Avoid Green Tea during Pregnancy, Breastfeeding and when suffering from anemia

Pregnant and breast feeding ladies and anemic people try to avoid Green tea at meals because green tea inhibits the absorption of iron.

It has been confirmed that green tea does contain various healing substances that help to prevent basic cell damage done by toxins (anything from different types of cancer to liver damage). And although, it really is beneficial to your health there are some things you need to know before you'll decide to make green tea one of your meal time beverages.

Green tea does have some side effects. Most of them result from the caffeine content.

Usually a cup of brewed green tea (6oz.) contains about 30 mg of caffeine. However green tea is much gentler on your body than coffee or black tea. Caffeine content is bound to the tannins in green tea. This slows down the rush of caffeine in your blood and gives you a more sustained energy boost. It also does not increase your heart rate as drastically as does coffee.

People very sensitive to caffeine should switch to a green tea supplements. For example, two 250 mg pills contain only about 5 to 6 mg of caffeine.

You should not drink excessive amounts of brewed green tea. The usual recommendation is 3 to 4 cups of tea a day.

If you drink more than 5 to 6 cups of green tea daily you may experience sleeplessness, irregular heart beat, dizziness, diarrhea, vomiting, headache, loss of appetite or other caffeine-related side effects.

You should use green tea cautiously if you have a weak heart, tendency to anxiety or panic attacks, kidney disease or a sensitive stomach.

Green tea contains caffeine and tannic acid. High consumption has been linked to fertility problems.

You should restrict your green tea intake to 3 cups or switch to a green tea supplements if you are pregnant. Drinking more than 6 cups of green tea a day can increase the risk of late first or second trimester miscarriage.

Doctors usually advise mothers to-be to take folic acid supplement when trying to conceive and during the first trimester of pregnancy. As green tea suppresses the benefits of Folic acid which is very much essential for the development of babies' neural tube.


Two studies found that moderate amount of caffeine is safe for those drinking green tea when pregnant. A study carried out by the Yale University School of Medicine found that moderate caffeine consumption by pregnant woman is not associated with any side effects.
Caffeine can reduce birth weight and cause miscarriage, but this is significant only for 600 milligrams of caffeine. This is equivalent to 6 cups of coffee a day.
Another study based in Denmark arrived at similar conclusion. They interviewed more than 88,000 pregnant women. Moderate consumption was found to be safe.
However, drinking more than 8 cups or more of coffee a day increases the chances of miscarriage or still birth by 60%.

If you are currently breastfeeding it is strongly suggested that you use only green tea supplements, because caffeine may affect a baby’s sleeping habit.

Green tea inhibits iron absorption if eaten at the same time as iron, so avoid them at meals in which you are trying to increase iron absorption. So Anemic people do not take along with meals and also reduce the number of cups you take.

Bottom line is green tea is green tea or green tea extract has shown as non-toxic in both acute dosages and high long-term dosage. But you should always keep in mind that even the healthiest thing in the world can turn into a poison if you over do it. Green tea contains plenty of antioxidants that your body needs so much, but if you overdose it you may get a re-bound effect.

Use common sense and we will probably never have to experience any of green tea side effects and enjoy all the benefits of green tea.


Source: Collected from some websites and www.amazing-green-tea.com.

Thanks,
Ashwini