Recipe Fish& papaya soup to boost milk supply

Ingredients 
• 500 grams of fish bones (preferable to use threadfin - kurau - fish bones)
 • 500 grams of green papaya (the flesh of the fruit is white)
 • Three litres of water
 • Four slices of ginger (this will help cut down any fishy taste or smell)
 • Six pips (cloves) of garlic
 • Three stalks of spring onion
 • Salt to taste
  

Directions 
• Boil the water, then add in the ginger, garlic and spring onion.
 • Cut the papaya into small slices. Discard seeds.
• Pour boiling water over the green papaya to remove sap, then drain.
• Combine the fish bones into the boiling pot, followed by the green papaya.
• Turn down the fire, leave to boil for about half an hour to reduce. This should yield about three rice bowls of soup.
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Does it really work?

Most breastfeeding mums worry about low milk supply in the early days and weeks, hence the fish and papaya soup is sometimes a firm feature in a confinement diet. While there is no scientific proof to support this claim, it is believed that this nutritious soup helps boost milk supply.

While the effectiveness of the fish and papaya soup has never been verified by evidence based research, fish is a good source of protein, and papayas are packed with minerals and vitamins A, C and E. These two main ingredients combined provide a healthy and nutritious meal for anyone, even more so for a breastfeeding mum