The Side Effects of Green Tea During Pregnancy
It is very important to monitor the health of pregnant women to
ensure the health of the mother and the baby. Some expectant mothers are
quite anxious because of the various changes that take place in their
body. Doctors often recommmend a diet regimen for pregnant mothers and if
you're among those pregnant women out there, you should be extra careful
with your food intake to avoid any problems or
complications.
According to some studies, drinking too much green
tea during pregnancy is not good. Why is that? Well, doctors and
researchers were able to prove that green tea contains caffeine. Caffeine
intake is discouraged during pregnancy because of certain side
effects.
Despite the many health benefits of green tea which
includes preventing cancer, improving the heart's health, boosting the
immune system, aids digestion, lowers cholesterol, dental health, lowers
the level of blood sugar, and many others, it is not advisable to drink
green tea when you're pregnant.
Studies have proven that green tea
contains EGCG or epigallocatechins which affects the use of folate in the
body. Folate is very important during pregnancy because it can help in
preventing birth defects in the neural tube. EGCG becomes harmful in
pregnancy because it resembles the structure of methotrexate. The latter
can get rid of cancer cells by bonding an enzyme called DHFR or
dihydrofolate reductase.
The folate pathway contains these enzymes
and since the EGCG is similar to methotrexate, it also binds with the
enzyme and when this happens, the enzyme is inactivated. Once the enzymes
are inactivated, the body can't use folate effectively. There hasn't been
any conclusive studies which show how much green tea a pregnant woman
should consume or how much folate can be affected.
Some doctors
recommend pregnant women to drink moderate amount of tea as well as
coffee. If you're still unaware, green tea also contains caffeine and when
you're pregnant, it's not good to drink a lot of beverages which contain
caffeine. So if you want to be extra sure, don't forget to ask your doctor
next time you have an appointment. Always keep in mind that your health
and that of your baby is of great importance.
Besides, there are
already studies which proves caffeine to cause miscarriage and lower birth
weight among babies. Drinking around six cups of coffee per day can
definitely affect your baby's weight at birth. If you don't want your baby
to suffer, you can have a cup of coffee a day or if you want, you can just
stop drinking coffee. The caffeine content in green tea is lower than that
of coffee and so you can drink more than one cup; but as said earlier, ask
your doctor about it first.
Pregnancy will only take nine months
and so you need to enjoy it. Even if you experience a lot of body changes,
just think that you will rejoice the day your precious baby comes. If you
can avoid drinking caffeined drinks, then try to stay away from
them.
Although the health benefits of green tea are remarkable, it
does contain caffeine and no study has yet established the right amount of
green tea intake especially among pregnant women. If you're not pregnant
and you don't have any problems related to caffeine intake, then you can
drink as many tea as you like. Right now, be careful in drinking green
tea; perhaps you can settle for a small cup every other day just to
satisfy your thirst for it. When you feel anything abnormal, seek the
help of your doctor at once. Besides, its just going to be for nine months
and after that, you can resume in drinking tea again. Aside from not
taking caffeinated drinks, you're also not allowed to take just any kind
of medicine because it can be harmful to your baby.
It goes without
saying always think of your baby's safety before you do anything.
Get expert advice about green tea at http://www.articlefog.com/category-green-tea.htm.
Here you can find all information about why drink green tea,
benefits of green tea,
how to brew green tea,
how green tea helps losing weight and many more.
Article Source: www.ArticleFog.com.
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