Green Tea and Making Babies

While green tea has been studied for its numerous healthbenefits, there’s at least one area of interest that needsmore attention.

Can drinking green tea really enhance fertility?

Now that's the one-hundred-thousand dollar question! There’sa lot of conflicting opinions and research resultspertaining to that subject. We'll try to be fair and presentboth sides of the issue.

Any tea made from the Camellia sinensis bush containscaffeine. On the bright side of the teapot, green tea hasonly one-sixth to one-tenth of the amount of caffeine that asimilar amount of regular coffee contains.

For those of us who are trying to watch our caffeine intake,that’s a good deal. If you need a caffeine fix though, greentea isn't going to give you what you're looking for. Betterstart looking for the nearest Starbucks.

How can drinking green tea increase fertility?

A study done by the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Programin Oakland, California revealed that the chances ofconceiving doubled for woman who daily drank more than one-half cup of green tea containing caffeine (American Journalof Public Health, 1998). Because this wasn't the case forthe other tested caffeinated beverages, caffeine wasn'tdeemed the causing agent. Some credit was given to thepossibility that the polyphenols and hypoxanthine, compoundsfound in tea, resulted in a greater number of viableembryos, and increased maturation and fertilizability ofoocytes.

Another conclusion of this study was that the healthylifestyle of many green tea drinkers, such as regularexercise and decreased smoking and fat intake, might alsoplay a role in the enhanced fertility levels of the testsubjects.

How can drinking green tea decrease fertility?

Tannic acids, an element found in green tea, have been shownto cause fertility problems and greater chances atmiscarrying.

While not an "initial" fertility situation, rumor has itthat EGCG, the main disease-fighting antioxidant known ascatechins in green tea that have been found to impede thegrowth of tumors, might also effect the blood vessel growthof a developing embryo.

Another post-fertility issue related to an excessive intakeof green tea involves the increased rate of birth defects.

Past studies have concluded that coffee consumptionincreases the risk of miscarriages and that caffeine intakeenhances the negative effects of alcohol intake onfertility. While not directly related to green tea, caffeineis the potential cause of such problems.

Should I or shouldn't I drink green tea for fertilityissues?

The best advice that we can give you is something you'veheard before. Check with your doctor first. Do yourhomework. Then and only then can you make a truly educatedand well-informed decision about a very delicate issue.Whatever you decide, we wish you the best of luck in yourquest for that new addition to your family. Cheers...