The question you have all been waiting for! Sit back, read through and get your coffee ready (unless this article advises otherwise!)
What Exactly is Caffeine?
Caffeine is a natural chemical with stimulant effects. Caffeine is widely present in many beverages and foods, especially tea, coffee, cola, energy drinks and chocolate.
Caffeine works by stimulating the central nervous system, heart, muscles, and the centres that control blood pressure. Caffeine can raise blood pressure but might not have this effect in people who consume it all the time. Caffeine can also act like a "water pill" that increases urine flow.
People most commonly use caffeine for mental alertness, headache, migraine, athletic performance, memory, and obesity. Effects of caffeine on health is like a double-edged sword. It has been linked to have a protective effect on cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, liver disease, and even Parkinson’s disease. It is also used for asthma, gallbladder disease, ADHD, low blood pressure, depression, and many other conditions, but there is no substantial scientific evidence to support most of these other uses.
Is Caffeine a Legal Drug?
It is legal to consume and sell caffeine in Australia, although adding it to foods and beverages is strictly regulated by the Food Standards Code of Australia and New Zealand. Caffeine products sold in very concentrated or pure forms can be a health concern, however people can easily take doses that are much too high by mistake.
The Food Standards Code stipulates that formulated caffeinated beverages must contain no less than 145 mg/L and no more than 320 mg/L of caffeine (from all sources, including guarana). As such, the legal caffeine limit for a standard 250 mL energy drink in Australia is 80 mg, the equivalent of an average cup of instant coffee. Despite regulation of the level of caffeine in energy drinks, there are no regulations on the volume (pack size) of retail units and therefore, the dose of caffeine consumed per retail unit can vary greatly.
Caffeine is likely safe for most healthy adults when used in doses up to 400 mg daily. This is equal to about 4 cups of coffee. However, there is wide variation in both how sensitive people are to the effects of caffeine and how fast they metabolise it (break it down).
When is Caffeine unsafe?
Caffeine is possibly unsafe when used for a long time or in doses over 400 mg daily. Caffeine can cause insomnia, nervousness, restlessness, nausea, increased heart rate, and other side effects. Larger doses might cause headache, anxiety, and chest pain. Certain conditions tend to make people more sensitive to caffeine’s effects, as can some medications. In addition, if you’re pregnant, trying to become pregnant, or breastfeeding, or are concerned about another condition or medication, we recommend talking to your health care provider about whether you need to limit caffeine consumption.
Caffeine is likely unsafe when used in very high doses. It can cause irregular heartbeat and even death. Products with very concentrated or pure caffeine have a high risk of being used in doses that are too high. Best to avoid using these products.
A morning cup of coffee or tea is practically a tradition in the Western world. Many people are therefore interested in research looking at a possible connection between caffeine, fertility, and miscarriage rates.
Studying the impact lifestyle choices have on fertility is complex. You can’t exactly take a bunch of people, keep them in a lab to control everything they eat and drink, and see how quickly they conceive. Studies rely on accurate reporting and recall. Research on fertility rates and caffeine often ask women to report how much coffee they drank before they conceived.
Now the Main Question: Caffeine and Fertility!
For a long time, the relationship between caffeine consumption and infertility in the general population is unclear, and different studies often draw opposite conclusions. Here are some findings from various medical articles below:
Caffeine intake may have a negative impact on male reproductive function but the relationship between caffeine intake and semen parameters or male fertility has not been found (Ricci et al. 2017)
A 1988 study concluded women who drank about a cup of coffee per day were half as likely to conceive (Wilcox et al.1988). This study has been frequently cited in the last several decades, however no subsequent study has been able to replicate those findings
Women who consumed more than 300 mg of caffeine per day (more than 1 cup of coffee) had similar fertility rates compared to women who drank less than 100 mg to none per day (Hatch et al. 2012).
Women who drank two or more servings of tea per day were slightly more likely to conceive than those who drank no tea (Hatch et al. 2012).
