Last month we looked at how stress can affect fertility so it is important to know what can be done to help control stress. It is interesting to know that we can help to control stress and the effects of stress by what we eat and drink.

One of the most important substances to think about is caffeine. It is known that by cutting out caffeine you are immediately reducing the amount of stress your body thinks you are under. Also caffeine can exaggerate the adrenal response and can increase the levels of adrenaline produced in normal everyday activity by 32%. So stressful events of normal daily life, so caffeine can make certain everyday events seem more stressful than they should be.

Research on caffeine and fertility has shown that women who drink coffee find it three times as difficult to conceive as those who don’t and that two to three cups of coffee a day may be associated with increased risk of miscarriage. Even drinking as little as one cup of coffee a day can also decrease your fertility and halve your chances of conceiving according to another study in the Lancet. Even three cups of decaffeinated coffee per day has been associated with an increased risk of miscarriage (when coffee is de-caffeinated there are still two other stimulants left).

Men aren’t immune to the effects of caffeine on fertility either and studies indicate that problems with sperm health seem to increase the more cups of coffee men drink a day.

As well as the stress inducing effect of caffeine, it also has a diuretic effect (makes you want to go the toilet more) and this can deplete the body of vital fertility boosting nutrients such as zinc and selenium.

Caffeine is found in regular coffee, black tea, green tea, some soft drinks, chocolate and many over-the-counter pharmaceuticals. Tea contains tannin as well as caffeine and tannin limits the absorption of important minerals so if you drink tea with your meals you are preventing vital nutrients from being absorbed in your digestive tract.

Your caffeine cut back plan:

Caffeine is addictive so if you start to cut back from four or five cups a day to one or even none you may find that you experience withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, nausea, muscle cramps and tiredness. That’s why I suggest that you cut back slowly over a few weeks.

To cut back on coffee and tea:

• Make one cup at a time instead of a whole pot
• Buy a dainty cup and get rid of your jumbo size mug
• If you’re at a coffee shop order small or tall mugs
• To ease withdrawal symptoms cup back gradually over a two to three week period. Lower your intake by drinking grain coffee or diluted or smaller amounts of regular coffee
• Consider trying grain coffee available at health food stores or the health food section at your supermarket
• Start cutting back during the weekend or on holiday when it is less busy and stressed
• Brew some chamomile tea – often used to ease stress – and take lots of warm baths, walks and naps to get you through the withdrawal symptoms if you are cutting back
• Drink good for you beverages such as water, fruit juice, vegetables juices and herbal teas
• Decaffeinated options for tea and coffee aren’t really a good choice as we have no idea how many chemicals are involved in the de-caffeination process but you can use them just in the weaning process to get you off the caffeinated drinks. Begin by substituting decaffeinated coffee for half of your total intake per day and then gradually change over to all decaffeinated. Then, slowing substitute other drinks, such as herbal teas and grain coffees. You should, ideally, eventually eliminate decaffeinated coffee as well because coffee contains other stimulants (theobromine and theophylline) which are not removed when the coffee is decaffeinated.