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Home › Articles › Health and Physical Changes › Hidden Caffeine Concerns for Expectant Moms

Hidden Caffeine Concerns for Expectant Moms

It's Not Just in Coffee and Tea Anymore

By Kelly Burgess

Pages:  1  2  3  

  • Energy Drinks: If you're low on energy, try a nap instead of one of these. They contain a high concentration of caffeine as well as supplements not considered safe for pregnant women. Guarana is often found in the ingredients for these products along with caffeine – a double whammy.
  • Pain Relievers: Some medicines used for headache relief contain rather large amounts of caffeine. Switch to ibuprofen or acetaminophen for a caffeine-free alternative. Of course, no supplement or medication, regardless of its ingredients, should be taken without your doctor's approval.
    • Cutting Caffeine
    Even if you can't or won't quit altogether, there are strategies to reduce the amount of caffeine in your diet to keep it under the 200-milligrams-per-day target. One suggestion Cowlan makes is to switch to white chocolate. It's still rich tasting but has no caffeine.

    Here are some other suggestions for lowering or replacing caffeine in the diet courtesy of Marlene Clark, a registered dietitian at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Calif:

    • Switch to caffeine-free sodas or coffees. However, do avoid empty calories from these products if weight gain is an issue.
    • Instead of buying flavored waters, squeeze a little lemon or lime in water, and make your own.
    • Make a half-caf beverage by mixing half regular coffee and half decaffeinated coffee.
    • Add more milk to coffee. Warm it in the microwave to keep it from cooling your coffee down too much. In a coffeehouse, order latte with nonfat milk instead of a regular cup of coffee.
    • Switch from soda to juice.
    • Cut down on the amount of time you steep your tea bag to weaken it a bit.

    If you do decide to give up caffeine altogether, do so gradually by eliminating one serving per day. This will help ease the inevitable withdrawal symptoms and make it easier to quit.

    Pages:  1  2  3  

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