When I was pregnant with my first child, I swore off all forms of caffeine (milk chocolate excluded – a mom-to-be needs at least one vice). It took me 1.5 years to get pregnant and I wasn’t about to risk anything. Our site has touted the risks of drinking coffee while pregnant. Drinking less than a tall Starbucks coffee can double your risk of miscarriage. Likewise, I avoided coffee during the first six months of breastfeeding. What if my baby was a slow caffeine metabolizer?

Then came pregnancy number two. Busy with a toddler, I no longer had time for afternoon naps. I had to work in the evenings so no early to bed either. And once baby actually came? Forget about more than 5 or 6 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period. Saying no to coffee just wasn’t an option. Yes, I tried to keep my intake low. Latte’s instead of regular java (less than a third the caffeine) and only one cup a day. If I was having a really rough day I’d also indulge in a tea. But I still felt guilty.

So I was happy to hear there may actually be good health news for coffee drinkers. New research shows that drinking coffee lowers the risk of developing throat cancer. Compared with people who did not drink coffee, drinking one or more javas a day can cut your risk of mouth, pharynx and esophagus cancer in half.

I’m not going to switch from a daily latte to coffee until I’ve finished breastfeeding (even though it is getting pricey – Starbucks loves me) but at least I can rest assured that my habit may be doing some good. And I’m sure my infant isn’t getting much (if any) of the the minimal amount of caffeine I’m actually consuming.

Tags: breastfeeding, caffeine, caffiene, cancer, coffee, health, pregnany, should I drink coffee while pregnant, throat cancer

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 at 6:35 am and is filed under Nancy's Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.