Can u drink energy drinks when pregnant
How Much Caffeine is Safe During Pregnancy? | UNM Health Blog
June 17, 2022
200 MG of caffeine is the maximum amount a pregnant person should have, but the effects of caffeine are not fully understood. UNM Health experts can help you learn the right caffeine intake for your pregnancy
If you have always relied on a morning coffee or energy drink, you might be wondering if those things are still okay to have while pregnant.
About 90% of people in the U.S. drink caffeine daily. Here at UNM, we agree with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG): Patients should consume less than 200 mg of caffeine during pregnancy.
One or two cups of coffee will put you at your daily limit. The average cup of coffee brewed at home has 95 mg of caffeine. But the amount will depend on the brand and size. Always check how much caffeine is in each serving.
Not all caffeinated drinks are safe for pregnant people. Doctors and midwives do not recommend energy drinks to anyone during pregnancy. Energy drinks contain a lot of caffeine and many other ingredients that could be unsafe for pregnant people.
Let’s discuss what drinks and foods contain caffeine and why it’s important to watch how much you have during pregnancy.
What Foods and Drinks Have Caffeine
Caffeine is a natural stimulant found in plants like tea leaves and coffee beans. It can also be made in a lab. Caffeine comes in common foods and drinks such as:
- Chocolate
- Coffee
- Coffee-containing foods like ice cream or yogurt
- Energy bars (sports bars)
- Energy drinks
- Pre-workout powders
- Soda
- Tea
- Yerba mate
Be sure to check food and drink labels for caffeine. During pregnancy, caffeine and other chemicals can cross the placenta and affect the pregnancy.
Here is a quick guide to how much caffeine one 8-ounce cup of coffee or tea contains on average:
- Brewed coffee = 96 mg
- Brewed decaf coffee = 2 mg
- Brewed black tea = 47 mg
- Brewed green tea = 28 mg
- Espresso = 64 mg
Many of these drinks contain a lot of extra sugar, too, which is not healthy for you or your pregnancy.
Problems from Drinking too Much Caffeine
During pregnancy, it takes up to three times longer for caffeine to leave your bloodstream. You could be more sensitive to its effects as a result. For example, your morning coffee could keep you awake at night.
The effects of caffeine on pregnancy are not well understood. Some studies say that too much caffeine can put your pregnancy at risk. Problems with too much caffeine can include:
- Miscarriage
- Gestational diabetes
- Having children with behavioral or attention problems
- Having children with a low birthweight
- High blood pressure (preeclampsia)
You are higher risk for problems with caffeine if you have certain health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes or high cholesterol. Caffeine can also interfere with some medications, such as mental health drugs or medicines for HIV/AIDS.
Talk with your doctor or midwife if you feel any of these side effects from drinking too much caffeine:
- Anxiety
- Diarrhea
- Dizziness
- Headaches
- Heartburn
- Higher body temperature
- Irritability
- Nausea
- Rapid heartbeat
- Restlessness
- Sleeplessness
- Trembling hands
Drinking caffeine will make you need to urinate more.
This will reduce the amount of fluid in your body. So, be sure to drink plenty of water after having caffeine.
Keep Your Energy Up Safely in Pregnancy
Hormone changes in pregnancy can make you feel tired. Instead of drinking more coffee, talk with your doctor or midwife. We can recommend safe alternatives to caffeine such as:
- Adjusting exercise plans: We can help you determine if you are exercising enough or too much at any state of pregnancy.
- Changing your schedule: Allow yourself to say “no” to added responsibilities and new plans.
- Eating a healthy diet: We can check whether you are getting enough of the right calories, prenatal vitamins and nutrients to feel energized.
- Getting more rest: Give yourself permission to sleep in, nap, and rest whenever possible.
Make sure to skip caffeine after lunchtime if you have a hard time sleeping during pregnancy. Though caffeine can help you feel more alert and awake, it cannot give you more energy.
Your health is our top priority. Call your doctor or midwife if you are concerned about how much caffeine is safe during pregnancy. We are always here to answer your questions!
To find out whether you or a loved one might benefit from Ob/Gyn care
Call 505-272-2245.