Women who drank soda were less likely to conceive in any given month than women who didn’t drink soda. Women who drank three servings of soda per day had worse fertility rates than women who drank one soda serving per day
Drinking 300 mg of caffeine increased the risk of early pregnancy loss or spontaneous abortion (SAB). Drinking 600 mg of caffeine more than doubled the risk of miscarriage (Gasking et al. 2018).
Caffeine did not, however, impact the time it took for couples trying to conceive naturally to get pregnant. Caffeine intake also did not seem to negatively impact pregnancy rates for couples receiving fertility treatments (Gasking et al. 2018).
Studies have not found a definitive connection between caffeine and lowered fertility in men (Durairajanayagam, 2018)
Studies that have shown an effect find that less than 200 mg of caffeine does not present problems for most people. However, excessive caffeine might increase your risk of early miscarriage (Lyngso et al, 2017)
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) on Fertility
In TCM, infertility is called ‘Bu Yun’, which translates to ‘not being able to hold’. In strict medical terms, infertility is the inability of a sexually active, non-contracepting couple to achieve pregnancy in 12 months. For a full article on what is infertility and the role of Acupuncture in fertility please see our previous article: Acupuncture for Fertility Treatment (Female & Male Infertility, IVF)
TCM on Caffeine (where it gets fun!)
Coffee belongs to the plant family Rubiaceae, and many other Chinese herbs fall under this classification and can have similar effects. The difference lies in the dosages consumed, in Chinese Medicine when your practitioner prescribes you a formula the dosage of each herb is chosen very thoughtfully and most herbs that are beans in Chinese medicine are dosed at 6 to 18 grams per day. One cup of coffee offers 6 to 9 grams, however, who really drinks just one cup. Often, we are consuming nearly 4 to 6 times that! We could never expect to take 4 to 6 times the recommended dosage of any herb and not experience any adverse effects.
Type and Quality of Coffee
The green coffee bean according to Chinese medicine stimulates and regulates the Liver organ. This helps move old blood around the body to improve circulation, activates the heart’s role to increase blood flow, and promote a stronger gallbladder function. When the Liver’s Qi (energy function) is affected, the body will exhibit signs of being agitated and devitalised. This is part of the reason we feel an intense burst of mental and physical stimulation after consuming coffee, and its actions listed above are also why it can promote a bowel movement, alleviate constipation, and promote urination. Initially the green coffee bean was used medicinally to regulate menstruation and stimulate the liver function, but that was before we began roasting the beans. Roasting herbs brings out their warming ability which can aggravate many symptoms if there are already signs of heat in the body or if the liver’s function and Yin (cooling) aspect of the body is deficient.
Effects of Caffeine
If you’re aggravated by too much warming you may experience hot flashes, night sweats, dizziness, and anxiety. Since coffee is a diuretic, this will cause your body to lose even more vital fluids necessary to moisten your skin and intestines. “Like a plant in the sunshine, without water to balance out the sunlight, the plant becomes dry.” Because the green coffee bean stimulates the Liver Qi to move, for those with iron/blood deficiencies and overall fatigue and less energy, it can leave you feeling very ungrounded and out of balance. There is not enough energy to move thus scattering it across the body and creating adverse reactions. Furthermore, Western science cautions people who suffer from anxiety, arrhythmia, and insomnia to steer clear of coffee.
As coffee moves blood, some women who tend toward impacted and slower blood flow will experience calming sensations as the immediate effect. But as the day progresses the feeling of tiredness, irritability or ‘feeling stuck’ will return because some women may not be able to metabolise or process caffeine in the same manner as come men might. This may cause a women’s hormonal patterns and processes to go out of balance. Caffeine and the effect of coffee stays in our body for up to 24 hours!
TCM Properties of Coffee
TCM provide a thorough explanation regarding the temperature, flavour and respective organs that foods influence within the body. Coffee is Yang (warm) in nature. It creates heat as it moves, invigorates, and disperses. The coffee bean has bitter and sweet flavours, and a bitter flavour is associated with the liver and sweet flavour is with the spleen. When drinking coffee, it can regulate the liver and spleen to help harmonize digestion. However, if you suffer from a weak spleen (or poor digestion), it can often cause gastrointestinal discomfort. Additionally, drinking too much coffee will agitate the liver’s function further.
