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Drinking coffee while pregnant

What do you do if you are pregnant and you love coffee?  Well of course the best thing to do is to avoid caffeine altogether, but the problem is you are so used to having a cup or two in the morning just to get your day going, another for your mid day pick me up and then another after dinner. So cutting out all together probably isn’t going to happen.
Well, most doctors agree if you can’t avoid caffeine altogether one or two cups a day max should be ok.  You can try decaffeinated coffee too.  There are some really good tasting decaf coffees out there you can check out. A small amount of caffeine is still found in decaf, but it is just a trace and you shouldn’t worry about it at all.
The problem with caffeine and pregnancy and nursing is that the caffeine flows through the mother’s blood stream and into the placenta and mother’s milk.  The extra boost of energy and increased heart rate the unborn baby and nursing baby receives from the caffeine will stay in their blood stream even longer compared to their mother and they will actually have to go through a withdrawal period.
The best thing to do if you feel you need that pick me up that caffeine gives you is to try some alternatives.  Of course, you can switch to decaf coffee, but you can also try exercising more and eat really good food especially those high in complex carbohydrates and protein.  This change is exceptionally good too because you will get the added benefits of no caffeine and also the advantage of feeling so much better after eating healthy and getting more exercise.
Being pregnant and nursing may seem like it takes a big chunk of your life, but in reality it is really a very short time and those few months of eliminating as much caffeine from your system will not only help you, but will also be a gift for your new baby.

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