Lemon tea has resurfaced as a popular hot beverage for many people, thanks to the extensive marketing. And yes, it does have some great health benefits. Infact, lemon tea during pregnancy can be quite a beneficial addition to your diet, as it can offer a number of benefits to your health. As long as it is consumed in moderation, lemon tea can relieve stress, improve your mood, and much more. This is the exact reason why even doctors and dieticians recommend it so often. This makes lemon tea a very popular beverage among pregnant women.
What Is Lemon Tea?
As the name suggests, lemon tea is simply a tea made with lemons. We have already talked about green tea during pregnancy. Lemon tea is just a bit of lemon juice squeezed in normally made black or green tea. This was, for a rather long time, popularly consumed for its supposed healing and beautifying properties. Modern science, however, has discovered a plethora of more lucrative health benefits as a result of consuming lemon tea.
Sometimes, people also tend to add extra ingredients to their lemon tea – particularly sweeteners like sugar, honey, and so on or spices like ginger or cinnamon.
Can I Have Lemon Tea During Pregnancy?
As of now, there is very little to no research showing the effects of lemon tea on pregnant women, and their babies. It is, however, generally agreed upon that it is perfectly safe to drink lemon tea during pregnancy, albeit in moderation.
It is highly recommended that you consult your doctor regarding this, and determine the appropriate amount for consumption before incorporating it into your diet.
Related Reading: Can I Drink Tea During Pregnancy- Benefits, Risks And Precautions
What Are The Benefits Of Having Lemon Tea During Pregnancy?
As mentioned earlier, lemon tea is considered very beneficial to your health when consumed in appropriate amounts. It has a rather rich nutritional profile, boasting generous amounts of citric acid, vitamins, potassium, phosphorus, fiber, and so on, with particularly low caloric content.
Pregnant women can benefit from lemon tea in the following ways:
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1. Lemon tea during pregnancy helps relieve stress
Despite everything you do for your health and your baby’s, stress is a huge factor, often overlooked, that can have serious consequences during pregnancy. It is therefore essential that you remain stress-free and keep your mental health in check during pregnancy.
Vitamin C deficiency is widely associated with stress-related diseases1. Since lemons are packed with vitamin C, lemon tea is highly beneficial when it comes to relieving stress and enhancing mood during pregnancy. Furthermore, lemon tea is rich in potassium, copper, and flavonoids that are beneficial for your mental well-being. It contributes to your overall mood as well as your physical health.
Related Reading: 12 Simple Ways to Prevent Pregnancy Nausea
2. Helps deal with edema and joint pain
Edema is quite common during pregnancy. From the end of the second trimester, many pregnant women experience some degree of edema. Edema occurs when fluid builds up between the body tissues, causing pain and discomfort.
Lemon has been known for its anti-inflammatory properties for a long time. Edema and mild joint pains resulting from swelling of joints can often be relieved by drinking lemon tea
3. Lemon tea during pregnancy helps with healthy weight gain
Pregnant women gain weight as a normal part of the pregnancy process. Gaining weight should, however, be managed in a healthy way. The pregnancy cravings, as well as other factors, can make a woman face complications related to excessive weight gain during pregnancy. By modulating lipid metabolism, polyphenols in lemons block excessive weight gain and body fat accumulation2.
Therefore, lemon tea can help you gain weight during pregnancy in a healthy manner. The amount of carbohydrates and calories in lemon tea is relatively small. Additionally, it is incredibly refreshing and delightfully indulgent, and even pregnant women with nausea can enjoy it.
4. Helps improve digestion
The calming effect of lemon tea contributes to healthy digestion. Your body is able to absorb more of the beneficial compounds in food when it’s rid of toxins and waste products. Lemon juice, when combined with warm water, may help flush toxins out of the digestive tract and improve digestion3. Also, lemon tea contains very few carbohydrates and high fiber content, which can considerably aid digestion and prevent constipation during pregnancy.
5. Helps soothe headaches and migraines
Headaches and migraines are all too common in pregnant women, owing to their somewhat turbulent diet as well as the changes happening to their bodies. Lemon tea can greatly help relieve you from this, due to its rather invigorating aroma and flavor. Lemon tea can also soothe headaches during pregnancy. Thanks to its strong anti-inflammatory properties4.
Polyphenols present in lemon tea may help eliminate free radicals and reduce inflammation in the brain and thereby soothe the headache.
6. Lemon tea can help to lower the risk of cancer
The link between certain pregnancy factors and risk of cancer has been the subject of a large number of studies. Flavonoids and limonoids that are present in lemons possess anti-cancer properties. These compounds can potentially lower the risk for gastric cancer, breast cancer, and colon cancer. The antioxidants in lemons prevent the growth of cancer cells.
7. Helps combat infections
Women are vulnerable to infections during pregnancy. Lemon tea is an excellent alternative to black and green tea due to its powerful antibacterial, antiviral, and immune-boosting properties5.