Coffee seems to always be a debatable topic by health professionals. Some argue it's bad for you because of the adrenal exhaustion, digestive disturbances, and nutritional deficiencies it causes. But you can always find information telling you that it's good because of antioxidants, increased brain function, and protective function in the liver. Just like any health or diet topic there seems to be two very contrasted beliefs. People seem to pick the side that suits their habits (and taste buds) best.
TCM View
The overall consensus by TCM practitioners is that coffee depletes Kidney essence. Kidney essence (Jing) is the energy derived from the Kidneys of the mother which nourishes the foetus during pregnancy and the father which facilitates fertilisation. It determines the basic constitution, strength, and vitality of an individual. It is fixed in quantity, determined at birth: it cannot be added to, only conserved and used up more slowly. Therefore, the fact that coffee depletes this vital essence is something to be aware of, especially when trying to conceive. Depleted Kidney Jing can lead to an onset of ageing, reducing the chances of falling pregnant and conceiving. Even if a person may fall pregnant, it is vital to converse their kidney energy to pass on to their child so the child can have as stronger life force from the parent as possible. The Kidneys and the adrenals have a very close relationship, and this is the TCM explanation of adrenal exhaustion caused from coffee.
Final Verdict
To summarise, it is best to limit coffee when trying to conceive. During a course of fertility, the goal of acupuncture treatments is to prevent as much Kidney energy from being depleted as possible. It is best to consult with your TCM practitioner and acupuncturist to help offer a greater insight based on pulse and tongue diagnoses to determine your specific constitution and bodily needs. This provides us a new way to look at coffee as a medicinal herb/food remedy and figure out the most beneficial way to apply it to an individual. Unlike most dietary belief systems, TCM doesn't view foods as either good or bad. There is an awareness that life is not black or white but rather a fine balance between the two. A particular food may be good for one person and bad for another or even good for one person during one season and bad for that same person in a different season.
Conclusion
We need to keep in mind that many times we are drinking coffee because we are trying to combat an energetic imbalance by dealing with the symptoms rather than its root cause. This is when working with a TCM practitioner can be beneficial, helping you rebalance your body through treatment and dietary suggestions – to address the root cause of tiredness, lack of focus and fatigue leading to increased coffee consumption.
For fertility, it is vital to discuss your main goals and health complaints with our health practitioners and ask all your relevant questions. Only then, our experienced practitioner can help further understand your situation and can they apply the best treatment protocol. To learn what we can do for you, Contact our team today👇
AcuLife
(02) 4620 9798
5 Stewart St, Harrington Park
Bookings: www.aculife.com.au
References
Durairajanayagam D. Lifestyle causes of male infertility. Arab J Urol. 2018;16(1):10-20. doi:10.1016/j.aju.2017.12.004
Gaskins AJ, Rich-Edwards JW, Williams PL, Toth TL, Missmer SA, Chavarro JE. Pre-pregnancy caffeine and caffeinated beverage intake and risk of spontaneous abortion. Eur J Nutr. 2018 Feb;57(1):107-117. doi: 10.1007/s00394-016-1301-2. Epub 2016 Aug 29. PMID: 27573467; PMCID: PMC5332346.
Hatch EE, Wise LA, Mikkelsen EM, et al. Caffeinated beverage and soda consumption and time to pregnancy. Epidemiology. 2012;23(3):393–401. doi:10.1097/EDE.0b013e31824cbaac
Lyngso J, Ramlau-Hansen CH, Bay B, Ingerslev HJ, Hulman A, Kesmodel US. Association between coffee or caffeine consumption and fecundity and fertility: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis. Clin Epidemiol. 2017;9:699-719. doi:10.2147/CLEP.S146496
Ricci, E., Viganò, P., Cipriani, S. et al. Coffee and caffeine intake and male infertility: a systematic review. Nutr J 16, 37 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-017-0257-2
Wilcox A, Weinberg C, Baird D. Caffeinated beverages and decreased fertility. Lancet. 1988 Dec 24-31;2(8626-8627):1453-6. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(88)90933-6. PMID: 2904572.