Any tips from (former) tea addicts?

[WhyteKnyght]

I drink probably around 6 mugs of tea a day on average: sometimes it feels like the only thing that gets me through the day! Occasionally have a coffee or some chocolate as well, though almost never drink fizzy drinks. Just read on the NHS website that 2 mugs of tea equates to 75mg of caffeine and the recommended maximum is 200mg in pregnancy, which means even 3 mugs is over the limit. I have no idea what I'm going to do! I was resigned to the lack of booze, but tea...! Does anyone have any tips for what to replace tea with? I've never liked herbal "teas" much. Are there any good decaf options? I'm a Clipper or Twinings Assam kinda girl usually; don't like English Breakfast or blends like Yorkshire/PG Tips etc.

[Eatingallthecake]

You might find you go off it a bit anyway, I have in all my pregnancies. But if not, Yorkshire do a good decaf and I can't really tell the difference between that and normal Yorkshire. I've never managed to get into herbal or fruit teas though.

[Eatingallthecake]

Oh wait...i just re read your message saying you don't like Yorkshire! Well that might be a problem with the decaf Yorkshire!

[KittyKat73]

I switched to Mackenzie decaf tea bags from Aldi. Just leave the tea bag in longer than usual to brew and I couldnt taste the difference between decaf and normal

[Bluebirdsky]

If two mugs of tea = 75mg then 6 mugs would be 225mg taking you just over the limit.
I have switched to decaf tea in my same brand as usual and can't taste the difference to be honest!

[mommybear1]

I found Yorkshire decaf the best tasting I know you say your not a fan but you find your taste buds change during pregnancy so it might be worth a try. I tried Twinnings, supermarket own brands, typhoon and PG Tips - only Yorkshire worked for me! Congratulations on your pregnancy

[Bluebirdsky]

It looks like twinnings do a decaf earl grey, maybe you could try that?

[Anniexoxo]

I'm now tea free for 3 years today!
Takes a lot of willpower but I started just having g hot water as a replacement, worked a treat!

[AmethystRaven]

I switched to Aldi decaf during pregnancy and thought it was nice. Cheap too! Not quite assam though.

[WhyteKnyght]

Hm, maybe the Yorkshire might be worth a shot - I'm surely going to like it better than herbal tea, anyway! It gets good reviews on Ocado. Very encouraged by posters saying they can't tell the difference between caff and decaff.

Bluebirdsky, sorry, that should have said "1 mug of tea equates to 75mg" not 2 mugs. Clearly I'm still in denial...

mommybear1, thank you! It's my first - found out yesterday, still walking around starry-eyed and can't quite believe it!

[Psychobabble123]

I'll get flamed for this but 3 pregnancies, all 3 times I drank tea as normal, didn't worry about the caffeine at all.....

[AyeAyeFishyPie]

pyscho that makes me feel better, I may have unwittingly od'd on caffeine via chocolate

[Maincat]

Best decaff I've found is timings and actually I don't like regular Yorkshire but Yorkshire decaff is OK. Brew it twice as long as you would a regular cup. I still drink two normal a day...one first thing and then one when I reeeeally need it! I've been so thirsty I've replaced almost everything with gallons of water!

[Maincat]

Twinings* !

[mindutopia]

I would carrying on enjoying your tea, but switch to decaf after 2 or 3 cups. I still have at least one cup of coffee a day, sometimes two, and have in all of my pregnancies. Sometimes I have a coffee plus a cup of tea. Rarely even two coffees and a tea. As long as on average you're under 200mg, even if some days it's more, you should be fine. I couldn't drink decaf coffee or tea all the time, but when I reach my limit for the day, I switch to decaf so I can at least still enjoy it like I always have. I do think Yorkshire decaf is good and that's usually what I drink if I want a decaf tea.

[sourpatchkid]

I switched everything to decaf when pregnant because I was so ultra paranoid but actually the research is really flawed and with my time again I would drink the caffeine.

"Expecting better" is an excellent book on the research behind all the guidance if you're interested (very easy to read)

[SpoonfulOfJam]

How about red bush tea. I drank a fair bit, Black, when pregnant.

[NutCase82]

I got through by lengthening the time between cups. I bought a good reusable cup that kept it hot and used bht (or something like that!!) milk so it didn't go off and took my time drinking it. Those two combined was the best solution I found. It did affect things when I breast fed too and found a match with not wanting to go to sleep with caffeine intake. So I'd cut it out from about 4pm. I'm still only on one or two cups a day now 😊

[Psychobabble123]

ayeaye glad to have helped 😂😂 I also ate runny eggs, had a medium steak or two and a glass of champers to toast my birthday and new year.... all 3 are absolutely fine though 😂

[TeddyIsaHe]

Tea was my craving in pregnancy, had to be regular as with my super insane preganancy tastebuds could tell the difference. I managed to keep it to 2/3 cups a day but it was a struggle! Dd is absolutely fine.

[Stellarbella]

Marks & Spencer do a good decaffeinated tea. I'm drinking a cup now and really can't tell the difference.

[JohnLapsleyParlabane]

The caffeine research is really bad science. Have a read of Expecting Better and make your own choice. My choice was to drink as much tea as I wanted.

[LostMyBaubles]

You might start to not like tea soon.
I went a few weeks not being able to drink tea as it tasted like fish.
I blame hormones lol

[LostMyBaubles]

Ps I was also told the limit was something to do with developing pre eclampsia rather than anything else.

[TeaPleaseBob]

I went off tea (and pretty much everything else 😂) from 6-14 weeks but have been drinking Yorkshire decaf since then with real tea in morning and occasional coffee when out. I’m not too fussed about caffeine limits though and drink normal tea if at other people’s houses/ on nightshift.
To be honest me and my husband switched to mainly decaf after my pregnancy with DD anyway so it wasn’t a big change.

[SPARKS17]

I used to drink 5 pints of tea a day minimum especially in Winter!

Nothing tastes as good as tea but I now do the following:
am - 1 pint hot lemon water (lemon squeezed in hot water)
am - 1/2 pint actual tea but make it a bit weaker than normal
am - 1 pint peppermint tea (blah but its warm and takes away any hunger/sickness pangs)
pm - 1 pint ginger tea (chopped fresh ginger in hot water my new favourite)
pm - 1/2 pint actual tea
pm - 1/2-1 pint some kind of neals yard herbal tea or an earl grey.

water to sip on.

Ironically Im more concerned about the caffine thing than the no alcohol largely because I used to drink so much tea!

Good luck finding a replacement