Caffeine and Your Pregnancy
ByThis is the first part of a multipart series that was introduced, here.
When you are pregnant, giving up caffeine means giving up a lot! Some of the things you will be giving up are chocolate, (chocolate milk, M&M’s, candy bars, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate icing, and chocolate covered raisins just to name a few), soda, tea, coffee, and some pain relieving medicines.
What effect does caffeine have on your unborn child? Just think about the way caffeine makes you feel, jittery, fast heart rate, anxious, and irritable just to name a few. The effects of caffeine on the brain include an increase in dopamine levels, much like that caused by amphetamines or heroine (but without such a pronounced effect). Dopamine is a neurotransmitter which activates the pleasure centers of the brain. It is suspected that this is part of the reason caffeine can be so addicting.
Ok, so that may be a little over your head. To put it simply, think about caffeine and it’s addictive quality and it’s stimulating effects. As an adult you drink caffeinated drinks to get you going in the morning or when you are sleepy in the afternoon. Think about how much caffeine that is for you as an adult. Now, think about how much that is for your developing fetus. Their little bodies are hardly ready for such stimulation. As for the addictiveness, you think your headache is bad. Just imagine what your little guy is feeling when he doesn’t get the caffeine. I guess you could always take an aspirin to help him get rid of the headache… Ok, so that’s a story for another post!
There are many things that have been undetermined about caffeine during pregnancy, but why risk it. (low birth weight, birth defects, preterm labor… just to name a few possibilities)
Caffeine is also a diuretic. Diuretics make you lose more fluids and can dehydrate you.
When you make the switch, be sure to check labels on your drinks. You would be surprised how many sodas have caffeine in them. Be careful with root beer, some have it, some don’t. Be sure to drink things that are CAFFIENE FREE not decaffeinated. Decaf just means that the caffeine has been removed from the drink and there are still trace amounts of it in there.
The best thing you can drink while you are pregnant is water. Subscribe to this blog to find out more about water and other things that can help you give your baby the best that you can during your pregnancy.
Dee Stafford
~Dee Stafford is a freelance writer and the content contained here is her opinion from research. Check her resources page for background data.
3 Comments
January 5th, 2010 at 9:29 AM
[...] • Caffeine • Smoking • Processed foods • Raw fish • Fried foods • Artificial sweeteners [...]
January 5th, 2010 at 4:37 PM
Wow this is very good information. May god bless you for helping woman understand and give them some knowledge on how they can prepare themselves for the best gift God gives a woman.
March 14th, 2010 at 2:04 AM
Article says:
The effects of caffeine on the brain include an increase in dopamine levels, much like that caused by amphetamines or heroine (but without such a pronounced effect).
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The mechanism of action of opiates (heroin, codeine, morphine among others) is that of the endorphin system. Not the dopamine system.
Cocaine and other stimulants (like caffeine) act by ‘increasing’ Dopamine.
Two very different pleasure systems.
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When you make the switch, be sure to check labels on your drinks. You would be surprised how many sodas have caffeine in them. Be careful with root beer, some have it, some don’t. Be sure to drink things that are CAFFIENE FREE not decaffeinated. Decaf just means that the caffeine has been removed from the drink and there are still trace amounts of it in there.
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Great point! And not only sodas, but teas (some more than even coffee), and those nasty so-called “nutritional supplements” / “diet aids”…
While most are cautious about over the counter and prescription drugs there seems to be this complacency when it comes to the supplement market. People make the ridiculous assumption that if it’s “natural it can’t be dangerous”… For one: heroin (just the processed sap of the Papaver Somniferum flower), caffeine, cocaine (just the concentrated form of a substance found in Coca leaves), digitalis (powerful heart drug, made from Foxglove), belladona are all natural. Secondly: the supplement market is under regulated and under supervised (esp when compared to traditional drugs, which must be scrutinized for years before they are allowed to even be tried on humans!).
So many of these ’supplements’ marketed as energy boosters, stress busters, and especially weight loss and diet aids will list a myriad of ‘herbs’ (most of questionable potency and standardization), but look down the list and you’ll often find a wooping dose of caffeine, if you are lucky its the only active ingredient in the ‘magic potion’.