July 16, 2008

Moms + caffeine

I was perusing cnn.com and found an interesting article, "Caffeinated moms keep up to drink up."

My first reaction to the title was, I totally hear you. But then as I read, I discovered moms are drinking much more caffeine than I had originally thought -- and way more than I drink in a two week time period.

I'm not tooting my own horn here, thinking I'm so grand or healthy or hooray for me. Instead I'm wondering, if they have to ingest that much caffeine to make it through the day, isn't something off here? Shouldn't some part of the day be sacrificed to maintain some of their health (or a moment to catch their breath?)?

The article says, "Caffeine works by suppressing the neurotransmitters in your brain that would normally release nerve impulses that make you tired. This is one reason caffeine is addictive, experts say. People start to depend on the boost of energy it provides. But what effect is that having on your health? Research shows that caffeine can trigger migraines, heartburn, gastrointestinal problems and put women at an increased risk of miscarriage. Caffeine consumption also has an impact on your heart."

Crazy! I know we moms do what we have to do to make it through the day, and I'm not pointing fingers at anyone or saying any mom who drinks any amount of caffeine throughout the day is horrible. I'm only wondering, are we too busy to realize the damage we're doing to our own health?

2 comments:

Katie said...

What the devil? That's crazy! I had to read this twice to make sure I got it:

"I need about four energy drinks, three cups of coffee and a six-pack of soda every day."

Amy @ LiveWell said...

@ Katie: I know! I'm really hoping this isn't the norm for even 1/3 of moms out there!! How do you ever have room in your stomach to actually eat after all of that?