Coffee During Pregnancy

Coffee During Pregnancy


Contents:


Side Effects of Coffee During Pregnancy

Black and bitter one, but how tasty and fragrant it is! Coffee captivated hearts of many people all over the world. It represents not only gastronomy but also scientific interest. Scientists of the entire world have been trying to guess all secrets of this mysterious drink already for many years, but it is still in vain. Each time detecting something new about itself, coffee leaves much more unsolved mysteries.

Even the question about utility and harm of this drink still remains without an unambiguous answer. It is reliably ascertained that coffee is useful and harmful simultaneously. However, it is hard to say, where the balance tips. But hardly someone will start to argue that during pregnancy any harm is extremely undesirable, even so tasty and occasionally helpful, as coffee. If you got used to wake up under a cup of aromatic coffee, and each your meeting – a business or a personal one – does not take place without coffee drinking, then this news is uncomforting for you. Since the moment of pregnancy one is to significantly reduce the amount of coffee, which is drunk in a day and, frankly, it is better to exclude it at all for bearing and child feeding time. And here is why.

How Coffee Affects Pregnancy

Everyone knows coffee switches on the central nervous system. Excessive excitability can badly affect the sleep of the future mother, her mood, as well as functioning of internal organs and systems. The Intake of coffee leads to increased excretion of urine due to the accelerated function of kidneys (therefore, even to dehydration), five times it increases gastric secretion of hydrochloric acid and two times – secretion of salivary glands, it irritates the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract, makes more frequent respiration and heartbeat, and it increases arterial pressure as well. The coffee excretes from an organism calcium and other micro elements necessary to it (iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium) and it is not just excreting, but it inhibits their assimilation.

Undoubtedly, this effect is not at all needed for the pregnant woman. But the thing, which set one thinking, is the ability of coffee to influence reproductive function. It is proved, that the intake of this drink in large quantities is directly associated with difficulties in impregnation. More than three cups of coffee a day can function as "contraceptive". Therefore, it is recommended to exclude any coffee intake to the couples planning pregnancy. It affects the ones who have already become pregnant in that sense that regular intake of coffee provokes the uterine tonus and, therefore, the risk of the miscarriage increases.

We hasten to calm you that such influence is exerted by 2-3 and more of 150-gram cups of coffee a day. Therefore, if you once a week drink a couple of gulps for pleasure, do not eat your heart out over that. However, if you can refrain, as the medical practitioners urgently recommend, it is better not to drink at all. And it is difficult to single out weeks and months, which are the most undesirable for that. Some scientists assert, that it is absolutely forbidden to drink coffee on the first trimester, the others – after the 20th week and so on. And there are studies proving the third trimester is especially dangerous in this sense, when a child's nervous system becomes very sensitive to caffeine. In any case, remember the following: as any other liquid coming within a pregnant woman, coffee penetrates to the baby through the placenta. At the same time, the placenta vessels narrow, oxygen arrives harder to the fetus (as all nutrients, as a whole), the result is hypoxia. In addition, there is information that the coffee intake while pregnancy can cause diabetes mellitus of the future baby.

One more less dangerous, but, now, in the period of pregnancy, undesirable property of coffee is a suppression of appetite. This is nutritious enough (especially, with cream and sugar), but absolutely not substantial drink, because of which the woman can refuse a necessary "normal" meal.

So, coffee has negative effect on health of a woman and developing fetus, provokes complications during the pregnancy and labor, affects state of newborn babies. As the coffee metabolism slows during pregnancy, it circulates in blood longer and impacts longer as well. But it is noteworthy, that not everything from the listed above is produced by effect of caffeine. Some studies prove that the intake, for example, of tea in the same caffeine equivalent does not cause a number of complications. It allows to assume that other caffeine-containing substances have not yet studied harmful effect on a person. Although, one is to consider that many women drink coffee necessarily with a cigarette and it increases all risks severalfold.

Instant Coffee While Pregnancy

Coffee During Pregnancy 1

Generally, to drink coffee during pregnancy is not so harmful unless one abuses. And in some cases, it can even become useful, because it also contains substances beneficially affecting our organism and its systems. But it can not be said about instant coffee – only natural drink of ground grains can be useful. Specialists assert that instant coffee, which many prefer mainly because of rapidity and convenience of its preparation, contains not more than 15% of coffee beans. The remainder is chemical components, by which future drink is enriched after its reprocessing into soluble form. One can only guess how much instant coffee is far from natural one and it does not bring any benefit to a pregnant woman, her child, and any person at all. Therefore, it is better to refuse intake of such drink, regardless of a situation.

Decaffeinated Coffee While Pregnancy

Even so-called decaffeinated coffee is exposed to chemical treatment. It is "so-called", because this drink contains caffeine in its composition as well, although in a small dose. But not this substance turns out the most dangerous in this case. After all, some kinds of tea, coke, and other drinks contain much more caffeine than black coffee.

During a "withdrawal" of exhilarant substance from coffee beans, they may be submitted for treatment, after which they become severalfold potentially more unsafe for our health. If one speaks of the future offspring, the child's intake of such coffee can cause development of an allergic reaction and the formation of mother's atheromatous plaques.

The harm of the decaffeinated coffee is not yet studied today in an adequate way, but scientists do not advise to drink it to anyone, especially to women expecting children. It is better to choose drink from a chicory root as an alternative to black coffee. If it turns an unworthy substitute for you, you are to choose only the natural ground coffee from all kinds of coffee, drink it only freshly brewed and add milk to the drink.

In short, one can drink coffee while pregnancy. Rather, the question is: does one need it and what kind of coffee is it better to choose, as well as is it worth to risk for a cup of this ambiguous drink? Meanwhile, many women are saved with help of coffee from unconsciousness and faintness in case of very low pressure. But in this case the specialists recommend to brew natural ground beans, preparing weak drink and diluting it with milk: something excessive is not required for you.

One Comment

  • Karen says:

    I really like coffee. I literally can’t live without it. What I can replace it with for the time of pregnancy?

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