One More Reason to Reduce your Morning Cup of Coffee, Caffeine Increases Miscarriage Risk, Warns Study

Experts for the last couple of years have been extolling the benefits of having more coffee. Encouraging people to consume coffee more, the experts highlight its benefits from improving natural defense to enhanced cognitive abilities. It started to appear as if there is nothing quite wrong with increases consumption of caffeine.

However, a recent study warns that as the pregnant women move closer to conception, increased coffee intake can lead to miscarriage. In fact, the researchers discovered that the risk of miscarriage elevated if either the man or the woman consumed more than two caffeinated drinks every day, especially in the weeks leading up to conception.

"There's something about drinking caffeinated beverages that is associated with pregnancy loss," said Germaine Buck Louis of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, who led the study.

Another apparent link was discovered in the same study between consuming caffeine in first seven weeks of pregnancy and the possibility of a miscarriage. While this is not the first of its kind study, the previous ones only focused on the effects of caffeine consumption only on women.

This study focuses on caffeine intake for both men and women. Even though there is evidence suggesting an association between miscarriage and caffeine consumption, researchers said that it is not enough to draw conclusions yet. In fact, it is not known the exact effect of caffeine on likelihood of miscarriage. Scientists feel that this may have something to do with the way caffeine interacts with eggs and sperms at a genetic level, though it still needs to be studied in-depth.

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

"Our findings also indicate that the male partner matters, too,"

"Male preconception consumption of caffeinated beverages was just as strongly associated with pregnancy loss as females."