Green Tea and Pregnancy
Congratulations, you’re expecting! You’re following doctor’s orders to a tee; drinking lots of water, limiting how much fish and shellfish you are eating and taking your prenatal vitamins. You are well on your way to the day you will meet your healthy baby. What about tea? Is it okay to have some green tea with breakfast or a snack? Although green tea is generally regarded as safe by the US Food and Drug Administration, you might want to reevaluate drinking green tea before and during pregnancy no matter the health benefits it provides.
There is little scientific information about the effects of green tea on the baby in utero. This is why there aren’t concrete guidelines for how much caffeine is all right. Evaluate the information for yourself. You and your healthcare provider can make a more informed decision. You will feel more confident that you are providing the best possible environment for your baby to live and thrive.
Folic Acid
Getting enough folate is a simple yet very important thing you can do to help your baby. Neural tube defects cause spine, head and brain malformations and are associated with low levels of folate in the blood. The US recommended daily amount (RDA) of folate in women of childbearing age is 400 micrograms, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health.
Mothers-to-be, this includes you too! Researchers recommend that you begin taking 400 micrograms folic acid daily at least one month before conception to prevent neural tube disorders.
Here’s where green tea comes into the picture. Scientists have found that taking 5mg folic acid with green tea decreased the amount of folate in the blood by 39.9%.1 The tea they was made with 0.3 g green tea extract/250 ml water, which is a weak tea.
Scientists in Spain discovered that one of the polyphenols in green tea, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), inhibits the enzyme that synthesizes DNA and RNA.2 This is significant because DNA contains our genetic information and determines which proteins are made according to the genetic code unique to each of us. EGCG also affects DNA methylation; a process that allows DNA to be used repeatedly without being altered. When methylation is changed, DNA’s tumor growth suppression ability is unavailable. The effect of EGCG on folate is so significant that it is labeled an “antifolate compound” in scientific literature.
Caffeine
What about your caffeine intake? Do you need that “get me going” cup of hot tea in the morning? Of course, green tea contains caffeine. Healthcare practitioners know that caffeine crosses through the placenta and stimulates the baby’s nervous system. They usually recommend that you limit your intake of caffeine-containing foods (chocolate?) and beverages. The amount that is okay for baby is unknown, because doctors don’t know the effects of caffeine on babies in utero or how babies metabolize it.
Chin and others showed that the amount of caffeine in brewed black, green and white tea products ranges from 14-61 mg per 6-8 oz serving.3 Decaffeinated teas contained less than 12 mg caffeine per serving. There was no trend in caffeine content by type of tea (black, green or white).
1Influence of green and black tea on folic acid pharmacokinetics in healthy volunteers: potential risk of diminished folic acid bioavailability. Alemdaroglu, NC; Dietz, U; Wolffram, S; Spahn-Langguth, H and Langguth, P. Biopharm Drug Dispos. 2008. 29(6):335-48.
2Effects of folate cycle disruption by the green tea polyphenol epigallocatechin-3-gallate. Navarro-Perán, E; Cabezas-Herrera, J; Campo, LS and Rodríguez-López, JN. Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2007. 39(12):2215-25. Epub 2007 Jun 26.
3Caffeine content of brewed teas. Chin, JM; Merves, ML; Goldberger, BA; Sampson-Cone, A and Cone EJ. J Anal Toxicol. 2008. 32(8):702-4.