The high level of antioxidants in lemon tea can help fight colds, coughs, chest congestions, and much more. Drinking lemon tea is therefore highly beneficial during periods like the monsoon season when infections of this kind are more prevalent. Drinking lemon tea with honey during pregnancy helps provide fast relief from cold and sore throat. It may also help enhance sleep quality.
8. Lemon tea can improve skin health
Although this has little to do with pregnancy, it is certainly a benefit of lemon tea worth mentioning. Lemon tea’s astringent properties can greatly aid in removing dead skin cells. Additionally, it has anti-inflammatory properties that can prevent pimples, acne, eczema, and other skin ailments. Many women experience pregnancy acne as a result of hormonal imbalance during pregnancy. Lemon is great for acne treatment6.
Related Reading: 11 Easy Tips Glowing Skin During Pregnancy
9. Lemon tea during pregnancy helps improve heart health
In pregnancy, the health of your heart can have a major impact on the health of your baby as well. Maintaining healthy blood pressure during pregnancy requires a healthy heart and blood vessels.
A flavonoid is a plant-based natural product that possesses a wide range of medicinal properties and biological activities. The plant flavonoids found in lemons, such as diosmin and hesperidin, lower cholesterol levels and improve heart health7. Besides, lemon tea can help prevent heart-based ailments and even strokes. This makes lemon tea an essential tool to maintain proper cardiac health.
10. Lemon tea during pregnancy can prevent gestational diabetes
Lemon flavonoids, such as hesperidin and eriocitrin, can lower blood sugar levels. Hence, drinking lemon tea during pregnancy may help to lower the risk of gestational diabetes.
Is It Safe To Drink Honey Lemon Tea While Pregnant?
One very commonly asked question is “is honey lemon tea safe during pregnancy?” Since not all honey lemon teas are prepared in a similar manner, this question is rather difficult to answer. Yes, for the most part, it is generally agreed upon that it is perfectly safe for women to consume honey lemon tea during pregnancy. However, there are certain kinds of honey lemon tea often cautioned against.
For instance, adding lemon to herbal teas with lemongrass, chamomile, sage, hibiscus, and so on is not recommended, as they can cause complications, and in rare cases, even a miscarriage. Still, lemon tea with honey during pregnancy should be fine, so long as it is simply plain green tea or black tea with lemon juice. During pregnancy, it is an effective remedy for common infections like colds and coughs.
Related Reading: Can I Drink Chamomile Tea During Pregnancy- All You Need To Know
How Do You Make Lemon Tea When Pregnant?
Preparing homemade lemon tea during pregnancy is pretty straightforward. It is as simple as preparing regular tea, but with the addition of lemon juice. Usually, half a lemon is used for a single cup. You can also add a sweetener of your choice, like honey. That being said, there are a number of variations to this, and as such there are a number of different recipes to be found online.
It is essential that you note, however, that the use of certain herbs can lead to complications as mentioned above, so it would certainly be wise to consult your doctor beforehand.
Some very common variations of lemon tea that are safe during pregnancy are:
- Iced lemon tea
- Honey lemon tea
- Ginger honey lemon tea
- Cinnamon honey tea
- Sugar honey iced lemon tea
- Ginger lemon tea with jaggery
Risks And Precautions When Drinking Lemon Tree During Pregnancy
As is the case with anything, consuming lemon tea is not without its risks, particularly when consumed in excess. It is also possible for certain specific people to have intolerances or allergies, which could possibly affect them if they consume even minute amounts of lemon tea. Some of the potential risks of consuming lemon tea are:
- Consuming lemon tea in excess can possibly lead to tooth erosion due to its citric acid content
- Consuming lemon tea with too much sugar can lead to unhealthy weight gain, diabetes, and so on
- Lemon tea with certain herbs can cause complications with your pregnancy and even a miscarriage if consumed in excess
- Certain people are prone to allergies, and certain ingredients of lemon tea or its variations can trigger an allergic reaction
- The citric acid in lemon tea can potentially lead to frequent heartburn
Related Reading: What Teas Are Safe To Drink While Pregnant?
However, there are things that one can do in order to mitigate these risks and avoid any potential negative effects that may arise from drinking lemon tea. A few such precautions you can take are:
- Only drink lemon tea in moderation. Avoid consuming it in excess
- Be aware of any allergies you have and avoid your allergens. If you notice any sort of allergic symptom, consult your doctor immediately
- Use fresh ingredients from trusted sources
- Consult your doctor or dietician before adding any extra ingredient or herb to your lemon tea, to avoid complications with your pregnancy
- Use more natural and healthier sweeteners; make use of honey or jaggery instead of sugar
When consumed in moderation, lemon tea can be a wonderfully nutritious as well as a refreshing addition to your pregnancy diet. So long as you are cautious about potential allergies and the herbs used in the tea, there should be next to no risk in consuming it either; making it a rather necessary addition to your daily routine.