The Risky Behavior You (and Your Partner) Need to Stop Now If You Want to Decrease Your Chance of Miscarriage ~ health and fitness,celebrity news,fashion blog,beauty women,whole foods,quotes about love

vendredi 25 mars 2016

The Risky Behavior You (and Your Partner) Need to Stop Now If You Want to Decrease Your Chance of Miscarriage

A new study is serving as a wake-up call to those couples trying to get pregnant. According to researchers at the National Institutes of Health, women are at increased risk for miscarriage if they or their partner drink more than two cups of caffeinated drinks - whether that's coffee, tea, sodas, or energy drinks - per day prior to conception.

Such a daily habit raises the risk of pregnancy loss by 74 percent, and the study found that the risks extend through the first seven weeks of pregnancy for women.

Whereas countless studies have looked at caffeine intake in women during pregnancy, none before this have also focused on men, and that is perhaps what yielded the most startling conclusion.

"The male partner matters, too," NIH researcher Germaine Buck Louis said. "Male preconception consumption of caffeinated beverages was just as strongly associated with pregnancy loss as females."

So what really qualifies as two cups of coffee?

Although the researchers provided no specifics, one serving size of caffeine is considered eight ounces, but a regularly brewed cup of coffee can have anywhere from 95 to 200 milligrams of caffeine, which has consistently been the daily recommended maximum for pregnant women.

Before you agonize over that third cup of coffee, it's worth noting that this observational study - which tracked 344 pregnancies, 98 of which ended in miscarriage - doesn't prove cause and effect. In fact, the study's authors cite other possible explanations for the higher risk, including the couple's age, their alcohol intake, dietary factors, other lifestyle choices, and overall health.

"Our findings provide useful information for couples who are planning a pregnancy who would like to minimize their risk for early pregnancy loss," Buck Louis said.

In addition to cutting back on caffeine, couples who want to optimize their chances of a healthy pregnancy should start taking a daily multivitamin. In the same study, researchers saw a 55 percent reduction in miscarriage risk for women who took one prior to conception and a 79 percent reduction in those who continued to take it during the early stages of pregnancy.

Although taking a multivitamin won't offset the risk associated with caffeine, it's a reminder that those hoping to become parents - both women and men - should do their best to make healthy choices every day.

vendredi 25 mars 2016