Most pregnant women worry--or at least wonder--about what they should and shouldn't be eating in order to have the healthiest possible pregnancy. Alcohol is well known to be dangerous to unborn babies, but available information regarding the safety of caffeine is less clear. If you're pregnant, it's best to approach caffeine in moderation and with caution.
Role of Caffeine
Caffeine is a sympathomimetic compound, meaning that it stimulates the "fight or flight" branch of the nervous system. This portion of your nervous system helps prepare you to fight off--or run from--a threat, meaning that it increases your heart rate and respiration rate, changes blood flow patterns and sharpens your attention. Explains Dr. Lauralee Sherwood in her book "Human Physiology," caffeine mildly increases heart rate, respiration, blood pressure and attention.
Caffeine and Miscarriage
Some studies link consumption of large quantities of caffeine to increased risk of miscarriage, explain Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz in their book "You: Having A Baby." Other studies show no such effect. Unlike alcohol, caffeine appears to have an "all or nothing" effect upon a fetus--it either does no harm or results in spontaneous abortion of the pregnancy. Because of the ambiguity in study results as of 2010, it's best to avoid large quantities of caffeine while pregnant.
Your Placenta
If you're pregnant, particularly if you're relatively late in pregnancy, a small amount of caffeine probably won't hurt you, explain Drs. Roizen and Oz. It's not known how well caffeine crosses the placenta, though some of the chemical certainly appears to cross and can induce more activity in an unborn baby. Because of the compound's stimulating effects, Drs. Roizen and Oz recommend that women limit caffeine to one or two cups of coffee a day, or about 200mg of caffeine.
Vitamin Absorption
Another concern with consumption of large quantities of caffeine, particularly during pregnancy, is that caffeine can inhibit absorption of certain vitamins. For instance, a 2009 study in the "Journal of Bone and Mineral Research" notes that caffeine consumption inhibits absorption of vitamin D, which your body needs to take up calcium from the diet. Your developing baby needs calcium to grow bones, so calcium deficiencies during pregnancy can be quite serious.
Maternal Health
Caffeine not only helps you keep your focus while you're trying to work, it can also keep you up at night. During pregnancy, especially in your second two trimesters, you're likely to experience sleep disturbances because of hormones, discomfort or simply the inability to find a comfortable position. Because caffeine can add to insomnia, and because getting enough sleep helps maintain both your health and that of your unborn baby, you may wish to avoid large quantities of caffeine.
References
- "Human Physiology"; Lauralee Sherwood, Ph.D.; 2004
- "You: Having A Baby"; Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.; 2009
- "Journal of Bone and Mineral Research"; Differential effect of caffeine administration on calcium and vitamin D metabolism in young and adult rats; James Yeh et al; December 2009
Member Comments