Nov 12, 2010

A coffeeholic giving up caffeine during pregnancy?


Nope, not for me. I simply can’t. Nanti sakit kepala lah, mengantuk lah, takde semangat lah and a bit rasa tak puas.

If I forego coffee, I would still want some green tea. There are times I crave for a nice lemon tea and then there are times mulut rasa tak best and having cola would do wonders. Most of all, I can’t say no to chocolates!

Do you have the same problem as me? Are you aware of caffeine existence in our drink/food?

Here’s some quick fact about caffeine in our drinks & food:
  • 1 mug of instant: 100mg
  • 1 cup of instant coffee: 75mg
  • 1 cup of brewed coffee & expresso: 100mg to 350mg, depending on beans and how it is made 1 mug of tea: 75mg
  • 1 mug of teh O: 45mg
  • 1mug of teh susu: 15mg
  • 1mug of green tea: 20mg
  • 1 can of cola: 40mg
  • 1 can of energy drink: 80mg
  • 50g plain chocolate: 50mg
  • 50g of milk chocolate: 25mg
It’s pretty hard to completely skip caffeine, isn’t it? Well, you don't have to give up caffeine, but you may want to cut down. According to the Australian Government, department of Health & Aging, it is recommend that pregnant women have no more than 200mg of caffeine a day. There are also many experts recommend limiting intake to no more than 300 mg per day.

I guess this intake does depend on your body and resistance.

Anyhow, we should also keep in mind on how caffeine is still potentially dengeraous substance during pregnancy. Caffeine readily crosses the placenta (which develops at the end of the first trimester) and can affect fetal heart rate and breathing. It can also increase the risk of miscarriage, sudden infant death syndrome and low birth weight, according to the American Dietetic Association (ADA 2002), and very high doses may result in congenital anomalies or birth defects (Browne 2006). It is especially important to limit caffeine during the first trimester, when the baby’s organs are developing and the risk of miscarriage is highest.

I was pretty lucky that during the first trimester of both pregnancies, my hormones are helping me to cut down on my coffee. Mulut rasa very the cipan to coffee and almost all hot drinks. I ended up drinking quite a lot of warm barley drink... Yummeh.....

But as the morning sickness goes away, I started to crave for coffee once again. So I did the most sappy/no-spine thing a coffeeholic can do..... CONVERT TO DECAF!!

Decaf has only 5 mg of caffeine in it per 8 oz serving, compared to nearly 20 times that in a regular cup! Isnt it wonderful for a preggy coffeeholic?

Yet, things are not that simple. Ada cara jugak dalam memilih decaf ni. I came to know that that decaf can actually be worse for you than regular coffee because there are so many toxins & chemicals involved in the process that makes the coffee "decaffeinated".

The two major methods for decaffeinating coffee are called "direct" and "indirect". Using the direct method, the green, unroasted beans are steamed immediately before they're treated with a chemical solvent to extract the caffeine. This normally takes roughly 10 hours. After the beans are tested to verify the caffeine levels match the specifications, they're steamed again both to rinse the beans and to help the solvent to evaporate. In order to dry, companies use either vacuum or air dryers.

The indirect method treats the caffeine-removing agent with a solution that contains caffeine. Companies soak the beans in water that is kept just under the boiling point until the caffeine is extracted. When the beans are ready, the water is removed in order for the caffeine to be extracted. Then, other chemicals are mixed into the water before the beans once again are left to soak. The beans need this time to soak in order to reabsorb any lost chemicals and flavor lost during the caffeine extraction process.

If you are particular about this whole chemical thingy, make sure you select the right brand/type of decaf.

Well this is my simple solution to such addiction and it works for me. Yang penting, I will doa for Allah's protection for the child in my womb...and me too.

So do you have caffeine addiction too? How to do cope with it?

