Peanuts and caffeine

[DewinDoeth]

OK, so this is my second pg and I'm blase out of date. Or maybe just don't remember - mind you, last pg I was so sick I couldn't keep anything down before 6pm, so maybe the food rules were irrelevant.

I was told yesterday by MW that I'm supposed to switch to decaf tea and coffee, and avoid peanuts like the plague.
I don't drink coffee really - apart from the occasional small cup of instant (weak, with milk) but I do drink tea - 2-3 cups a day.

Peanuts - well, now here's a problem - I have MS and I eat tracker bars because they stave it off; I have a couple of tracker bars and a cup of tea before getting out of bed (!! I even have hot water in a flask for this very purpose) and it keeps me human. Tracker bars have nuts in them, peanuts.

What's the rationale, and how serious is the caffeine thing? I can swap to some other non-peanut cereal bar, but I'm going to seriously struggle with decaf tea.

Well I never got this advice from my Midwife. I think there is an upper limit of how much caffeine you should have a day but a few cups of tea /coffee are fine. Peanuts should be avoided if you have a family history of allergies (but I think new advice is that they are not even sure about that??). I ate peanut butter all the way through!

Maybe look at NHS advice on line? Your Midwife sounds a bit over-cautious!

The midwife told me early in my pregnancy that peanuts were fine and they had recently changed the guidelines back to this.

I have been eating peanut and other nut things, I'm not too concerned, but then I am from the camp of "everything in moderation" (minus pate and the nice cheeses, only 8 more weeks and I am going to gorge myself silly on them) - including caffiene. Not a caffiene person myself but I have had the odd bottle glass of coke throughout my pregnancy. I think you'll be fine with a couple of cuppas a day. The guidelines are along these lines I think? Although apparently tea is supposed to be not so good if you get low iron so swings and roundabouts...

My MW told me peanuts were absolutely fine (am 30 weeks, so not crazily out of date).

As for caffeine, avoided for first trimester (tbh felt sick at the thought of it). Started drinking tea whenever I fancied it (2 or 3 a day) and the odd coffee. Now have a strong coffee most days, but not always. Am so knackered it's the only thing that perks me up! Try to drink hot chocolate instead, but that has caffeine too. Tis a minefield.

I think it depends on how much you worry - I am an avid tea drinker, I switched to decaf (apart from the first 2 cups) as since my daughter was born the "rules" had changed from 6-8 cups to 1-2. I miscarried both pregnancies, when I fell again, I decided not to worry about and just drank what tea I liked, this one has been fine. They say its because it can increase the risk of miscarriage, and later on make you have a small baby, again both my babies were normal size so I personally don't believe it!

This website gives you the latest government guidelines: www.eatwell.gov.uk/agesandstages/pregnancy/whenyrpregnant/

The peanut thing, again, i didn't avoid nuts, my family does have nut allergies but my personal feeling is that it makes no difference whether you eat them in pregnancy or not, this is what that website says about them:

It isn?t clear from the latest science if eating peanuts (or not eating them) when you?re pregnant affects the chances of your baby developing a peanut allergy. So if you would like to eat peanuts or foods containing peanuts (such as peanut butter) when you?re pregnant, you can choose to do so, unless you?re allergic to them yourself.

"You may have heard that some women have chosen not to eat peanuts when they are pregnant or breastfeeding. This is because the Government used to advise women that they may wish to avoid eating peanuts at these times if there is a history of allergy in their child?s immediate family, such as asthma, eczema, hayfever, food allergy or other types of allergy. This was in case a woman eating peanuts when pregnant or breastfeeding increased the chance of her baby developing a peanut allergy. But this advice was changed in August 2009 because it isn?t clear from the latest research if eating peanuts at these times affects the chances of your baby developing a peanut allergy."

So my advice for what its worth is just eat what you can, morning sickness is just awful, you will probably go off tea anyway so the decision will be taken out of your hand and if you only have 2-3 cups a day then you are within the guidelines anyway.

Congratulations with your pregnancy I hope all continues well for you xxx

very high levels of caffeine consumption have been linked to miscarriage - but i think you have to be drinking pints of coffee before you worry. 2-3 cups of tea a day should be fine i think - there was some good advice on the FSA website when i was pg.

nobody really knows whether or not you should avoid peanuts. i think you might want to steer clear if you have food allergies in your immediate family. there must be tree-nut based tracker substitutes? (green and black's with almonds, anyone?)

haha you beat me too it. clearly time i went back to work, i used to be able to type much faster!

Oh, thanks. I had some vague idea that the peanuts thing was under discussion (even when I was last pg - and that's only 2 1/2 years ago!!) My family are robust, cavemen types: not given to any allergies or hayfever, asthma or rashes. DH has hayfever. I'm no scientist but I don't quite get how the peanuts can cause allergies.

