PREGNANCY

The watery hot beverage known as "tea" is enjoyed by every culture in the world. In the West, we tend to distinguish between tea made from actual tea leaves (green or black) and "herbal tea," an infusion from the leaves, bark, roots or berries of other plants. In either case, any water-soluble substance contained in the tea "ingredients" will end up in your brewed tea. This includes, of course, the caffeine from black tea leaves and the vitamin C from rose hips. It includes the soothing flavours of chamomile, fennel, fenugreek, ginger, hibiscus, lemon grass, peppermint, linden, blackberry, raspberry leaf or spearmint. All of the above mentioned infusions are safe, in moderation, to drink during pregnancy.

But being called "herbal" does not mean a product is safe. Some teas contain dissolved substances which have a drug-like effect on the body - and that would include an unborn baby. Herbal teas do not fall under Canadian drug regulations. Yet they can have negative side effects, ranging from allergies, dizziness, headache or nausea to toxic reactions or stimulation of the uterus.

Do NOT consume the following herbal teas during pregnancy:

• calamus root
• chicory root
• coltsfoot comfrey
• dong quai
• elder flowers feverfew
• ginseng
• goldenseal
• groundsel
• hawthorne berries
• kombucha tea
• juniper berries
• licorice
• life root (rag wort)
• lobelia
• mistletoe
• pennyroyal
• pokeroot sassafras
• St. John's wort
• uva ursi (bearberry)

Read the label on the box!

-Ellen Desjardins, MHSc, RD, Public Health Nutritionist, Waterloo Region Community Health Dept..

Autumn 1998