13 comments:

Unknown said...

me tetiba addict to neslo sekarang..last two pregnancy langsung tak hingin ngn nescafe/coffee etc..

hopefully 1 mug neslo every morning now wont harm my fetus hihihi..

amirah said...

yup, me too..i just can't do away with at least a cup in the morning..same here, masa peknen , i just can't simply resist caffeine..time morning sickness mmng tkde selera for anythng..tp pastu craving gile nk minum coffee..tried decaf, but tak sedap..hehe..org tua kata nnt anak gelap kalo minum coffee selalu..tp rasanya my son mmng ikut kulit i..huhu

Hanz Jamaludin said...

eih eih..samalah..me pun 1st & 2nd preggie tiba2 jadi coffee-dislike..lum hater lah..
masa 1st & 2nd, I took Salindah & memang no-no coffee but curik2 jugak luckily takdelah hantu coffee masa tu.

And now, I guess I dah slowly kurang coffee coz satu mug pun susah nak abis & I can go on my day without coffee pun still ok..alhamdulillah..somehow this happen for it's goodnes both me & baby..

decaf x jalan to me..x sedap.. :)

Anonymous said...

lydzar--> 1 cup of neslo tu oklah..jgn terover kaw-kaw sudah

amirah & hanz--> yup decaf tak sedap!! ni tgh mencuba segala jenis brand nak cari yg kena dgn tekak. dah le now i don't like my hot drink manis. kekadang letak 1 tspn, kekadang letak susu aje. so its very important utk ada kopi yg rs sedap...hihihi..selera mak buyung yg over.

Mizz_Ila said...

me too.. can`t drink coffee la.. nanti migrain ngap2 kat my brain. 1 keje x dpt buat..

mommynadia said...

ooo...time before preggy,I ni coffee tegar..bila dah preggy automatic reject coffee..tak tahu nape!
good enuff so that tak payah nak kena control ke pape..but surely after deliver, mesti dtg balik addict to coffee ni..teringattime 1st baby dulu ;)

Anonymous said...

ila & mommy nadia--> teman ni selamat time 1st trimester aje.. bila ada selera blk, mula lah gatai nak kena kopi. kalau tak, cam ada aje something missing.

gadisBunga™ said...

but decaf doesnt taste as great as the normal one right? ;)

Nadiah Sidek said...

kite takdela sampai tahap addict kot (ye ke? :p). kalau tak minum pun tak kisah. cuma sejak stok milo ari tu habis (err..milo pun ada caffein jgk, kan?), minum nescafe la. 2 tu (milo & nescafe) je yg paling minat. tapi mmg limitkan sehari 1 cawan. tak berani minum byk2

Community Service Fast said...

Some websites to checkout

www.CaffeineAwareness.org
www.CaffeineAnonymous.org

ddfirdaus said...

mee to coffeeholic. time pregnant n bf bb pun rase sengal je terpaksa kurangkan coffee tapi minum gak sekali sekala..

DeeYa said...

betul3x... fat hope... especially for me... ahaks...

Unknown said...

ya allah, i taktau pun yg ni..tq info ni..
@@
Caffeine readily crosses the placenta (which develops at the end of the first trimester) and can affect fetal heart rate and breathing. It can also increase the risk of miscarriage, sudden infant death syndrome and low birth weight, according to the American Dietetic Association (ADA 2002), and very high doses may result in congenital anomalies or birth defects (Browne 2006). It is especially important to limit caffeine during the first trimester, when the baby’s organs are developing and the risk of miscarriage is highest.
@@
ms pregnant takfikir sgt pun psl kafein. main telan je semua. tp bf nih kena kurangkn kafein sbb nti bb sgt takleh tdo... pening lak nk layan...
skrg minum decaffeinated nescafe,kurg sedap tp terpaksalah... uhuhuh

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Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor nor am I a lawyer. I am not a scientist nor am I an expert. I am just a wife and a mother, who is putting her thoughts and findings in a blog. All of the posting on this website & my blogs were written by me for educational purposes and as my sentimental library, but are not meant to diagnose nor treat any medical disorders. Any other materials that I may have quote from other published materials are for educational purposes only and not for any other manipulative reasons. Anyway, whatever weird stuff that I published are the real stuff that I believe works for me. Tips and tricks that might work for me. You are free to put it in your head if you thinks its valuable, but if you think its rubbish... Please don't mock me. Do please shut your pie hole.
 
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