Remember your days of being health conscious, before you stepped into the beautiful and magical journey of your motherhood? After finishing your exercise regime, you would have liked to drink a cup or two of black coffee. However, drinking some green tea with a dash of lime on it made you feel energised.
But it’s been just a few months since you’ve become pregnant. During the nine months of your pregnancy cycle, while you might have to significantly adapt to your lifestyle changes, you can continue to have your love – affair with coffee, but in moderation. Studies have shown that you should not drink more than 200 mg or approximately 1 to 2 cups of coffee during your pregnancy. Caffeine passes through the placenta and reaches the developing foetus, which the foetus cannot metabolise, thus affecting its growth and heartbeat. You might also want to know, whether drinking herbal tea is safe while you’re expecting.
Is It Safe To Drink Herbal Tea During Pregnancy?
Despite the name, “herbal tea,” this is not actually “tea” – the most popular beverage half the world drinks. This is made out of the roots, flowers, seeds as well leaves of various plants. Drinking a cup of herbal tea in the morning or evening while you’re expecting has several benefits. The benefits include:
Battles Morning Sickness and Constipation
As you begin the journey of your pregnancy, you tend to wake up from your bed, feel nauseous, and start vomiting. Feeling constipated is also not uncommon during this time. However, drinking a cup or two of ginger, peppermint, and red raspberry tea may reduce this tendency.
Calms You Down
From conceiving to delivering your little bundle of joy, your mind is full of many thoughts – like the health of the growing baby inside your womb, that can leave you sleep–deprived, stressed out as well as anxious. Practising mindfulness can surely be helpful. Also, drinking chamomile and lemon balm tea would be good during this time. It has a calming effect both on your body and mind. It can certainly make you feel sane and relaxed. It would further drive you into a peaceful world of slumber.
Reduces Swelling
Due to the soaring hormones, increasing blood volumes, fluid retention, and increasing pressure on the uterus during the second and third trimesters, you may experience swelling in your hands and feet. Saying “no” to caffeinated drinks, staying active as well as drinking dandelion tea can help reduce swelling during pregnancy.
Helps in Overall Pregnancy Health
If you are looking for a pregnancy–safe alternative to coffee, green and black tea, you can always go for Rooibos tea. As far as the potential benefits of drinking rooibos tea are concerned, it improves your bone health and cholesterol and gives you an extra dose of antioxidants.
There are also herbal teas like nettle, alfalfa, and rose hip available for you while you’re expecting. While drinking nettle tea can work as an all-around pregnancy tonic for you, the rose hip boost the immune system. So, now you know that herbal tea is good for you while you’re expecting your baby. But, remember to drink different types of flavours of herbal tea- not more than 1 or 2 cups a day. More than this amount may increase your risk of contraction and preterm labour.
In addition to the other herbal teas mentioned above, sage and parsley tea has been linked to hypertension and miscarriage; thus, consult your doctor before you start consuming.
Besides including tea and coffee in your pregnancy regime, don’t forget to plan for cord blood banking to safeguard your baby’s health and your family’s healthy future.