I breastfed my now nearly starving baby, put her down for a nap, and began chatting with a fellow new mother on the computer. I explained to her how I had just fed my baby sour milk twice. She asked if I thought I had an excess of lipase in my milk.

An excess of what…? I’d never heard of anything called lipase, and certainly not in the context of breastfeeding.

I typed “excess lipase” into Google, and was surprised what I found. More on this tomorrow.