42 Green Tea And Fertility

Green Tea and Fertility


Green tea has been shown to have healing possibilities, but can drinking green tea help with fertility problems? While the research is still in its infancy, all signs point toward the possibility that consuming green tea in any form really might help couples with fertility problems.

While the general consensus among doctors is that women who are trying to conceive should try to limit their intake of caffeine, the truth is that while green tea does contain a higher amount of caffeine, adding it to the diet of a woman with a low fertility rate actually might help with the conception of a child. However, the studies are just too new and inconclusive to really come to any definitive conclusions.

In the study, published in the April 2004 issue of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, a third of the 15 women taking the supplement were pregnant after five months, while none of the 15 women taking a placebo had conceived. But the study is too small to say for sure that this supplement improves fertility. And the researchers don't point specifically to the green tea extract as having a significant effect.
However, in the past, women having difficulty conceiving might have been advised to limit their caffeine intake. Recent studies do suggest that stimulating drinks and specifically green tea might boost fertility.
In a study conducted at Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program of Northern California in Oakland, researchers found that women who drank more than one half cup of caffeinated green tea every day doubled their odds of conceiving. No significant association was found for other caffeinated beverages; therefore researchers concluded that a chemical component of tea other than caffeine might have been responsible for the increase in fertility.
Because this conclusion opposes earlier findings that caffeine can inhibit fertility, the researchers acknowledge that their results may be attributable to green-tea's association with other lifestyle factors that might enhance fertility such as smoking less, eating less fat and regular exercise.
If you are trying to conceive and think that green tea might help with your fertility problems, the best advice that we can give is to consult with your doctor. While no adverse effects have been found by consuming green tea, your doctor will know best whether or not the caffeine that is in green tea will affect your overall fertility as well as your odds of conceiving.