Categories: Women's Health
Caffeine in pregnancy | March of Dimes
We don’t know a lot about the effects of caffeine during pregnancy on you and your baby. So it’s best to limit the amount you get each day.
If you’re pregnant, limit caffeine to 200 milligrams each day. This is about the amount in 1½ 8-ounce cups of coffee or one 12-ounce cup of coffee.
If you’re breastfeeding, limit caffeine to no more than two cups of coffee a day.
Caffeine is a drug found in things like coffee, tea, soda, chocolate and some energy drinks and medicines. It’s a stimulant, which means it can keep you awake.
How does caffeine affect you and your baby during pregnancy?
Caffeine slightly increases your blood pressure and heart rate and the amount of urine your body makes.
Caffeine may cause you to feel jittery, have indigestion or have trouble sleeping. During pregnancy, you may be especially sensitive to caffeine because it may take you longer to clear it from your body than if you weren’t pregnant. It may also make you feel nauseous or lightheaded.
When you have caffeine during pregnancy, it passes through the placenta to your baby. The placenta grows in your uterus (womb) and supplies the baby with food and oxygen through the umbilical cord.
You may have heard that too much caffeine can cause miscarriage (when a baby dies in the womb before 20 weeks of pregnancy), preterm birth (birth that happens before 37 weeks of pregnancy is completed) or low birth weight (when your baby is born weighing less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces). Some studies say this is true, and others don’t.
Until we know more about how caffeine can affect pregnancy, it’s best to limit the amount you get to 200 milligrams each day. This is about the amount in 1½ 8-ounce cups of coffee or one 12-ounce cup of coffee.
Be sure to check the size of your cup to know how much caffeine you’re getting.
What foods and drinks contain caffeine?
Caffeine is found in:
- Coffee and coffee-flavored products, like yogurt and ice cream
- Tea
- Some soft drinks
- Energy drinks
- Chocolate and chocolate products, like chocolate syrup and hot cocoa
- Some medicines
The amount of caffeine in foods and drinks varies a lot. For coffee and tea, the amount of caffeine depends on:
- The brand
- How it’s prepared
- The type of beans or leaves used
- The way it’s served (for example, as espresso or latte)
- The size of the cup. Not all coffee cups are the same size, even though you think of them as a cup. Check to see how many ounces your cup has, especially if you’re buying a cup of coffee or tea. If you’re making coffee or tea at home, measure to check the size of the cup.
Some energy drinks contain large amounts of caffeine.
For example, a 24-ounce energy drink may have up to 500 milligrams of caffeine. Energy drinks may have a lot of sugar, too, and they may contain ingredients that may be harmful to your baby during pregnancy. Because we don’t know a lot about all the ingredients in energy drinks, it’s best not to have them when you’re pregnant.
The amount of caffeine you get from food and drinks throughout the day adds up. So if you have a cup of coffee in the morning, you may want to limit or give up having other food and drinks during the day that have caffeine.
The list below shows the amount of caffeine in common food and drinks. The caffeine amounts are averages, so they may change depending on the brand or how the food or drink is made. Check the package label on food and drinks to know how much caffeine they contain.
What medicines contain caffeine?
Some medicines used for pain relief, migraine headaches, colds and to help keep you awake contain caffeine.
The Food and Drug Administration (also called FDA) requires that labels on medicine list the amount of caffeine in the medicine.
If you’re pregnant, talk to your health care provider before taking any medicine that contains caffeine. This includes prescription and over-the-counter medicine. A prescription is an order for medicine given by a health care provider. You can buy over-the-counter medicine, like pain relievers and cold medicine, without a prescription.
Some herbal products contain caffeine. These include guarana, yerba mate, kola nut and green tea extract. Herbal products are made from herbs, which are plants that are used in cooking and for medicine. The FDA does not require that herbal products have a label saying how much caffeine they contain. If you’re pregnant, don’t use herbal products because we don’t know how much caffeine they contain.
Is caffeine safe during breastfeeding?
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says it’s safe for breastfeeding moms to have caffeine.
A small amount of caffeine does get into breast milk, so limit caffeine if you’re breastfeeding. Breastfed babies of women who drink more than 2 to 3 cups of coffee a day may become fussy or have trouble sleeping. You may want to drink less caffeine if your baby was born preterm or newborn because she may digest caffeine more slowly.
