TheWellnessLiving Health Tips

Tired moms-to-be that drink coffee to help coping with their  busy schedules should get advice about coffee consumption since a new study suggesting that drinking coffee increases the chance of miscarriage has been published.

The idea that caffeine consumption is linked to higher rates of miscarriage is not new, but critics said the observations could be biased because some pregnant women reduce their caffeine intake because of morning sickness.

1063 women early in their pregnancies were interviewed about their caffeine consumption recording those who changed their drinking patterns and those who didn’t. All participant women were followed to 20 weeks of pregnancy or until miscarriage.

Increased risk of miscarriage was associated to consumption of 200 milligrams or more of caffeine per day (just over one cup of coffee).  The effect was the same with plain coffee or other caffeine-containing beverages such as fizzy drinks, tea and hot chocolate. The research team, who published thair work in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2007.10.803), said that caffeine constricts blood vessels, and this effect may be restricting blood flow to the placenta.

They say it is also possible that caffeine may have a toxic effect on the fetus. Although the conclusion is not firm, they suggest pregnant women to avoid caffeine during pregnancy. “It’s not a big sacrifice”, after all.

Adapted from newscientist.com

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Arsenic is a toxic element that is present in many water streams that supply human populations with drinking water. In some places the amount of arsenic in the water is very high and causes severe toxicologic problems. This is especially problematic in regions of Bangladesh and India, where contaminated water sources affect millions.

A recent study carried out in the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology in Kolkata by Keya Chaudhuri and colleagues used rats to test the effect of garlic on arsenic poisoning. The rats were given daily doses of arsenic in their water, in quantities similar to those occurring in groundwater in Bangladesh and West Bengal. The groups of rats that were also fed garlic extracts had 40 per cent less arsenic in their blood and liver. They were also fount to excrete 45 per cent more arsenic in their urine. The work was published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology (DOI: 10.1016/j.fct.2007.09.108).

About the mechanism by which garlic may be helping, Dr Chaudhuri says that certain compounds that contain sulphur present in garlic could be “scavenging” arsenic from tissues and blood. Based on her findings, she thinks having one to three garlic cloves a day may help people living in risk areas to prevent or reduce the toxic effects of arsenic.

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