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Limit / Quit Caffeine


The author of What To Expect series, Heidi Murkoff, says in her book What To Expect Before You’re Expecting, “Some studies have linked downing too much caffeine with lowered fertility and an increased risk of miscarriage” (Murkoff).

"The March of Dimes advises pregnant women or those trying to become pregnant to drink no more than 200 mg of caffeine a day (that's a 12-ounce cup of coffee). Going without your caffeine fix is good when you're pregnant since research shows that in high doses, it can increase the risk of miscarriage. One study discovered that pregnant women who consumed two or more cups of coffee (or a caffeine-rich equivalent) were twice as likely to miscarry as those who gave up caffeine" (Amato).

Amelia Hirota from the Fertility Acupuncturist (www.the-fertility-accpuncturist.com) said, “It's extremely important for both men and women to avoid all alcohol and caffeine products when trying to conceive. I find that just eliminating coffee and alcohol does wonder for a woman's chart, her cervical mucus and the quality of the sperm.” 


The website www.fertilityafter40.com has an answer to the question, do I need to give up or just lower caffeine consumption? According to my findings on the website, "Caffeine stimulates your nervous system, temporarily increasing your heart rate and raising your blood pressure.  Caffeine constricts blood vessels, slowing blood flow to the uterus and potentially making it harder for an egg to grab hold. Too much caffeine may increase the risk of clotting and miscarriage. And they add this, "Limit to 1 cup of coffee per day or eliminate altogether if you are over 35 and/or having fertility problems. Studies show that even 300mg daily (the amount in one cup of fancy coffee) can decrease your chances of conception. There is also evidence that 200 mg or more of caffeine a day raises your risk of miscarriage" (Diet, Nutrition, & Fertility).  

The website www.yinovacenter.com also addresses if women trying to conceive should cut out coffee. " Knowing that caffeine can cause fertility problems some of my patients switch to decaffeinated coffee in order to enhance their fertility. However, all coffee, be it regular or decaf is acidic and can make the body and cervical mucus too acidic and so hamper conception. Several studies have shown that coffee (even decaffeinated coffee) can diminish fertility. One Dutch study showed that 4 cups of decaf or regular coffee a day lowered a woman’s chance of having a baby by 25%. Some studies have linked coffee to miscarriage and some have linked it to low sperm count. So the message is clear. If you’re trying to conceive and nothing’s working, it may be time to ditch your daily cup of Joe" (Blakeway).


Blogger, Cindy Bailey, writes The Fertile Kitchen blog. On her blog says she was given a 2% chance of conceiving on her own at the age of 40. After much research, she put herself on a fertility friendly diet and four months later conceived her son. In her blog she discusses regular and decaf coffee, "Coffee can also hamper the absorption of essential minerals and vitamins, such as magnesium, zinc, iron, potassium, and B’s, and it is also one of most heavily pesticide sprayed crops. Harsh chemicals are used in the decaf process. With organic, Swiss water-filtered decaf, you are getting a much better product (the decaf process is not nearly as harsh), but for what I’ve listed above, coffee and decaf still have to go while trying to conceive and while pregnant. My theory is that if something has a chance of getting in the way of conception, it comes off the list, at least temporarily until after the baby is born" (Bailey).


Sources

1. MD, Amato, Paula, and Maggie Blott, MB, MS, eds. Pregnancy Day By Day. 1st ed. New York: DK, 2009. Print.

2. Bailey, Cindy. "The Fertile Kitchen (R)." : Fertility Diet and Eliminating Coffee, Even Decaf. Cindy Bailey, 2009. Web. 03 May 2016. <http://fertilekitchen.blogspot.com/2011/07/fertility-diet-and-eliminating-coffee.html>.

3. Blakeway, Jill, M.S. L. Ac. "Should Women Trying to Conceive Cut out Coffee?" Yin Ova Center. Yin Ova Center, n.d. Web. 03 May 2016. <https://www.yinovacenter.com/blog/should-women-trying-to-conceive-cut-out-coffee/>.

4. "Diet, Nutrition, and Fertility: 15 Foods to Avoid When Trying to Get Pregnant." Fertility After 40: How I Got Pregnant Naturally at 43 and Had a Healthy Baby after Years of Infertility, IVF, IUI, and Miscarriage. FertiityAfter40.com, n.d. Web. 03 May 2016. <http://www.fertilityafter40.com/15-foods-to-avoid-when-trying-to-get-pregnant.html#sthash.g1dtDBY3.dpuf>

5. MURKOFF, HEIDI. WHAT TO EXPECT BEFORE YOU'RE EXPECTING. S.l.: WORKMAN, 2017. Print.


http://www.the-fertility-acupuncturist.com/trying-to-conceive-with-dor.html

Last Edited: January 3, 2018

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