Looking for reassurance - caffeine

[bluemarie87]

Hey everyone, currently on holiday in Egypt! It's boiling. Drinking water a lot and drinking fresh juice on a morning but have been drinking quite a bit of lemonade/Fanta/coke through the day and night as well as some mock tails. Do you think all the caffeine is really bad. At home I drink dilute juice but here there is no option. I feel really guilty but not sure what my options are! I'm
Not drinking tea or coffee! X

Do lemonade and Fanta have caffeine?

The safe limit is considered to be 200 mg a day. You can find online how many cans of Coke that equates to. How far along you are is also relevant - IIRC the principal risk with amounts of caffeine over 200 mg is an increase in miscarriage rates - which will be less relevant if you are past the first trimester.

How about fizzy bottled water with mint, or a twist of lemon or lime? (Presuming facilities are available to make that safely, which I am guessing they are if there are mocktails).

Only coke has caffeine in, the rest don’t..... it’s probably more the amount of sugar you are having but it’s only isolated whilst you are away so I wouldn’t be fussed

My way of approaching these things is (other than smoking/heavy alcohol drinking): did our mums eat/drink/do it and nothing catastrophic seems to has happened to my generation? If 'yes', then it's not worth worrying about.

Clear liquids dont have caffine in them so Sprite, lemonade, 7 up for example are all caffine free. Orange fanta is caffine free too just avoid the coke 😊

Ah I just assumed all fizzy pop had caffeine in. I don't feel as bad now but yes they do all contain a lot of sugar. Even the mock tails. I am drinking a lot of water (mainly day time though) and trying to limit "pop" but it's so hard as I find water so dull. I don't feel as bad knowing other drinks don't have caffeine. I'll just stop the coke as I prefer lemonade anyway. I just want to reduce the sugar intake now. But it is only for a week and it is daily at home. I am not quite past the first trimester yet though I'm 11+4 :)

Isn't daily at home*

As above, it's only the coke with caffeine.
Limit your intake to 2 cans max a day and you'll be fine!

Don't worry too much about the sugars either - i survived the first half of my pregnancy on desserts and sugary treats as they were the only things I craved and didnt vomit back on.
GP told me just to eat anything I could keep down, even if it meant 90% of my diet being haribo

Thanks everybody. Does anyone know how to tag a person you are replying to on here like I've seen other people do? I'm a mumsnet newbie x

@bluemarie87 if you're using the app, just @ then start typing their username 😊

Hi OP,

Provided you’re not having ridiculous amounts of coke, you should be fine. If it’s your only caffeine a day, a can of Coke (classic) has 32mg of caffeine and the advised limit is 200mg per day. I would be worried about the amount of sugar but obviously you’re on holiday and it’s for a limited time. Hope you have a lovely trip!

Why not drink cold water, cold lemon water most of the day and limit yourself to one coke or one fanta a day? The amount you mention sounds like A LOT of sugar. But then again, that could just be me, as I only drink water or lemon water. I do have one coffee w milk in the morning though. I will have a coke maybe once a month if that and juice maybe twice a month.

@Mamabear12 she's only drinking that much while on holiday and said she's already drinking loads of water too

newmomof1 ah, okay. It still sounds like quite a lot of sugary drinks. But it could be because we don't drink them. But that being said, on holiday when I am not pregnant, I do drink cocktails and wine. When pregnant on holiday, I just stick to water, lemon water and perhaps a coke on the odd day if I need a pick me up or as a treat. This is my third pregnancy and I am definitely going to miss have some wine while on holiday (especially since everyone else drinks daily while on holiday in my family!). Boo. And drinking juice etc just does not cut it. I rather have a lemon with water.

Caffeine has health benefits, sugar sodas do not. The very latest research as usual goes against old advice that caffeine is bad for you and now actually says you can drink up to 2 cups a day while pregnant without problems. This is of course if your not overly sensitive to caffeine. This was on This Morning TV about a month ago from their resident Dr. I drink around 4 cups a day and always have. My mother in law who lives in Sweden has always had 4-6 cups a day for her whole life. She is healthy and vibrant and would put many 50 year olds to shame. Sweden's older generations are shockingly healthier than the UK and coffee is their culture. You make your own choices in life. Health advice is nearly always reversed years down the line.

P.s I forgot to say my mother in law is 85!

Sorry. On my phone, missed the pregnancy bit. In pregnancy the recommended is 200mcg a day. So you could have 2 week coffees or one strong one. Sugar would be a no no for me. Do you have the option of mineral water or sparking. May e you could dilute the juices that way.

There is no juice option that's my issue. We have fizzy pop, water, alcohol, tea and coffee, cocktails, mocktails, and fresh orange (only available at breakfast) I'm drinking water through the day but bored of it on an evening. I'm drinking diet lemonade mainly to mix it up as well as the fresh orange at breakfast. It's a mixture between caffeine and sugar I was worried about but it's only a week. At home I drink dilute but that is not an option here that's all

Diet lemonade will have less sugars as they'll add sweeteners. I wouldnt worry, we've just been camping and I drank a lot of pop. It's just a one off z