Erica Hoke, a mother of four who struggled with infertility, argues that women trying to conceive should eliminate caffeine entirely. Caffeine can disrupt hormone balance, impair mineral absorption, and increase miscarriage risk, even though the WHO recommends a 200 mg limit.
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Hello, hello. So let's talk about it. Could coffee be the reason that you're not able to get pregnant? Let me tell you what I'm not. I'm not a doctor. Let me tell you what I am. I am a mom of 4 who had every infertility issue known to man. Um, I was not a candidate for IVF, and I stopped drinking coffee to get pregnant. So let's talk about some of the reasons why this might be a problem for you. So I know that your doctor has probably told you coffee is fine. I know that your friends have probably told you one cup of coffee is fine. I know your Facebook group has probably said, I drink coffee and everything's fine. But the fact of the matter is, is if you're not pregnant and you're trying to get pregnant, and especially— excuse me— especially if you do not have the option of IVF, or infertility treatments like I did not, you want to do everything possible to support your body. And coffee is just not in the, in the cards for you. Let me tell you a few reasons why. So gut health is life, you guys. So gut health is life for your hormones, for your immune system. And coffee messes with your digestion. Everybody knows that. Okay, let's just be completely honest. Everybody knows you drink a cup of coffee, you go poop. Okay, so it can also mess with implantation because it's a stimulant, right? We know that it's technically a drug that you're taking. Just because it's legal or socially accepted doesn't change the fact that it is in fact a drug. So it also, studies have shown that coffee and caffeine, sorry, I should be saying caffeine, It can affect the implantation, can affect also early miscarriage. So for most people, this is not going to be a problem. So one of the things that I found out after I had my kids, that if I hadn't done all that I had done to, um, clean up my diet, to rid myself of things that were interrupting my hormones and improve my gut health, Um, then I probably wouldn't have gotten pregnant because I'm a double mutation on both genes for MTHFR. So that could be you. Okay, I'm going to say that one more time, um, so that you know that I'm not cursing. MTHFR. So look, look that up and watch for another video coming soon about MTHFR and infertility. So So the standard by like the World Health Organization and by your doctors, people like that, the medical community, is 200 milligrams of caffeine. Less than that is acceptable for pregnant women and also women trying to conceive. But here's the thing. First of all, 100%, if you don't know, your doctor is not a dietitian. Your doctor is not a nutritionist, by the way. Neither am I. Just sharing my, my experience and my stories. But let's talk about what caffeine does in your body. It really, really messes up your absorption of minerals, which you definitely need. Your body definitely needs calcium. It needs magnesium. Most Americans are super magnesium deficient. Um, iron, which we know is important in pregnancy, and then also your B6 and your B vitamins, basically. Also copper. So it messes up the absorption for those. So it also acts as a diuretic. So it is going to strip your body of potassium. It's gonna strip it of sodium and phosphate, and you're gonna pee all that out. So if it was for no other reasons other than those, other than the mineral depletion, then that should be enough for you to take heart in and take stock in and consider if you're trying to get pregnant before you spend all that money on IVF treatments and that sort of thing to go ahead and try to clean up your diet. Um, watch my other videos and also remove caffeine from your diet. So if you are watching on YouTube, click the subscribe buttons, clip, click the bell. Also, if you're not on YouTube and you're watching on Facebook or someplace else, go ahead and search, um, YouTube for my first and last name, Erica Hoke, or Woke to Wellness, and I will see you next time. Health and blessings and baby dust to you. Bye-bye.
