Teavana, what is safe to drink?

FrozenMommy

We are doing a tea for my shower, and I went in to Teavana, and the girls had no idea what I was talking about when I said some herbs are not safe for pregnancy. So I am looking online, but I seriously do not want to have to research every dang ingredient. Going with the Spearmint one, it's just peppermint, spearmint and lemon verbena, and looking at a Rooibo since I read that's good for the body during pregnancy. But this rooibo has like 20 ingredients. So does anyone know exactly which herbs we MUST avoid? Thanks. 

jefinley1

My husband and I are normally pretty big beer drinkers. As in trying tons of different micro-brews and having it be a normal with dinner and end of day chill out routine, not as in drinking large amounts big drinkers. Because my husband feels he's just as involved in this as me, he completely stopped drinking beer at home since that won't be a part of my life again for a bit. So we needed a good substitute, and started drinking tons of teas instead. 

I also tried to do some research on which ones are completely off limits, and my findings were more that you don't want to excessively drink too much of one thing and to watch the caffeine. A lot of official medical resources will say no herbal teas at all, simply because there have not been many, and in most cases any, studies done on the effects of particular herbs during pregnancy, the FDA doesn't regulate herbs outside of OK-ing the ones that are safe to eat, and they want to error on the side of caution in their advice. It's the assumption that if "not bad" hasn't been absolutely proven, somehow that means "absolutely not for pregnant women." I just make sure to check the labels, not buy anything that has a particular medical goal, like dieting teas, or teas to loosen your bowls, etc, and mix it up. I have not found any solid evidence on any particular herbs being dangerous outside of concerns they would raise even if you aren't pregnant (a quick search says comfrey, kava root, and woodruff might be bad for your liver), or their natural caffeine level. I decided that lack of absolute proof of safety wasn't enough to rationalize proof of danger, so in moderation I felt herbal tea was fine for me. Some resources say no Coca because of the possible trace amounts of cocaine, but in my opinion that's more based on a cultural misunderstanding of the Coca plant. Hope that helps! It really seemed to be one of those things that had no real answers so they just said "slap a warning label on the whole group just in case."

jham201

I had bad luck researching tea as well.  Like the previous poster said, there is like no actual research out there about it and they are not regulated.  I even asked my doctor and nutritionist about it but they also offered little help.  I decided to really limit my tea intake as a result, only having maybe 1-2 cups total for a week (and small watered down cups at that).  I hope you have better luck than I did.

FrozenMommy

The only one I found so far was a weird berry I have never heard of. They suggest hold off because research hasn't been done. I swear my first pregnancy, I found this peach tea that I really loved. And one day I decide to look up the ingredients, and one of the herbs was a big no no, it could promote menstruation. But I seem to have found one that sounds good, has no cons in the reviews, and it's a bit different. Also just going to make a blueberry iced tea at home with regular decaf lipton and fresh berries. Not that I am going to be drinking a ton of it, but I just wanted to know I had the option. Thanks for the input. 

ameares721

Avoid peppermint if you plan to breastfeed. I've read many times that it dries up your supply!

jsliko

I drink plain roobios fairly regularly, from Twinnings. I don't have a tevana near me, but I have had a peach roobios blend (great as a cold tea) and a chocolate roobios blend from my local tea shop. No issues with either!

cc47033

I'm sorry, I don't have anything else to add about the tea except to commiserate about the lack of hard evidence, information out there about herbal teas. And also I wanted to say to @jefinley1 that your husband is my hero and is the most amazing husband ever!!! While DH doesn't drink much at home, it makes me a little sad every time he cracks open a beer. Mmmmm, delicious beer...

jefinley1

cc47033 said:

I'm sorry, I don't have anything else to add about the tea except to commiserate about the lack of hard evidence, information out there about herbal teas. And also I wanted to say to @jefinley1 that your husband is my hero and is the most amazing husband ever!!! While DH doesn't drink much at home, it makes me a little sad every time he cracks open a beer. Mmmmm, delicious beer...

I agree. He's pretty fantastic. That is pretty much his template philosophy for all of pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting. I pretty much the luckiest woman in the history of time. 

loveleighmami

I've heard no hibiscus, but I have had hibiscus tea a few times this pregnancy. I feel things like that in moderation are ok. My doctor said it was fine.