Beans Shrink Babes?

Pregnant? Or planning to be? A new study suggests that moms who drink coffee, tea or cola put their feti at risk for low birth rate.

Researchers recruited 2,635 women at between eight and 12 weeks of pregnancy, interviewed them about their eating habits and monitored their saliva, and found that women who drank between 100 and 199 milligrams of caffeine per day faced a 20 percent increased risk of having a baby with a relatively lower birth weight compared with counterparts whose intake was less than 100 mg per day. 100 mg equals about one cup of coffee or two cups of tea. For moms drinking 3-4 cups of coffee the risk rose to 40%, and six cups was 50%.

More bad news for chocoholics: caffeine is also present in cola, chocolate, cocoa and some drugs.

This is the first study that also sees a link in tea, which comprised 60 percent of the caffeine consumed by the women.

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