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• Weekly Check-Up: Energy Drinks Are Bad For Kids

  Um, maybe it's because I have a very high energy child (sometimes called "spirited" meaning "is there a 'pause' switch cuz mama's so tired") but the idea of children consuming energy drinks is totally appalling to me. And of course, the Red Bulls and Rockstars and Monsters and Pimp Juices (ahem) are quite popular with the kids. Some have 350 milligrams of caffeine--equal to the amount in ten cans of Coke. Let's think about it: A 170-pound adult consuming that amount of caffeine is going to have a different reaction than a 60-pound kid doing the same. In fact, the whole thing kinda makes me wish I wasn't (cough) so hooked on sugar-free Rockstar.  Last month four kids in Florida were hospitalized for... Read More... Posted Apr 03 2008, 07:01 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: health, florida, schools, caffeine, drugs, anxiety, doctors, weekly check-up, physicians, energy drinks, problems, ban, redline, rockstar, red bull

• Pregcellent: Women React Strongly To the Caffeine-Miscarriage Study

  A friend of mine had an appointment for artificial insemination, and the clinic told her she should go on bedrest for three days following the procedure to avoid any risk of miscarriage. Well, my friend looked up a bunch of studies, and according to her research, bedrest not only doesn't reduce miscarriage risk after insemination, it has just slightly higher odds of miscarriage. But I can see why the clinic advised this: They want to avoid the idea that any maternal action resulted in a pregnancy loss, and in a way it's exactly how we treat pregnancy nowadays. Don't drink at all. Be careful exercising. Avoid sushi and brie and meat that isn't cooked all the way through. And now, quit coffee or tea, or at the very least, cut way back, or you'll have to live with the fact that if only you had been willing to give it up, you might have had a viable pregnancy. All this, despite the fact that the vast majority of miscarriages are likely the result of genetic or chromosonal issues that mean the fetus would never make it to term, even if you lived in a plastic bubble and only consumed special nutrients and filtered water.  And this is just one of the things that has raised the ire of lots of women towards the latest study connecting higher caffeine consumption... Read More... Posted Jan 23 2008, 08:29 AM by Kelly Mills with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: pregnancy, research study, medicine, drinking, miscarriage, caffeine, pregcellent, taboo, physicians, pregnancy loss, angry women, genetic abnormalities

• Drink Coffee! No, Don't Drink Coffee! Wait! Drink Coffee!

  Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the barista, yesterday's study linking caffeine and miscarriage made it perfectly clear that coffee is bad. Until this morning, that is. Read More... Posted Jan 22 2008, 03:30 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with no comments Filed under: health, caffeine, coffee, science, ovarian cancer

• Make That a Single Cappuccino: Study Links Caffeine and Miscarriage

  Get ready for some flack from your barrista, pregnant ladies. A new study reported in the New York Times connects drinking 200 milligrams or more of caffeine a day (200 milligrams is about 10 ounces of coffee or 25 ounces of tea) to a greater risk of miscarriage. The lead author of the study, Dr. De-Kun Li, says pregnant women should consider going decaf or at least cutting back to a cup for the first few months of being knocked up. The study consisted of interviews with 1,063 pregnant women about caffeine use, but by the time of the study, 102 had already miscarried. Later, 70 more miscarried, for a rate of 16 percent of the group, pretty typical for the population. The researchers found that "the miscarriage rate was 24.5 percent in the 164 women who consumed 200 milligrams or more per day. The increased risk was associated with caffeine itself and not with other known risk factors like the mother’s age or smoking habits." Is there any hope for the latte-loving mamas of the world? Read More... Posted Jan 21 2008, 11:32 AM by Kelly Mills with | with 7 comment(s) Filed under: research study, pregnant, miscarriage, caffeine, coffee, pregnancy and delivery, nutrition labels, tea, forbidden foods

• Kids and Coffee: Is Your Child a Ca-fiend?

  Since our oldest was two and a half years old his morning breakfast routine has been the same: on the couch in his pajamas, the TV turned to PBS, a waffle or ½ a bagel in one hand and a sippy cup filled with Pediasure and a splash of coffee in the other.  Initially the shot of Folgers was just a way to trick him into drinking the Pediasure since he’d been begging us for months to have some coffee. At the time Jack was only in the fifth percentile for weight and the doctor told us it was an effective way to extra calories and vitamins in him so we figured we’d risk the caffeine addiction if it meant he might someday weigh more than Calista Flockhart. Read More... Posted Jan 15 2008, 02:01 PM by makeitadouble with | with 14 comment(s) Filed under: children, caffeine, coffee, sippy cup, starbucks, energy drinks

• What's Next: Starbucks in the Classroom?

  Remember a few months ago when Starbucks proudly announced it was going to begin offering new drinks and smaller sizes to better meet the growing demands of its younger clientele? Aside from the apprehensions about exposing impressionable children to a Barista’s glamorous world of low-riders, tattoos, facial piercings and mainstream ennui there were legitimate concerns about the direct marketing of heavily caffeinated beverages and high calorie frozen drinks to kids. It’s appalling, isn’t it? You’re appalled, right? I was like so appalled. When I heard this news I said to my barista, “Isn’t it bad enough that you sold me an adorable menagerie of plastic kid cups that explode into an adorable dirty bomb of bite-size polyethylene shrapnel when my toddler inevitably throws them on the floor? Now this? What’s next Maddisyn, huh? Will Starbuck be establishing kiosks in my son’s elementary school next to the book return outside the library?” Well, Starbucks may never go that far, but the Mexican Government would. Read More... Posted Nov 26 2007, 12:06 PM by makeitadouble with | with no comments Filed under: children, nutrition, caffeine, coffee, starbucks

• Starbucks Cries “Mercy!”

  As its customers get younger and younger, Starbucks can no longer ignore the pile of gold that is kids ripped on caffeine. The guys in corporate have decided to accommodate their growing kiddie clientele by offering new drinks and smaller sizes “that better meet the needs of kids or teens.” I’m sure they don’t mean Dixie cups of water. The mega-chain’s brand engineers also say they’re not yet ready to market its high-calorie, caffeine-heavy lifestyle directly to children, but it will include more pictures of families in Starbucks ads. Judging from the story, though, parents are doing much of the heavy lifting of instilling Starbucks brand loyalty for them – twice-monthly Chai tea lattes for one four-year-old.   Read More... Posted Sep 12 2007, 04:30 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: nutrition, caffeine, marketing junk food to kids, starbucks, kids drinks

• Caffeine Okay in Late Pregnancy? Yes!

  Lusting for a latte, yet you're pregnant?  Jonesing for java?  Coveting a cappucino? (okay, I'll stop now)  For years, the accepted medical opinion regarding caffeine and pregnancy was simple:  Don't.  Yet new findings based on a rigorous study show that caffeine consumption by women in late pregnancy had little or no effect on birthweight or length of pregnancy.  Which is good news if you've been abstaining for the last 6 months, during your entire pregnancy so far, but your cravings haven't abated. However, before you open a vein and inject the caffeine directly, there are some things that are good to know: Read More... Posted Jan 26 2007, 06:48 PM by Karen Murphy with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: pregnancy, moms, caffeine, coffee, birthweight