Are energy drinks safe while trying to conceive?

What does the evidence say about energy drinks while trying to conceive?

1. Caffeine content in energy drinks varies enormously by brand, ranging from about 50 mg to over 500 mg per can or bottle, compared with a typical soft drink's roughly 65 mg per 12 ounces, and labels don't always disclose how much caffeine comes from added ingredients like guarana or yerba mate on top of the stated caffeine amount. 1
2. Energy drinks commonly combine caffeine with taurine, guarana, ginseng, and other stimulant ingredients, and reviewers note there isn't a solid evidence base evaluating how these ingredients act together, making combined-ingredient safety difficult to assess. 2
3. Taurine itself, one of the signature energy-drink ingredients, appears neutral to protective for reproductive function in the research reviewed, rather than a proven fertility concern at typical dietary levels. 3
4. In a preconception cohort study, both female and male partners who drank more than two caffeinated beverages a day had a higher hazard of pregnancy loss, with a hazard ratio around 1.7 for each partner, compared with those who drank less. 4
5. Energy drink overconsumption has been linked to increases in heart rate and blood pressure, and case reports describe more serious cardiac effects like ventricular arrhythmias and QT prolongation in some users, effects attributed mainly to the caffeine load. 2

What to know about energy drinks while trying to conceive

• Early on, while trying, it's worth settling into the same caffeine ceiling you'd use once pregnant, since energy drinks make that hard to gauge: some cans have 50 mg and others have over 500 mg of caffeine, and labels don't always separate out caffeine that comes from guarana or yerba mate on top of the base amount.
• If you're a few months into trying, a preconception cohort study found that more than two caffeinated beverages a day was linked to a higher chance of pregnancy loss for both female and male partners, which is one more reason to keep energy drinks occasional rather than a daily habit for both of you.
• The closer you get to a possible pregnancy, the more it makes sense to default to plain coffee or tea instead of energy drinks, since you'll know your exact caffeine dose and skip the untested mix of extra stimulants that energy drinks add.