Could tea during pregnancy give your baby a brain boost? Research says yes

Could tea during pregnancy give your baby a brain boost? Research says yes

Could your daily cup of tea during pregnancy give your child a cognitive advantage? New research uncovers surprising results about how tea—not coffee—may influence early brain development.

A study conducted by researchers at Anhui Medical University, China, finds that children of mothers who drink tea regularly throughout pregnancy have higher cognition and fine and gross motor skills.

The study results will be published in the journalScientific reports.

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Tea and coffee are the most popular drinks worldwide. Several studies have highlighted both positive and negative health effects associated with tea or coffee consumption, due to the variety of compounds present in these beverages. Caffeine is one of the main compounds in both tea and coffee.

Green tea drinkers outnumbered black tea consumers 3 to 1 in early pregnancy, but neither type showed superior cognitive benefits, suggesting that caffeine alone does not explain the results.

On average, tea contains less caffeine than coffee. Among various types of tea, black tea contains more caffeine than green tea. However, the specific amount varies depending on the brand of tea, brewing time and water temperature. The study also notes that there is no consistent trend in caffeine levels across tea types. Additionally, tea contains other bioactive compounds such as polyphenols and catechins that may play a role in cognitive benefits.

Maternal caffeine consumption has recently been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes, including miscarriage, fetal growth restriction, low birth weight, and preterm birth. Rapid and easy transfer of caffeine into amniotic fluid and breast milk across the placental barrier may be responsible for these results.

Studies of children's neurological development have yielded mixed results. While some have identified associations between maternal caffeine consumption and cognitive decline, others have reported no significant impact on children's neurological development.

In light of the observation of the study, researchers at Anhui Medical University designed this research to examine correlations rather than determine the cause between maternal tea or coffee during pregnancy and cognitive development in children.

Study design

The study was conducted on 1,423 pairs of mothers from the Chinese National Birth Cohort (CNBC). Mothers were asked to provide information about their tea and coffee consumption status during the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy.

Despite its higher caffeine content, coffee showed no clear link to cognitive improvements, suggesting that compounds other than caffeine in tea – such as polyphenols and catechins – play a role in brain development.

A widely used cognition assessment scale was used to assess cognitive functions in infants aged 0 to 42 months.

Adequate statistical analysis was conducted to examine the effects of mothers' tea and coffee consumption during pregnancy on children's cognitive development. Importantly, the study also analyzed patterns of tea and coffee consumption during pregnancy, rather than just examining individual trimesters.

Potential confounders adjusted in the analysis included maternal age, pre-pregnancy body mass index, maternal occupation, family income, education level, maternal smoking, passive smoking, alcohol consumption, maternal psychological status, and pregnancy vomiting. In addition, sensitivity analyzes identified pregnancy complications, birth weight, breastfeeding, and folic acid intake that could influence cognitive development.

Study results

About 36%, 6%, and 4% of enrolled mothers reported consuming tea in the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy. Similarly, 30%, 1.5%, and 0.9% of mothers reported coffee intake in the first, second, and third trimesters, respectively. The study found no significant differences in outcomes between green and black tea consumers.

Effects of maternal tea consumption on cognitive development in infants

Statistical analysis, controlling for potential confounding factors, found that mothers' tea consumption in the second trimester was associated with significantly higher cognitive function and fine motor skills in infants at 36 months of age. On the other hand, tea consumption by mothers in the third trimester showed a significant association with higher cognitive functions and gross motor skills in infants.

However, the study also found that children born to mothers who consumed tea throughout pregnancy had the highest cognitive, fine motor and gross motor scores compared to those whose mothers consumed tea in only one trimester.

Effects of maternal coffee consumption on cognitive development in infants

In contrast to the strong effects of tea consumption in mothers, the study found no significant association between mothers' coffee consumption during pregnancy and a child's cognitive development. This lack of correlation was observed despite coffees typically containing more caffeine than tea, suggesting that other factors beyond caffeine content may influence neurological development.

Investigate significance

The study finds that tea consumption by mothers during pregnancy is associated with improved cognitive development in infants. However, no such benefits have been observed for maternal coffee consumption during pregnancy.

The tea drinkers alone in the first trimester did not see the same benefits as those who continued into later stages of pregnancy, showing the importance of the second and third trimesters for cognitive development.

Specifically, the highest cognitive benefits were observed in infants whose mothers consumed tea during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. The study also suggests that maintaining a consistent tea drinking habit throughout pregnancy, rather than consuming in just one trimester, may provide the greatest benefit. This observation indicates that late pregnancy is likely the key period for the effect of maternal tea consumption during pregnancy on neurodevelopment in infants.

Existing evidence on the neurodevelopmental effects of intrauterine caffeine exposure has highlighted several adverse outcomes, including cognitive decline, behavioral abnormalities, lack of attention, hyperactivity, and daydreaming in children aged 9 to 10 years.

In contrast, some studies have reported that low to moderate caffeine intake during pregnancy is not associated with cognitive or behavioral problems in children. Taken together, these observations suggest that the neurodevelopmental effects of caffeine may be dose-dependent, with potential risks of excessive intake.

Recent evidence suggests that pregnant women should limit coffee consumption to ensure that daily caffeine intake does not exceed 200 mg/day, which is in line with recommendations from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and other regulatory authorities.

Study limitations

The study has several limitations:

• Die genaue Menge an Tee und Kaffee wurde nicht gemessen; Nur die Häufigkeit der Einnahme wurde aufgezeichnet.
• Verschiedene Tee -Arten (z. B. grün gegen Schwarz) wurden trotz ihrer Unterschiede im Koffein- und Polyphenolgehalt in späteren Trimestern nicht getrennt analysiert.
• Die Studie ist beobachtet, was bedeutet, dass Assoziationen zwar gefunden wurden, aber die Verursachung nicht bestätigt werden kann. Andere Faktoren wie Mütterdiät, sozioökonomischer Status und Lebensstil können auch die kognitive Entwicklung beeinflussen.
• Die Forschung wurde in China durchgeführt, was die Verallgemeinerbarkeit auf andere Bevölkerungsgruppen mit unterschiedlichen diätetischen und kulturellen Gewohnheiten einschränken kann.

Future research with larger sample sizes and controlled studies is needed to confirm these results and investigate the biological mechanisms underlying the observed associations.

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