Why is it better for pregnant women to refuse tea and coffee?

in #science5 years ago

A team of researchers from University College Dublin has figured out how caffeine consumption during pregnancy can affect the condition of the fetus.

Let me explain that a safe daily dosage for expectant mothers is 200 milligrams of caffeine contained in coffee and tea. In addition, each drink and even its varieties contain a different amount of caffeine. Therefore, to make recommendations in the number of cups is impossible. However, it turned out that even if the pregnant woman carefully studies the data on the composition of the product and observes the "dosage", she can expose the fetus to certain risks.

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©Depositphotos

According to a new study, even those women who consumed less than 200 milligrams of caffeine per day had some negative effects. In particular, the weight of their children at birth was lower compared to the weight of babies whose mothers generally refused caffeine.

In addition, pregnant women who consume tea and coffee, increases the risk of premature birth, experts say.

941 pairs of mothers and their newly born babies took part in the new study. The authors of the work conducted surveys and found that during pregnancy for 48% of women tea served as a source of caffeine, and for 38% - coffee.

Then, experts correlated data on the amount of consumed beverages with indicators of weight and size of babies at birth.

The results showed that every 100 milligrams of caffeine consumed daily during the first trimester of pregnancy "reduce" the baby's birth weight by 72 grams.

Moreover, caffeine affects not only the infant's weight, but also the length of his body, as well as the size of the head (these figures also decreased when the future mother consumed caffeine).

It was shown that caffeine consumption also increases the risk of preterm delivery (recall that births that occur at 37 weeks gestation and earlier are considered premature).

It is noteworthy that such effects were observed even among those participants who used the "safe" amount of caffeine, and it does not matter whether the drink contained the compound - in tea or in coffee.

Lead author Ling-Wei Chen explained in an interview with Reuters that caffeine appears to restrict blood flow to the placenta, which negatively affects the growth of the fetus.

“Caffeine can also easily penetrate the placenta, and since the clearance of caffeine slows down during pregnancy, it can accumulate in the tissues of the fetus,” the scientist added.

According to him, this effect can be observed due to the fact that many pregnancies are unplanned. In such cases, in the earliest terms, the woman does not limit the use of caffeine, because she does not know about her position.

"We recommend that pregnant women and those who are trying to get pregnant, limit the consumption of tea and caffeinated coffee," - said Ling-Wei Chen.

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©Depositphotos

At the same time, scientists admit: it is disturbing that many people do not know how much caffeine is contained in a cup of tea or coffee. In this regard, they explain that a cup of tea can contain from 23 to 110 milligrams of caffeine. Its amount depends on the type of drink, its strength (the duration of brewing) and water temperature.

One cup of coffee can contain up to 200 milligrams of caffeine. The exact amount of the compound, again, depends on the type of drink, the type of coffee, the degree of roasting of the beans, and so on. More information that is accurate can be obtained by examining the relevant information on the product label or referring to special literature (for example, for professional baristas).

It is noteworthy that opinions about the "safe" amount of caffeine during pregnancy differ from different specialists. Thus, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists insists that women in the position should consume no more than 200 milligrams of caffeine per day. Meanwhile, WHO formulates its recommendations as "less than 300 milligrams of caffeine" per day.

"From a biological point of view, it is unlikely that 300 milligrams [of caffeine] are dangerous, and 299 are safe. I would formulate my recommendation for women like this: the less, the better. If you can completely give up on caffeine, it will be even better," - Dr. De-Kun Li from the research organization Kaiser Permanente commented on this data.

He did not participate in this work, but his team had previously considered the relationship between caffeine consumption and the probability of miscarriage. The results showed that among those women who consumed 200 milligrams of the compound per day or more, the risk of miscarriage was 25%. However, in patients who avoided caffeine and refused not only tea and coffee, but also other beverages and products containing it (for example, chocolate and cocoa), the risk of miscarriage was noticeably lower - about 12%.

The article on the results of the new work of Irish scientists was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The illustrations are used in agreement with the Depositphotos photobank


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