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Tequila alcohol (Agave) May be an Abortifacient

Posted by Peter Eckhart, MD (pen name for Renwin Yee, MD) on

Wow.  I just got off the phone with a patient.  She was pregnant 5 weeks and reported having a cramping episode last week.  This made me extremely nervous as a cramping episode during pregnancy could be the beginnings of a miscarriage.  She said that she didn't know she was pregnant and she had an alcoholic drink.  She asked me whether or not the alcoholic drink could cause miscarriage. I told her that some midwives used a half a glass of wine to stop miscarriage so I didn't really think so.

Then, I did a double take.  I asked her what kind of alcoholic drink she drank.  She answered that she had a couple of drinks of Tequila.  Could the Tequila have caused the cramping episode and threatened miscarriage?

So I did what any young person would have done.  I Googled it.

Sure enough, the juice of Agave Americana is a purgative and diuretic and has been used as an abortifacient! Agave is used to create Tequila![1]

Well, I learned something this morning.  Tequila may or may not possibly cause a miscarriage.

1. Nordengren, Thomas, The A-Z Encyclopedia of Alcohol  and Drug Abuse, Brown Walker Press, Parkland, FL, 2002, page 26.