JohnQ
|
While it is possible, in rare circumstances, for caffeine to stunt your growth, for the most part, this statement is a myth. It is heard most often in conjunction with children and coffee. The funny thing is that this is only said to children by Americans. Nowhere else in the world does society or parents have a hang-up about allowing their children to drink coffee. Since parents don’t have any real reason to feed their children about why they can’t have coffee, they just tell them that it stunts their growth.
I am not claiming here that caffeine is completely healthy. Although it is the world’s most popular drug, it is still a drug. Furthermore, it has zero nutritional value as a food. Given a sufficient dose, caffeine can cause wakefulness, restlessness, jitters, and even upset stomach. When drunk daily, in sufficient quantity, caffeine is even addictive. No studies, however, have ever been published that links caffeine with stunted growth. Two studies have been done on pregnant women consuming caffeine. The 1980 study states that if you are a pregnant woman, 500 mg or more of caffeine per day can cause delayed skeletal development in your unborn baby. The second study, done in 1991, finds that no size differences exist in newborns whose mothers consumed caffeine while pregnant.
Even though caffeine, in limited quantities, poses little risk in children or adults, movements continue to pop up advocating no caffeine for children. The newest such campaign claims that caffeine is a gateway drug that may eventually lead to heroin use and other addictive behaviors. In contrast, some new studies are showing that caffeine is not all bad. One Harvard study shows that people who consume caffeinated beverages have a lower risk of developing diabetes.
 Posted 5380 day ago
|