Pine Needle Tea & Breastfeeding?

[purplemamaturtle5]

I recently discovered the benefits of drinking fresh pine needle tea. I hear that it is really great for colds. (colds like the one that i'm coming down with..ugh.) I have read that pregnant women should NOT drink this tea, but I have not found a single thing on whether it is okay or not for nursing mamas to drink pine needle tea. Any thoughts? Is it safe? I am currently nursing my 12 month old so he's a little older and the nursings are less frequent. Also, would this be okay to give to my 3 year old? Thanks!

[A_Random_Phrase]

I understand that it helps because it has a lot of vitamin C in it.

This is what I have found out:

This site also has a recipe for making it.

Quote:

pregnant women must NOT use this as pine needles will cause "abortion" this also happens in cows, when they eat the pine needles they will drop their calf's (dead) within a couple of days if not hours.

http://www.thealapahariverbandofcherokeeinc.com/herbs.htm

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pine-needle-tea.html

The following is a generic article by Susun Weed. She doesn't mention any side effects that I could find.

http://www.susunweed.com/herbal_ezine/Weed_letter_Dec-01.htm#article

Seems that there's some strong anecdotal evidence that pregnant and nursing mothers should probably steer clear of it, as well as anyone who might be pregnant at any point

http://homesteadingthebackforty.blogspot.com/2008/11/foraging-pine-needle-tea.html

Herbs that may be harmful to mom and/or baby

Other herbs should be avoided while nursing due to their potential for harming mom and/or baby. Here are a few herbs that are generally considered to be contraindicated for nursing mothers. This is by no means a complete list.

    * Bladderwrack
    * Buckthorn
    * Chaparral
    * Coltsfoot (Farfarae folium)
    * Dong Quai (Angelica Root)
    * Elecampane
    * Ephedra / Ephedra sinica / Ma Huang
    * Ginseng (Panax ginseng)

    * Indian Snakeroot
    * Kava-kava (piper methysticum)
    * Petasites root
    * Phen-fen, herbal
    * Rhubarb
    * Star anise
    * Tiratricol (TRIAC)
    * Uva Ursi
    * Wormwood

http://www.kellymom.com/herbal/herbs_to_avoid.html

These sites didn't mention pine needles as contraindicated.

http://www.gaianaturopathic.com/docs/Herbs_contraindicated_pregnancy.pdf

http://www.earthmothermoonchild.com/herbsnotforbf.html

Basically, I only found one source that said it shouldn't be used while nursing (see above) but it never gave any reasons. If it makes you too concerned, you could use something else high in vitamin C.