Last reviewed: April 2020
Coffee and energy during pregnancy - is it possible or not?
Drinking coffee and energy drinks has become a habit for many, so many women are worried about whether they can continue to drink during pregnancy?
One of the main components of coffee and energy drinks is caffeine, which stimulates the central nervous system and causes cheerfulness in the body. For this reason, coffee or energy drinks are usually drunk to focus on important work or stay awake. However, excess caffeine in the body can lead to disorders such as hypertension, heart palpitations, nervousness, dizziness, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.
How do energy drinks and coffee affect children, what are the risks, whether they can use them - we have already written.
Possible risk
First, let's look at what additional risks caffeine creates for pregnant women. Firstly, the body of a pregnant woman digests it 2-3 times slower than a normal body. Secondly, part of the caffeine passes into the placenta and enters the bloodstream of the embryo.
American gynecologists Xiaoping Weng, Roxane Odouli and De Koon-Lee investigated the effects of caffeine on pregnancy in 2008. They concluded that the maximum allowable dose is 200 mg per day, which is about the same as 1 cup of coffee. Regular excess of this dose creates the risk of miscarriage, premature birth or the birth of a child with insufficient weight.
Of course, it is worth remembering the general dangers of caffeine overdose, the symptoms of which can occur not only in pregnant women.
Which foods contain caffeine?
Caffeine is found in: coffee, tea, cola, energy drinks, chocolate and some medications.
The table below shows their caffeine content per standard serving.
| Product or drink | Caffeine, mg | ||
| Natural coffee, 200 g 0034 Instant coffee, 200 g | 75 | ||
| Coffee “without caffeine, 200 g | 2-15 | ||
| Coffee flavored ice cream or yoghurt, 100 g | 2 | ||
| Tea, 200 g | 9032 15-60 3 | Cocoa, 3 teaspoons per glass | 8-12 |
| Cola, 300 g | 30-45 | ||
| Chocolate milk, 200 g chocolate, 40 g | 30 | ||
| Milk chocolate , 40 g | 11 | ||
| Chocolate syrup, 1 tablespoon | 26-28 | ||
| Energy*, 200-300 g (one can) | 7
* Each energy drink manufacturer - its own composition, hence such a large spread. So, jar Red Bull contains 80 mg of caffeine and Hyde Extreme contains 400 mg.
For caffeinated medications, these include certain cold, migraine and pain medications. Pregnant women should talk to their doctor about which of these medicines they can take. Of course, the presence of caffeine in medications means that you will have to cut the amount of it in the diet.
It's not just the caffeine
It's not a good idea to cut out everything that contains caffeine completely: some foods and drinks contain vitamins, antioxidants and other essential substances that compensate for the harmful effects of caffeine. These products include primarily various herbal teas and dark chocolate (however, it has more caffeine than milk chocolate).
After consulting the table, we will understand that the lowest risk of overdose is created by decaffeinated coffee, tea, cocoa, milk chocolate and chocolate milk, and the highest is energy drinks. By the way, there are no substances in energy drinks that could compensate for the harm of caffeine (or rather, they are there, but in too small quantities to bring real benefits).
Conclusion: Pregnant women should not drink energy drinks .
Regular coffee falls into the "middle group" for caffeine. If you're pregnant, one cup a day won't cause you to overdose on caffeine, but you'll need to keep a close eye on other caffeinated products.
As for cola, it has less caffeine than energy drinks or even coffee. But it is better to refrain from it for another reason: it is notorious for being a source of extra calories and sugar, and there will be no benefit from it.
Source: crispy.news
Energy drinkers - why energy drinks are harmful: effects on the body of men and pregnant girls
№1. What are energy sources made of?
Caffeine is the main component that belongs to the group of stimulants. It replaces substances important for the nervous system (neurotransmitters) that conduct nerve impulses. So, the more caffeine, the more active the nervous system works.
Hence the surge of vivacity, and increased physical and brain activity.
Taurine is an amino acid accumulated in muscle tissue. It is generally accepted that taurine has a positive effect on the functioning of the heart. However, there is no scientific study that proves this for sure.
