Is chai tea safe during pregnancy?

What does the evidence say about chai tea during pregnancy?

1. Black tea, the base of chai, comes from Camellia sinensis and contains caffeine, theophylline, and theobromine, unlike herbal infusions made from other plants. 1
2. Caffeine intake in pregnancy is generally kept to 200 mg or less per day, and an 8 oz cup of brewed tea contributes roughly 48 mg toward that total. 2
3. Several studies of about 1,000 mg of ginger a day during pregnancy found no increased chance of birth defects, and ginger in food or beverages carries no known pregnancy concern. 3
4. Tea inhibits absorption of non-heme iron through the formation of insoluble iron tannate complexes, whether or not vitamin C is present in the same meal. 4
5. Ginger ranks among the herbs classified as having evidence for safety in pregnancy in a multinational study of herbal use, where it was the single most commonly used herb in that category. 5

Is chai tea safe in each trimester?

• First trimester. The ginger in chai is the one ingredient with genuine pregnancy research behind it, and studies using about 1,000 mg a day have not found a higher chance of birth defects. Spice-level amounts in a cup of tea sit far below that. What still counts is the black tea base, which brings caffeine into a trimester when many people are already cutting back.
• Second trimester. Iron needs rise now, and the tannins in black tea bind non-heme iron during digestion. A chai with breakfast works against the iron in that meal and in your prenatal. Shifting it to mid-morning is a small change that keeps the drink and protects the absorption.
• Third trimester. Heartburn is common late in pregnancy, and the same ginger, cinnamon, and pepper that make chai warming can make reflux worse for some people. If chai started bothering you in the third trimester when it never did before, that is a recognized pattern rather than something going wrong.