Green Tea During Pregnancy: Can You Drink It?

It’s common knowledge that a future mom should reconsider her eating habits. A whole number of foods becomes forbidden, and a lot of products should be limited. The same goes for various drinks. Thus, you have to forget about coffee and energy drinks during pregnancy.

But drinking too much coffee isn’t recommended in everyday life even before pregnancy. In large amounts, caffeine negatively affects your heart and blood vessels, and a number of other organs and tissues. That’s why a lot of women who understand the benefits of healthy nutrition prefer green tea, and, of course, they want to know if drinking green tea during pregnancy is safe.

The Beneficial Properties of Green Tea

However, let’s discuss why green tea is in such great demand among healthy lifestyle supporters. The reason, of course, lies in the unique qualities of this wonderful drink.

Green tea is made from the same tea leaves, but they are processed in a different way, and that means that the contents are a bit different too. First of all, this tea is a great source of antioxidants – the agents which prevent aging and cell disruption, make our body healthy and strong.

Besides, green tea contains such necessary trace elements as zinc, magnesium, calcium, iron. Green tea is beneficial for the immune system, teeth and bones, and other organs and systems of our body.

But there is caffeine in green tea as well. Out of all tea leaves, green tea contains the most caffeine – it is the cause of the invigorating, refreshing effect this drink has on us. It should be noted that the toning effect of green tea is much stronger than that of coffee.

Can You Drink Green Tea During Pregnancy?

Here we have approached the subject matter: is it safe to drink green tea during pregnancy?

It is a tasty and healthy beverage, after all. It would be sad if during the gestation period future mothers had to abstain from drinking it. Fortunately, there is no need for such drastic measures. But pregnant women should not overindulge in this magic drink.

Judge for yourself: it contains caffeine, and everybody knows how much harm caffeine during pregnancy can do. Besides, it has an invigorating, toning effect on the whole organism, including the nervous system. Excess caffeine can result in a future mom suffering from insomnia and her baby being overexcited. For its part, such a condition means a lot of energy is wasted.

The safe dose of caffeine is 200 g. per day. If we count how many cups of green tea during pregnancy it is, we’ll get about 3-4 cups a day. But the safe dose includes the caffeine your body receives from other sources as well, so it’s better to limit the consumption of your favorite beverage to 2 cups a day. Remember: it’s important to not only limit the number of cups but also choose the tea-time correctly. Drinking green tea before bed isn’t a healthy habit.

Another unpleasant quality of green tea during pregnancy is that the beverage prevents the female body from absorbing folic acid. And this is one of the most important elements for the normal development of your baby. That’s why you should be careful with green tea while pregnant.

Taking into account that other sorts of tea contain less caffeine than green tea, you can prepare them with less caution. That’s especially true for white tea, but you can drink black tea as well if you like.

The best option for expectant mothers will be red tea (karkade). It’s very refreshing on hot summer days, makes blood vessels stronger, and helps your body to remove excess cholesterol. You should avoid drinking red tea only if you suffer from stomach diseases because this beverage contains a lot of acids.

Be careful with herbal teas. A whole lot of herbs that are a part of various teas are contraindicated during the childbearing period. They are ginseng, red elm, mugwort, licorice, hop, sage, fennel, marjoram, etc.

In Conclusion

Green tea is a very beneficial beverage, and there is no need to give up the habit of drinking it during pregnancy. However, don’t overindulge in it. Two cups a day are enough – follow this recommendation and you won’t have to deal with complications and unpleasant symptoms.