Pregnant or Wish to Be Pregnant? Cut the Caffeine!
Photo: Mahalie
This was the first study to thoroughly control for morning sickness which, according to the researchers, makes the association they found between caffeine and miscarriage risk even stronger.
How Much is Too Much?
Women who consumed 200 mg or more of caffeine per day (two or more cups of regular coffee or five 12-ounce cans of caffeinated soda) had TWICE the risk of miscarriage as women who consumed absolutely no caffeine. What about the women who consumed less than 200 mg of caffeine daily? Their risk of miscarriage increased by more than 40%.
It's Not Just the Coffee
The researchers believe the increased risk of miscarriage was due to the caffeine specifically and not just coffee,since the caffeine from non-coffee sources like caffeinated soda and tea also showed an increase risk of miscarriage.
How is Caffeine Affecting the Fetus?
Caffeine crosses through the placenta (from the mother's blood) and into the fetus blood supply. The fetus, however, doesn't appear to metabolize it well (due to an under-developed metabolic system), and the caffeine may then be adversely effecting cell development and fetal development.
The Bottom Line
So if you are pregnant or are trying to get pregnant, you may want to cut the caffeine by drinking water and other drinks without caffeine and switching to decaffeinated beverages - which still have a minimal amount of caffeine (approximately 2 mg per cup) but are still a huge improvement over fully loaded beverages.
*American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, February, 2008
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: caffeine, coffee, pregancy, healthy diet
5 Comments:
I really wish science would make a final decision about this. In my day (15 years ago that is) I drank soda with no worries. Now my step-daughter is a Starbucks fan and I fear every time she comes home with a Latte. UGH!!
Dear anonymous,
This research is regarding pregnancy and caffeine so you probably don't need to worry too much about the occasional caffeine teens and non-pregnant adults drink.
18yrs ago when I got pregnant with my first child at the age of 28. I drank on average 16 cups a day. I got pregnant on the first try. The same 2yrs later with my second son I was 30. Then again at 34 with my last child.
Regardless of whether or not you're pregnant, if you're drinking 5 caffeinated drinks a day, you've got problems.
It may need further studies to really prove it. Anyway, it's nothing to lose to just reduce the amount of coffee a pregnant mom consumes. And the old philosophy often said, "too much never brings any good.."
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