Pregnant Women Warned To Lay Off Caffeine

Over the past few years, the health benefits of coffee have been in the spotlight. Numerous studies have revealed that drinking coffee lowers the risk of stroke, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia. It even improves social skills and depressive symptoms.

Not for the baby though

However, most people don’t drink coffee for its therapeutic benefits but to get a quick energy-boost. This often serves as a band-aid for poor sleeping habits and nutritional deficiencies. Even though the health-promoting properties of coffee have been proven by research, it’s also important to understand that coffee is a potent stimulant that can present problems, especially for pregnant women.

The results of a recent Norwegian study, which included 60,000 women, showed that higher caffeine consumption was associated with an increased risk for reduced birth weight. The researchers found that every 100 mg of caffeine consumed by pregnant women per day equated to nearly a one ounce reduction in the baby’s weight at birth.

The study also found that every 100 mg of caffeine increased the length of the pregnancy by five hours. Interestingly, when the source of the caffeine was coffee, the length of the pregnancy was extended by eight hours. The researchers have not been able to pinpoint the reason for this difference.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that pregnant women limit their caffeine intake to 300 mg a day and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists currently recommends that women should only drink two cups (approximately 200 mg) a day during pregnancy. Based on the results of the Norwegian study, lead researcher Dr. Verena Sengpiel believes that these recommendations should be re-evaluated. Since the average cup of coffee contains anywhere between 95-200 mg of caffeine she says it would make better sense to err on the side of caution.

Even though this observational study does not prove a cause-and-effect relationship between caffeine and low birth weight, Dr. Sengpiel said that drinking two cups of coffee a day may be too much. She added: “We cannot say from our data whether caffeine is the specific substance responsible for the foetus being at greater risk of [becoming a] low birth weight infant, nor did we study if these babies actually had special health problems during the neonatal period.”

Previous studies have already shown that caffeine can affect foetal weight. This may be because caffeine crosses the placenta freely and babies are unable to metabolize it properly and this may affect some of the factors associated with foetal growth.

Despite the health benefits of coffee, it is probably best to avoid consuming any caffeine during pregnancy just in case it causes long-term harm to your baby.

Providing that you’re not pregnant, a major caveat to coffee drinking is quality. Here are a few things to consider when drinking coffee for its therapeutic benefits:

Go Organic: Coffee beans are one of the crops most heavily sprayed with pesticides. Select only coffee beans that are certified organic and grown without pesticides.

Whole Bean: Always buy whole bean coffee that smells and tastes fresh. If your coffee has a sour or bad taste it is possibly old. Grinding the beans at home will ensure that your coffee is fresh.

Black Is Better: If you’re drinking coffee for its health benefits, take it black. Adding sugar or other flavourings will certainly ruin any of the potential health benefits by spiking your blood sugar levels, which contributes to insulin resistance.

Coffee Filters: If you use a “drip” coffee maker, be sure to use non-bleached filters. The bright white ones are chlorine-bleached, and some of this chlorine will leach from the filter during the brewing process. Bleached filters are also notoriously full of dangerous disinfection by-products, such as dioxin.

If it’s almost impossible to drag yourself to work in the mornings without one or more cups of coffee, you may want to address your diet and exercise regime, which is at the root of your fatigue. If you’re supplying your body with the nutrients it needs, you simply won’t need the extra energy boost.

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Disclaimer: Bear in mind the material contained in this article is provided for information purposes only. We are not addressing anyone’s personal situation. Please consult with your own physician before acting on any recommendations contained herein.

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Sources:

Maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy is associated with birth weight but not with gestational length: results from a large prospective observational cohort study, published online 19.02.13, biomedcentral.com