Herbal teas

Continuing with the food theme, an item not given much thought: herbal teas. It's cold outside and you've either cut back or cut out your caffeine intake. There's only so much hot chocolate you can drink (or you're really good about your sweets). Herbal tea seems to be the natural (pun intended) choice. But, there are some herbs that you should be careful about consuming during pregnancy. I haven't been able to find a reliable and comprehensive list yet, so I just brought my teas to my last midwife appointment and had her look them up. I had heard that hibiscus was a no-no, but to my surprise, the flowers are okay, just the roots are bad. The real shocker was that licorice root is a BIG no-no. There are lots of teas with licorice root in it, including one of my favorites: the Aveda tea. Also Tazo's Passion. Check your labels, it's hiding in a few of them. And if you're a fan of real black licorice, it's also off the table (Twizzlers are fine, there isn't anything real in them. Yeah, so don't eat them anyway). Anise seed is an acceptable subsitute if you really love the licorice flavor. Oh, and what does licorice root do? It can cause brain damage to the developing fetus. So just say no!