Caffeine and conception: Is your coffee impacting your fertility?
Sydneysiders. We love our coffee. It gets us out of bed, it tastes lovely, it offers routine and it’s currently a nice daily interaction with a face albeit behind a mask.
I get it because I love coffee too. After 10 years living in Melbourne I now get into bed at night and feel excited that it’s Coffee Eve [again]. So I understand the trepidation around the question… “what about coffee”?
Should you give up coffee while trying to conceive?
Dose-dependent: (dose-deh-PEN-dent).
Refers to the effects of treatment with a drug. If the effects change when the dose of the drug is changed, the effects are said to be dose-dependent.
While there is a growing body of evidence that shows a dose-dependent link between caffeine intake in pregnancy and an increased chance of miscarriage, the relationship between caffeine consumption and the ability to conceive is a little less clear [1].
I think the question we are really asking is more specific - what patients really want to know is will drinking coffee impact egg quality? Remember - the only way to tell if an egg is perfect enough to become a pregnancy is if it goes on to achieve fertilisation and full term pregnancy.
Could caffeine impact egg quality?
It’s plausible, and there is research to suggest that caffeine might be negatively impacting egg quality.
A breakthrough paper was published in 2010 using data from an IVF lab and caffeine levels measured through testing caffeine levels in the blood. The researchers found that:
caffeine reaches the follicles and that fewer eggs were collected as caffeine increased
time to pregnancy wasn’t impacted by the rise in caffeine levels
early miscarriage was more likely for women with higher levels of caffeine - ie, there was a dose dependent impact [2]
Similar findings were found in 2017, in a meta-analysis that determined time to pregnancy was again, not impacted by caffeine intake, but the chance of miscarriage increased in women who were consuming 300mg caffeine per day in the month leading up to conception [3].
In 2018 a study found that women who were consuming more than 50mg/caffeine per day in the pre conception period had a slight, yet statistically increased chance of miscarriage than those taking less than 50mg/caffeine per day [4].
What does caffeine do to our hormones?
Caffeine causes a spike in our cortisol levels and prolactin levels. Increases in either of these hormones can inhibit or delay ovulation [5].
So what to do with this information? The devil is in the dosage.
Caffeine is not a contraceptive. There just isn’t enough evidence to fully rule out caffeine for everyone. One of the benefits of working 1:1 with patients in the ability to be able to give individualised advice, so while this is a general approach, it isn’t certainly isn’t personalised information. As a very general approach, our 6 guidelines:
Limit your intake to one coffee per day,
Have your coffee on a full stomach - after breakfast but before lunch (and not just before your acupuncture treatment!)
If you have a history of miscarriage we suggest taking an 88 day coffee-free period, or keeping your caffeine intake at, or under 50mg/caffeine per day
Similarly, for our patients who aren’t ovulating or are struggling with an inconsistent period, we suggest limiting caffeine intake - particularly if your coffee makes you feel jittery or anxious
Poor IVF responders could consider an 88-day caffeine detox or limit before egg retrieval
Under the pump? Stressed? Not sleeping? Sorry, we suggest you consider lowering levels or taking a little break too.
It all adds up
The biggest contributor to our daily caffeine intake is coffee, however it is important to be know we get caffeine elsewhere. Natural sources like tea and chocolate as well as synthetic versions in our cosmetics, energy drinks, pain meds and foods like syrups all add up.
Coffee is sorted - wondering what science suggests is the best way to eat to conceive? You can read about that here
Ready to see us in the clinic? You can book your appointment online here
References
Chen LW, Wu Y, Neelakantan N, Chong MF, Pan A, van Dam RM. Maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy and risk of pregnancy loss: a categorical and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies. Public Health Nutr (2016) 19:1233–44.10.1017/S1368980015002463
Al-Saleh, Iman & El-Doush, Inaam & Grisellhi, Bellido & Coskun, Serdar. (2010). The effect of caffeine consumption on the success rate of pregnancy as well various performance parameters of in-vitro fertilization treatment. Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research. 16. CR598-605.
Lyngsø 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. Published 2017 Dec 15. doi:10.2147/CLEP.S146496
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;57(1):107-117. doi:10.1007/s00394-016-1301-2
Vitale SG, La Rosa VL, Petrosino B, Rodolico A, Mineo L, Laganà AS. The Impact of Lifestyle, Diet, and Psychological Stress on Female Fertility. Oman Med J. 2017;32(5):443-444. doi:10.5001/omj.2017.85