Drinking tea during pregnancy? Green Tea?

4 responses so far ↓

• 1 10w1d until we meet Grant Ray // Oct, 2008

  I would say talk with your dr about it, a quick phone call is easy. I was told no green tea.

  Pregnant women would be wise to limit the amount of green tea they drink during pregnancy, and should be careful about taking any green tea supplements. Green tea is rich in antioxidants, and has a host of health benefits relating to dental health, blood sugar levels, cholesterol, and weight loss. But researchers have found, whilst examining the active constituent of green tea, the epigallocatechins, or EGCG for short, that it may affect the way the body uses folate. Folate is important for pregnant women as it prevents neural tube birth defects in babies.

  The problem of green tea during pregnancy is that the EGCG molecules are structurally similar to a compound called methotrexate. Methotrexate is able to kill cancer cells by chemically bonding with an enzyme in the body called enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). Healthy people have this enzyme also - it is part of what is called the folate pathway, which is the pathway, or steps, the body takes to transform nutrients like folate into something that can be used to support its normal functions.

  But this chemical similarity means that the EGCG in green tea also binds with the enzyme DHFR, and when it does this, it inactivates this enzyme. When this enzyme is inactivated, the ability of the body to use folate is going to be affected. How much green tea is able to be consumed, or precisely how much folate absorption is affected, is unclear. Though the research article did say that drinking 2 cups of green tea a day can stop cancer cells (which is what methotrexate is targeting) from growing.

  The good news on caffeine drank during pregnancy, from coffee and tea, is that a moderate amount is fine. Two studies, one by Danish scientists who interviewed more than 88,000 pregnant women, and the other by the Yale University School of Medicine, had similar findings on caffeine during pregnancy.
  buzzle.com

• 2 ***~*** // Oct, 2008

  I think it has to do with the caffeine. But green tea has very low caffeine so maybe that’s why some people think it’s OK while others do not.

• 3 KKingS // Oct, 2008

  The issue with most teas is the caffeine. As far as green tea goes, the first responder is correct. But to put all that in laymen’s terms…the antioxidents found in green tea reduce the body’s ability to absorb and utilize folic acid…a vital for the growing baby.

• 4 ebgxtra // Oct, 2008

  it absorbs folate in your body, which means it is not doing it’s part to prevent neural defects in your baby. it does not have anything to do with the caffeine in it. It would be wise to avoid drinking green tea.

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