Green tea has been getting a lot of attention in recent years for its abundant health benefits. Green tea is helpful in diets intended to reduce cholesterol levels and is said to have benefits for cancer prevention. For this reason, more people than ever are choosing green tea, including women of child bearing age.
For this group, green tea may not be beneficial. There is some evidence to suggest that high levels of green tea intake could result in a higher risk of having a baby with neural tube defects, such as spina bifida. This information comes from a study published in the journal, Cancer Research.
The study was looking at the effect of EGCG in green tea for inhibiting the growth of new cancer cells. The goal is to use the action of EGCG in developing new cancer drugs. Very promising, but an unexpected discovery was made along the way. Researchers found that the EGCG in green tea inhibits the absorption of folate, also known as folic acid.
This is the link between green tea and birth defects. Folic acid is known to prevent neural tube defects when taken very early in pregnancy. Since green tea inhibits the absorption of folate, it leaves the fetus vulnerable to neural tube defects.
The link is tenuous and researchers don’t know how much green tea it takes to cause the problem with folate absorption. It could be a few cups, or a whole lot more. So, how much green tea is safe? They really don’t know, so it is up to each woman to decide if it is worth the risk to continue drinking the tea.
Advice varies, even among professionals. Some advise avoiding green tea in the early stage of pregnancy, when folic acid has the most benefit. Of course, this time period includes the time before a woman even knows she is pregnant. For this reason, women who are trying to get pregnant may want to limit their green tea consumption.
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