Is It Safe to Drink Black Tea During Pregnancy?
During pregnancy, it’s essential to optimize the diet to prevent deficits of essential nutrients that may affect the development of the fetus. Also, it will be key to avoid the consumption of toxic substances, as these can pass to the baby through the placenta, which could cause alterations in the baby’s state of health. Likewise, many infusions are restricted during this period. With this in mind, we’re going to tell you if you can drink black tea during pregnancy.
You must be clear that herbal drinks can have many interactions on a pharmacological level. For this reason, it’s always essential to consult your doctor before consuming them. Mainly, if you’re taking any medication or if you’re in a special situation, such as pregnancy. Therefore, the risks are minimized and the benefits can be used to the maximum.
The consumption of black tea during pregnancy
It’s important to be aware of one thing: During pregnancy, it’s better to limit or even eliminate the consumption of caffeine and its analogs. Otherwise, it could increase the incidence of miscarriages. The development of the fetus could also be affected, especially regarding the central nervous system. This doesn’t mean that caffeine’s harmful in any context. In fact, outside of pregnancy, it’s a substance with several positive properties.
In particular, black tea contains a high concentration of alkaloids. It’s not exactly caffeine that it contains, but theine, a very similar substance. In fact, the presence of this element is significantly higher than that found in other teas, such as green tea. For this reason, special care should be taken with regard to its consumption.
Experts recommend not ingesting more than 200 milligrams of caffeine per day during pregnancy. A cup of black tea has approximately 50 milligrams of the substance, so it’s safe to include it in the diet of pregnant women. However, this amount shouldn’t be exceeded so as to avoid unnecessary risks.
The benefits of black tea
Black tea, like many other infusions, is a drink that has several health benefits. Below, we’ll tell you about some of them.
Improves digestive health
Black tea is capable of improving digestive health by reducing the incidence of intestinal discomfort, which is typical of the gestation period. Caffeine also has a stimulating effect on transit, so it combats constipation.
Strengthens the body’s defenses
At the same time, regular consumption of black tea is positive for improving the body’s defenses. The antioxidants contained in it help to stimulate the cells of the immune system and protect the body against infectious pathologies. This is evidenced by a study published in Frontiers in Immunology.
Stimulates concentration
It’s also important to emphasize that black tea is excellent for stimulating concentration. This is due to the effect of caffeine, which manages to temporarily increase cognitive performance. This substance helps to combat fatigue and improve performance in daily tasks and sports activities. In fact, the inclusion of a cup of black tea in the diet can be a good strategy to combat fatigue during the third trimester.
Promotes cardiovascular health
Finally, it should be noted that black tea is very suitable for keeping the heart in perfect working order. Its regular intake has been shown to reduce inflammatory levels in the body, which promotes cardiovascular health. Therefore, it prevents the development of several complex diseases, such as atherosclerosis.
Black tea can be consumed during pregnancy
As you’ve seen, it’s safe to include black tea during pregnancy, although in moderate amounts. It’s an infusion with high caffeine content, so it’s important not to exceed your intake beyond a cup a day to avoid harmful effects on fetal development.
Finally, it’s important to emphasize the need to follow a varied diet during pregnancy to ensure a proper supply of nutrients. This will help to combat fatigue and ensure that the fetus grows optimally. In addition, this will prevent possible alterations in its state of health that may affect its future well-being. During pregnancy, the body’s particularly delicate and needs to be cared for conscientiously.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Chowdhury, P., & Barooah, A. K. (2020). Tea Bioactive Modulate Innate Immunity: In Perception to COVID-19 Pandemic. Frontiers in immunology, 11, 590716. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.590716
- Khan, N., & Mukhtar, H. (2018). Tea Polyphenols in Promotion of Human Health. Nutrients, 11(1), 39. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11010039