A New Study on Coffee (Big Update!)

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/02/03/coffee-in-pregnancy.aspx?e_cid=20140203Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20140203Z1&et_cid=DM38952&et_rid=416726126


In the past I've posted about the benefits of moderate coffee drinking. I'm still a fan. However, all my digging into it for my wife's pregnancy revealed nothing to indicate it was harmful in small doses. Now, keep in mind that nearly every resource predicts dire consequences for anything (including breathing) during pregnancy. Few of them back that up with any sort of study, they just terrify first-time mothers because it's fun or something. The only study they did reference showed no problems for women consuming 2 or less cups of regular coffee a day. My wife and I talked it over and decided she's switch from a cup or two in the morning to one cup of decaf each AM. Immediately, the smell of coffee made her sick and she quit entirely.

Recently, coffee has become an option again, but she's still yet to exceed 2 cups of decaf in a day. Now of course I find a study that proves coffee is not a good idea for pregnant women at all. I still think she's safe at the level she's at, but I wanted to get the word out since I've been a vocal proponent of coffee.

• Research has shown that coffee—in moderation—may have a number of health-promoting properties. These therapeutic benefits do NOT apply to pregnant women, however
• A recent observational study looking at data for nearly 60,000 women found that coffee and other caffeinated beverages increased the odds of delivering a low birth weight baby and/or extended the time of gestation
• Every 100 mg of caffeine consumed by the mother per day equated to a nearly one ounce reduction in the baby’s weight at birth. Every 100 mg of caffeine also increased the length of the pregnancy by five hours. When the source of the caffeine was coffee, the length of the pregnancy was extended by eight hours for every 100 mg of caffeine
• In previous research, mice given caffeine during pregnancy produced embryos with a thinner layer of tissue separating some of the heart's chambers than the group that was not given caffeine. Long term, this resulted in a 20 percent increase in body fat in males, and a 35 percent decrease in cardiac function
• Basic dietary recommendations for pregnant women, and tips for non-pregnant coffee drinkers who want to use coffee for its therapeutic benefits are included