Caffeine = bad?

Okay. So I have gone back and forth on the caffeine issue for a long long long time.

"Caffeine is bad, it will kill you slowly!"

"Caffeine is not so bad if you don't have too much, stop worrying."

"Caffeine in tea is just as bad -- and chocolate has it, too!"

"Chemicals in decaffeinated teas are worse than having the caffeine, drink up!"


Seriously. Let's reach a concensus, shall we?

Well, I open Science Daily today, and see this:

Consuming Even Small Amounts Of Caffeine When Pregnant May Affect Growth Of Unborn Child

Great. Here's the article. It basically says that even in small amounts, the more caffeine you have, the higher your risk for a low birth weight baby. Not so good.

Then I looked at the sidebar where they keep related news, and saw this:

Reducing Caffeine Intake Has No Effect On Birth Weight Or Length Of Pregnancy

Right. Here's that article (I'm sure you can guess what it says).


You know, I go back and forth. Here's the obvious:

1. Me on coffee: I get jittery, sweaty, my heart races, and then I crash.
2. Caffeine in diet pills = even worse. (I take no responsibility for the flaws of my past.)
3. Tea has not as much caffeine, but still has some.
4. I AM NOT EVER GIVING UP CHOCOLATE NO MATTER HOW MUCH CAFFEINE IS IN IT. (Just had to make that clear.)

Lately, as Matt drinks caffeinated tea all day, I have started drinking it again. I had it banned from my diet at one time. I don't feel worse for the wear. But if I found out tomorrow I was pregnant, I'd probably lower my intake as much as possible. (I'd still eat chocolate. Obviously.) And I'd tell my other preggies to do the same, or at least tell them no one really knows if it's bad or not and make the choice wisely.


Let's consult Wikipedia. Wikipedia knows all.

Caffeine (paraphrased): Caffeine acts as a central nervous system stimulant and speeds the metabolism. It is the world's most widely consumed psychoactive substance. It is useful for the plant as a pesticide. Its half-life in the system increases with disease or with youth (no wonder kids seem to hang on to a caffeine high for so long!). It may decrease long-term memory and impede learning.

Getting more technical: Caffeine is a competitive inhibitor of adenosine (part of the famous ATP molecule, the thing we use to store and use energy in our body). Oddly, it seems that this would cause brain activity to faulter... maybe that's why people seem to get energetic, but can't keep their thought processes under control. It intensifies and prolongs the effects of epinephrine-like drugs (read: when on meth, caffeine will make your high last longer! Hooray!). It can really screw up a spider's abillity to spin a web. :)


Okay, enough science. Well, I don't like anything that speeds up my metabolism -- our metabolisms are fast enough, thankyouverymuch, and the faster they are, the faster we die (I think). I may use it during an asthma attack to see if it helps to dialate my bronchials. But past that... well, I guess I'll head back to my herbal tea.


But I'm still going to drink some. I like Earl Gray and Chai, what can I say?


Drink up the tea, everyone.