After seeing a few of Pearl and Serene’s, authors of the wonderful Trim Healthy Mama nutrition book, latest recipe concoctions for nutritious and healing teas and drinks, I have been saddened at the realization that I, pregnant as I am, cannot give them a try because of caffeine content.
WAHHHHH!!!!!! I want to try the “Shrinker”! NOT FAIR! So, I purposed within myself to stand up for all pregnant women and create a pregnancy safe “Baby Maker” Tea!
NOTE: Jenny, from MomLovesBest, shared with me her amazing article on caffeine during pregnancy! To get a LOAD of excellent information on the topic, check out her post here.
Trim Healthy Tuesday: “Baby Maker” Tea (Pregnancy with THM)
I did a bit of research of various safe herbal teas to enjoy while pregnant, and I am excited with what I have come up with. First, a word of caution, if you notice that your body is not handling a particular herb well, hold off on it for a while just to be on the safe side. Though these herbal teas are generally found to be problem-free, there is still the possibility that YOUR body will not agree with the general assessment. Use wisdom.
According to a BellyBelly.com article on pregnancy teas to have and avoid, the top recommended teas that are safe and beneficial to enjoy during pregnancy are:
1. Ginger Tea – Helpful for nausea and various digestive issues. This is especially wonderful during the early months of pregnancy when nausea is typically at its peak. Fresh ginger slices or the actual tea bags are both satisfactory for the tea. Up to three cups a day are recommended.
2. Nettle Tea – “Provides high levels of iron, magnesium and calcium and is described by Nicole as being a brilliant nutritive tea to sip whilst pregnant. Stick to one or two cups a day.” (BellyBelly.com post)
3. Raspberry Leaf Tea – Delicious tea, best served hot or cold, to enjoy all throughout pregnancy, which helps to prepare the uterus for labor and birth and helps to avoid postpartum hemorrhaging. Starting with one cup a day and building up to three to four cups each day by the end of pregnancy is recommended, but if you start at the end of pregnancy (like I am this go around), one to two cups per day is just fine. As always, though, listen to your body. Oh, and bonus for this tea: it’s high in calcium and magnesium, too. Whoop!
4. Dandelion Leaf Tea – This is a great tea to help with fluid retention issues typically common later in pregnancy. Health benefits include the nutritional benefits of potassium and a light and gentle diuretic effect, often a helpful thing for some pregnant women. This tea is best enjoyed along with another flavorful tea, since it has a grassy, earthy taste to it.
5. Peppermint Tea – Right alongside of ginger tea, peppermint tea is another great tea to use to help curb digestive upset, nausea, and vomiting common to early pregnancy. This is a great post-meal tea to enjoy.
6. Rooibos Tea – This is a tea that I have had on my shelves for a long time, but I JUST started using it. Apparently this bad boy should be a staple during pregnancy because of the awesome nutrients it contains, which include calcium, magnesium, oodles of antioxidants, with the added bonus of being found to ease colic and digestive upset in children. A little honey (or stevia if preferred…which I do), a little milk, and you’ve got a tummy settling child friendly tea to enjoy…oh, and it’s great for we pregnant mamas too =0)
Another noteworthy and safe addition to the pregnancy arsenal is Echinacea. Echinacea is an herb with which I suspect most of us are familiar to help assist with boosting the immune system and fighting off sickness as it comes about.
Though I personally would not consume this regularly, I definitely add it to my teas whenever I get a sore throat or sudden sniffle. If you are a fan of echinacea, you can now be relieved to know that you can continue to benefit from its fighting powers while pregnant.
So, these were my inspirations to concoct the “Baby Maker” Tea, and what I think it especially awesome about this tea is that you can really make it work for you. If you are in a different stage of pregnancy, or find that a particular herbal tea is not working so well for your body, simply swap it out with another unused tea and see how that tastes. Here’s the concoction I have found and desperately enjoy!
The “Baby Maker” Tea is a tea made up of one packet each ginger tea, red raspberry tea, rooibos tea, and dandelion root tea. I like to make the tea in a quart canning jar, filling it to the top, letting it cool, adding a touch of stevia, and adding a bit of ice. I then sip on this refreshing tea throughout the course of the day. I am sure I could make it more than once, but I usually don’t, simply because I don’t…but you sure can if you like!
If I wake up with a sore throat, I add a bag of echinacea to the mix. Yummo!
If you are in the beginning of pregnancy, you could try adding a peppermint tea bag the mix and see how you like a fruity-minty mix. If the mixture is not working for you, try taking out the red raspberry and keeping all the others. I just love versatility like this!
Anyway, so this is the “Baby Maker” Tea! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! What teas have you enjoyed during pregnancy?
Dana says
Awesome post. Two comments though. 1: Red Raspberry tea is not the same thing as Raspberry leaf tea. They have two very different flavors and come from different parts of the plant. 2: There are some conflicting information in regards to nettle tea. I have read on multiple sites that it should not be used early in pregnancy as it can cause the uterus to contract and lead to a miscarriage. I don’t know how accurate this is but it might be wise to make a note of it so women can be warned and cautious about it, as every body responds differently.
JulieFilter says
Yes, I meant to repost the picture with the correct tea as I corrected it myself after the fact. YES, TOTALLY different teas! Lol. Thanks about the Nettles info. I will look further into that and update if necessary =0) I appreciate the info!
Erin says
Echinachea tea should also not be used in the first trimester because there have been studies that may correlate it to a higher incidence of miscarriage. Also breastfeeding moms may want to stay away from it if there is ragweed allergy in their family… it is related to ragweed, and can also cause some pretty adverse reactions to sensitive persons.
I found your website looking for pregnancy info and THM. Thanks for this post! Alfalfa is another great herb to take if you can handle the very green flavor. 🙂
JulieFilter says
I have gotten mixed info on echinacea but I’ve used it sparsely during pregnancy (no ragweed issues), but I agree that everyone needs to find their comfort level with herbs. I LOVE alfalfa and take the leaf capsules while pregnant and post-partum. It’s great for building up the vitamin K stores in the baby and boosting milk supply. Thanks for sharing!