Coffee...reg? decaf?

[apriljoy]

Last time I was pg, I couldn't stand the sight of coffee. This time, I'm loving it. I've been drinking decaf, but it seems like I heard somewhere that a little bit of regular is better than any amount of decaf. Can anyone fill me in on this? I have no idea where I might have heard that, but if it's true, I need to change the way I'm doing things.

[rmzbm]

OMG! I was so worried about this one, lol...I LOVE coffee, but now I can't even look at it, so that's a good thing! Re: which is better, I'm clueless!

[sadiejane08]

I've never heard that about decaf--at least, not in the past 10 years. They used to use chemicals to extract the caffeine, and the chemicals left a residue in the coffee. Nowadays I think all manufacturers have switched to non-chemical caffeine extraction, however. But you may want to check on that to make sure. You can drink a "Fair Trade" or organic brand to be certain.

ETA: I just did some research and it looks like plenty of companies still use chemicals to extract caffeine. So your best bet is an organic or "all natural" brand (CO2 or water-process).

I've just made the transition (over 2 weeks) from caf to decaf. Even if caf is safe in small amounts, I don't like the thought of a wired nursling (or a totally fatigued quick-switch-to-decaf me right after the birth) .

[Grace24]

Here's what I've been doing... I buy Newman's Own organic decaf at our grocery store (though not all stores have it) and mix it with a TINY bit of regular and make coffee the night before. Then in the morning I ice it. (The hot coffee makes me nauseous too.)

I avoid Starbie's though since I heard they use fermaldahyde to extract caffeine. I don't know if this is true or not but it scared me! So I just make decaf at home with organic...anything that says Swiss Water Process will work.

They do say it's safe to drink a little caffeine and although I was trying to be caff-free by the time we TTC it didn't happen... but I drink as little as possible in my mix. I have to work evenings, going completely decaf just didn't happen!

[3for3hb]

Oh, caffeine actually helps control nausea for me so a little iced coffee has done me good. I've never been able to drink more than a cup a day (except for exam week when I was still in school) and I'm pretty sure the teratogenic and other effects of coffee come from higher doses of the stuff.

[Lullabymama]

I've been drinking my regular coffee. It's Organic regular coffee. I drink *maybe* 4 oz a day (with my benefiber mixed in!). Everyone is freaked out, but I know it's fine.

[sadiejane08]

I'm pretty sure drinking regular coffee (a cup or even two a day) is totally fine. I just have these visions of a baby who won't sleep :, so I've gone decaf with all my pregnancies and during breastfeeding.

[Meche]

Decaf here. I am sensitive to caffeine -- I get heart palpitations when I drink too much regular coffee. I would also like to hear more about the chemicals used in the decaf process.

Morning sickness hasn't kicked in yet, but with my last pregnancy I couldn't even *smell* coffee or it would make me nauseous. So I am expecting the same to happen again. I am only 4w3d, and m/s usually starts for me around 6-7 weeks. We'll see!

[northcat]

Coffee

I have one coffee every morning. I feel very okay about that.

[ltk]

Coffee is MY mothers' milk, ttee heee..I quite during my last pregnancy except for the rare treat. This time around, i am cutting my intake by 2/3rds..so from 3 cups down to 1. I drink organic and fair trade w/ soy milk! I don't think I could be a WOH mom and quit coffee.....I also drink it when I nurse and my baby slept/sleeps fine.

[apriljoy]

I drink very little in a given day...maybe about 8oz. I think I'll go with Swiss water process (which I always thought was better anyway) when it's available and regular when it's not. This is, of course, until ms kicks in.

Thanks for the input, ladies!

[Ironica]

Ok, here's what I heard... um, 15 years ago? and at the time it was my mom telling me something she read in the paper, but here's how it goes:

There is a natural toxin in coffee. Caffeine is its natural antidote. When you remove the caffeine from coffee (by any process), you're removing the protection from that toxin, which can have a negative effect on your health over time.

So, I *occasionally* drink decaf, but usually stick to regular or at least half-caf instead. I've gone long periods of time off caffeine, and like Meche posted, I'm quite sensitive to caffeine and get heart palpitations with more than a cup da day on average. But right now, I have a job that starts at 8 a.m. two days a week, which is a good two hours before my body clock thinks is time to get out of bed ;-) so this baby, like my last (who gestated during the second year of grad school) will simply learn a tolerance for the stuff. :-/

[sadiejane08]

Originally Posted by Ironica

Ok, here's what I heard... um, 15 years ago? and at the time it was my mom telling me something she read in the paper, but here's how it goes:

There is a natural toxin in coffee. Caffeine is its natural antidote. When you remove the caffeine from coffee (by any process), you're removing the protection from that toxin, which can have a negative effect on your health over time.

Oh, garg. : Well, I'm going to go on the theory that Woody Allen was right, and in a hundred years it will be proven that chocolate and coffee and french fries are actually good for you .

[apriljoy]

Hey, it's already been proven with chocolate..maybe Woody was right!

[apriljoy]

So I've been trying to research this on my own, but all I'm finding is 100% conflicting information. Some scientists say that caffeinated coffee is best during pg...some say that decaf is best. In both cases, they say that the other alternative is more dangerous. This is scaring me. I may just stick to tea this time around...at least until I start to "feel" more pregnant. I'm just so paranoid right now that something could go wrong.

I hate science.