Lottery agree on the moderation thing - no soft/mould-ripened cheeses here obv: I'm vegetarian so most of the food warnings aren't relevant for me.

Geeky I also think tea is the only thing which keeps me human!

x-posted massively - thanks all, you're basically confirming what I suspected!
I'm 8weeks now, and still drinking tea - I wasn't able to stomach tea (or anything...) from 3 weeks last time so hell, if I can drink tea surely that's a sign?

I'll consider the green&blacks alternative though!

Limit the caffeine to 200mg a day (3 mugs of tea afaik) and only avoid peanuts or nuts if there's a history of allergies - that's what I was told and it seems to be current advice. I've been avoiding nuts as much as possible but only because DH is actually allergic to almonds.

Link to NHS pregnancy advice page saying that the latest advice re peanuts is that there is no evidance that they are harmfull for anyone in preganancy.

I'm sure I posted this before but My nephew used to have bad allregies. The dr my sister took him to happened to be one of the leading allergy specialists in the UK. He reckoned that his allergies wouldn't have been as bad if my sister HAD eaten peanuts in pregnancy and while breast feeding. I know there are differing views on this though.

For a while peanut butter on toast was about all I could eat dud to MS so I know exactly how you feel!

woops, try again!

I didn't get this advise either. I was told by my gp just to avoid liver and pate and not worry too much about the rest. I thought caffiene was ok in moderation, (no more than 5 cups a day) and the peanut advice was out of date.

I've been enjoying the odd coffee and peanut butter on toast so hope that's right!

Caffeine inhibits your body's absorbtion of folic acid. If cannot live without it, and you are in the 1st trimester and take folic acid, then do not have tea at the same time (eg, take it after a meal which is not followed by tea/coffee drinking) and allow a 3-4 hours before you have caffeine again. Best to avoid caffeine or have in utter moderation.

Have not heard about a restriction on peanuts unless one has an alergy. They do inhibit digestion in many people, though. Wallnut are best avoided, though (read this in a book).

You should all have been given the NHS pregnancy book which details current dietary guidance. If the only advice on pregnancy you've received is really just "avoid liver and pate" I'd ask your MW for the book!

I've also read in a number of books and websites that the theory of eating peanuts causing allergies has never been proven, and that's good enough for me - I love peanut butter, it was one of the things that got me through ms. I still drink coffee, but only about half a cup because that's all I can manage - have gone off it slightly. Tea also about one mug per day, if more I switch to herbal or fruit tea.

I was told to avoid peanuts because between DH and I we have had childhood asthma (him), eczema (me) and hayfever (both) which are believed to increase the risk of nut allergy. Apparently.

Peanuts are fine, as people have said. Caffeine bit more tricky. I've been drinking 2 cups of coffee a day. I did a search for you in the medical trials database and found

this paper

which is a Cochrane review so highly thought of. Suggests so problems found so far - the main findings are

MAIN RESULTS: One study met the inclusion criteria. Caffeinated instant coffee (568 women) was compared with decaffeinated instant coffee (629 women) and it was found that reducing the caffeine intake of regular coffee drinkers (3+ cups/day) during the second and third trimester by an average of 182 mg/day did not affect birthweight or length of gestation.

BUT they say that no random trials done, so there is not enough data and so no conclusions can be conclusive!

Sorry, that was actually no use whatsoever, was it!

Am wolfing Tracker bars, they're delicious (am now 22+1). As for caffeine, I'm a coffee hound and mw just said not to go mad.

Given that this peanut thing is a big deal in the medical profession, and the latest highly publicised research has said to only avoid them if you have a history of allergies, otherwise they're fine, I'm actually a bit concerned that your MW just gave you this advice yesterday. Does she not read any of the memos she gets sent?

Yet another reason to take my midwife's advice with a grain of salt...!!! Sometimes it seems like every midwife in this country has read a different book or attended a different course. :-O

I still eat peanuts (peanut butter....mmmmm!) and I limit my caffeine intake. Now drinking mainly decaf but am having full caf whenever I feel like it (which is probably 2-3 cups per week as I've never been a massive caffeine drinker)

However caffeine is also found in sodas and chocolate, so bear that in mind!! Those count too!

I switched to decaf drinks before pregnancy as I have high bp and it makes it worse, but you can have up to so many a day anyway without it being harmful. And tbh with soft drinks, I think its better to have a cup of drink with caffeine in, than a diet version with sweeteners. I think its more if you are really excessive with it.

And peanuts....I love dry roasted. Its so nice to finally be able to have them this time after every other time being told no lol.