L-carnitine is an amino acid that the body can produce on its own. It really helps to reduce fatigue and increase stamina. But in ordinary energy it is so small that its effect is difficult to feel.
Glucose and carbon dioxide - i.e., in fact, a classic soda.
No. 2. Energy drinks contain vitamins and natural extracts of exotic herbs. This is true?
True. As a rule, energy drinks contain vitamin C and almost the entire range of B vitamins.
Vitamins are a useful thing, but not in such a chemical company. Vitamin B in large quantities causes tremors, heart palpitations and allergic reactions. Vitamin C reacts with preservatives and flavors - as a result, carcinogenic substances are produced.
Also, energy drinks often contain herbal extracts: guarana, mate or ginseng. It may seem that they add benefits to the drink, but in fact they are just an additional source of stimulants, the name of which looks beautiful on the package.
No. 3.
Do power engineers "charge"?No. In short - "forced." As it became clear from the composition, the action of energy drinks is aimed at the nervous system. The brain, under the influence of caffeine, decides to activate the “emergency reserves” of the body, which it has in store for a “rainy day”. Those. an energy drink in itself does not contain any energy, but simply deceives the body, makes it actively spend the stored forces quickly and right now. The effect of cheerfulness lasts 3-4 hours. Then a decline follows and the person's condition becomes even worse than before use. There is fatigue, irritability - up to depression.
No. 4.
Energy - is it harmful? It's like with fast food: if rarely and wisely, then the use of energy drinks is safe for health.
Nothing good, but nothing bad either. Drink no more than two jars at a time and be sure to let your body recover: eat healthy food, drink more water and get enough sleep.
If you drink energy drinks regularly, then you will experience nervous and physical exhaustion, which, in turn, can become the basis for a number of diseases. And the increased content of carbon dioxide and sugar leads to exactly the same consequences for the stomach as the consumption of ordinary soda.
No. 5.
Is it true that energy drinks are addictive? True. As we said earlier, caffeine replaces neurotransmitters. If our body sees that they are constantly coming from outside, and in larger quantities than it is used to, then it gradually ceases to produce them on its own - there is no need to waste internal resources.
And when after a long consumption of energy drinks you stop drinking them, your condition will worsen significantly: drowsiness, reduced efficiency, bad mood and, of course, an acute desire to use a new “dose” of energy drinks.
In addition, the "dose" must be constantly increased to achieve the same effect. In other words, a real addiction.
No.6.
If it's all about caffeine, maybe just drink coffee?Drinking coffee is less harmful to health. In one jar, the energy of caffeine is like in four cups of strong coffee. And several other types of stimulating ingredients. Therefore, the energy drink has a stronger effect on the body: the heart rate changes, blood pressure increases significantly. But on the other hand, the effect of vivacity from coffee lasts 1-2 hours, and from the energy drink - 4 or more.
No. 7.
It is customary among young people to mix energy drinks with alcohol. How harmful is it? This is the most negative scenario for using energy drinks. The fact is that the energy drink belongs to the group of stimulants, and alcohol belongs to the depressants. In fact, they are antagonists and their confrontation is the strongest load on the body. The cardiovascular system suffers the most - the pressure rises to extreme levels.
Fatal outcomes from such "cocktails" are not uncommon. Therefore, if you have heart problems, in no case do not use energy drinks with alcohol. In addition, the state of intoxication under energy drinks comes on more slowly, so it is difficult to control the measure.
No. 8.
Who should refrain from consuming energy drinks? It is highly undesirable to drink energy drinks for children and adolescents, pregnant and lactating women, people who have problems with the gastrointestinal tract, heart, blood vessels and pressure, as well as with increased excitability, nervousness, sleep disturbances and sensitivity to caffeine.
No. 9.
Energy is freely available in Kazakhstan. And how are things in the world?Energy drinks are easily available in 170 countries, but with some caveats:
- In December 2010, caffeine-containing alcoholic energy drinks were completely withdrawn from sale throughout the United States based on the authorities' conclusions about their harm to health;
- Lithuania introduced a ban on the sale of energy drinks to minors;
- In France, Denmark and Norway, energy drinks can only be bought in pharmacies.
