How much tea can I drink?

[MyDaydream]

I'm 5 weeks pregnant and a bit of a tea addict, how many cups is it safe for me to be drinking in a day? I've cut down from the massess I used to drink, but I'm still not sure how many is right.

My midwife said 6 cups a day was the absolute maximum but much lower was better.

I cut tea out completely when I found out I was pregnant and had headaches daily. I probably had 3 cups a day before I got pregnant. So I started having a cup in a morning and one in the afternoon and if I wanted any more I substituted with decaff or fruit tea. I then started to drop the morning and afternoon tea over time and by 15 weeks I was only having the odd decaff tea here and there.

I drink tea by the gallon but once morning sickness kicked in I couldn't bear the stuff, guess it was my body's way of making sure I didn't have too much caffeine. Don't know what the actual guidelines are though, maybe switch to decaffeinated to be sure.

The only issue I'm aware of is caffeine so if you're drinking decaff tea then have as much as you want. Otherwise you should keep your caffeine intake to 200mg or less a day. I think that's about two mugs of tea.

congrats! I hope someone comes along who knows. I cannot forsake my morning bucket of tea and usually have thrown a coffee down my neck by 11am. I'm clucking for my afternoon cuppa now..

I was also going to add that morning sickness may put you right off tea no matter how much you love it now!

As nocake mentions, it is 200 mg of caffeine a day - so roughly 2 mugs of tea. Also need to be careful with green tea - it is thought to interfere with folic acid absorption, which is not a good thing!

I am also a tea addict, but although did not have morning sickness, I found that tea now leaves a really unpleasant aftertaste. So now I mostly drink peppermint, with an odd cup of "normal" tea from time to time.

You also need to be careful with herbal teas, I found that many fruit ones have hibiscus in them, which is not recommended. Also, some contain ginseng and other additives, which are also not good in pregnancy

Thanks everyone. Tea is the only thing I'm bothered about, although tears may be shed when the Costa winter menu comes out! It's really helped me when the cigarette craving gets super bad and I need to take my mind off, although for the most part saying 'well tough, think of the baby' to myself is doing the trick.

The 3 sources I've read say 2 mugs...

The nicest decaf tea out there is the "Yorkshire tea" decaf. Doesn't have the after taste of seaweed that a lot of standard and decaf teas have.

The other alternative is to 'short dip' your tea. Only let it brew for 60 sec. This reduces the amount of caffeine released...but I prefer the Yorkshire decaf. But this is not exact, so I wouldn't go drinking 8 cups a day thinking you've minimised the impact.

It's imprortant to remember other sources of caffeine too, like colas, chocolate etc...have a look at this site. Seems to have sensible advice.

I was also advised around two cups per day - down from the three I was allowed in my last pregnancy not even two years ago!

Congratulations and well done on giving up smoking!

Gosh it's a minefield if you can't even rely on the fruity / herbal ones

And I just have to echo two things: 1. Yorkshire decaff tea is drinkable compared to the others and 2. I share your about the costa and Starbucks winter menus - but don't forget they'll normally be able to do decaff (phew!)

I found the Clipper decaf tea pretty good, too- compared to some of the vile ones I've tried.

I've also read that two mugs a day is fine, so thats what I'm on. I don't like decaf and can't bear the thought of going without port/mousse/decent cheese/medium rare steak for 9 months without the real thing. I think its easy to stress too much to be honest.

I'm 13 weeks and drinking 2 on average but occasionally 3, some days it's 1. I've gone off coffee and chocolate completely and don't drink colas, so I've decided not to beat myself up over the few days when I have one extra cup of tea!

Yep, 2 mugs a day here too, with copious decaff (Twinnings) in between. The herbal stuff and rooibos just isn't cutting it for me.

As Somewherewest says, it's bad enough having to skip the decent cheese/rare meat/raw eggs/nuts/too much fish (is there anything we CAN eat?!) without sacrificing the tea too.

Decaff Earl Grey is lovely, I'm still drinking it and ds is nearly a year old!

I also liked decaf Clipper tea and coffee. Switched to it completely during pregnancy and still keep it in so that on days like today when I have had about 17 coffees, I can keep my caffeine levels down. I honestly don't notice the difference anymore.

Don't forget too that Costa will do any drinks as decaf on request so you can still enjoy a winter treat! Also by then the occasional caffeine shot would matter less - like most things it seems to be early on in pregnancy where it would have most impact.

I am also becoming addicted to decaf earl grey! Although as a serial tea-maker but not drinker (if I drink half of each cup of tea I'm doing well) I'm not too worried...

Rooibos (redbush) tea is very nice and naturally decaffeinated. I think it tastes quite similar to regular tea, and you can make it as normal with milk and sugar. I usually have one cup of normal tea in the morning (can't wake up without it!) and then a couple of cups of rooibos or fruit tea during the day.

As a mega tea jinny I cut down from about 8 a day to 2. Decaff was foul, even Yorkshire decaff :(. Luckily, I went off it at about 8 weeks and only went back on it at about 17 weeks. Now at 22 weeks I've eased off a bit and sometimes have 1 and sometimes have 4, depends what I'm doing. I'm told it's a bigger deal in the first trimester so I don't worry so much about it now.

Thanks again for the advice, Ill pick up some decaf to try next time I'm shopping. Im not so put out by the no no foods, most of them are things I can give or take anyway. Its just the tea rationing, and Im quite suprised my sweet tooth has diminished on its own.