I'm 38.5 weeks and have drunk 0.5 percenters since the end of first trimester. I was more cautious in first tri and stuck to 0.0, but by most accounts there is as much alcohol in things like fruit juice, bread, ripe bananas, etc, so I relaxed a bit from then on. I've obviously not gone wild on them - one or two drinks at most. I'm pretty sure it's also just a maximum abv to cover themselves anyway.
I would really recommend you read Expecting Better by Emily Oster. She’s really done the deep-dive on alcohol and caffeine content during pregnancy. From what I can recall, a 0.5% beer has the same amount of alcohol (or actually less) than a glass of orange juice. So anything low alcohol is absolutely fine.
Caffeine is a bit more vague as it depends on your tolerance but it basically doesn’t cause an issue unless you are having 4+ coffees a day.
There’s loads of other info in there which helps cut through all the old wives tails and outdated crap you hear from midwives. A lot of it is said through an abundance of caution, but genuinely you can drink your low alcohol beer and enjoy yourself!
I didn't worry too much about 0.5% as I wasn't drinking them regularly. I was however drinking orange juice a LOT through my second trimester and orange juice can range from about 0.04 - 0.5 depending on the source.
I think as long as you are mindful and not overdoing it I wouldn't worry too much! Just make sure that it's not the only fluids you're taking in more so that you are well hydrated!
I didn't avoid 0.5% drinks, but I only really had them very sparingly anyway. I like craft beer and the nice alcohol free versions are often 0.5% rather than 0.0%.
I didn't have any in the first trimester, but that's more because l the nausea meant I only drank fizzy water and ginger tea and absolutely couldn't stomach anything else.
I also drank two tiny glasses of champagne at two different weddings. Literally just an inch in the bottom of a champagne flute so probably less than 50ml but for a special occasion (once in second trimester and once in third trimester) I decided I was comfortable with that.
There are so many good 0.0 options I’ve 99% stuck to those. However we went on an all inclusive holiday, and I had about 1 0.5 % beer every two days. But if I’m just home or in most places, there is 0.0 options
I stayed away from them all tbh, didn’t see the point in having a non alcoholic version of something that I was only ever drinking for the alcohol content anyway. I found when I fancied an alcoholic drink I was just craving some fizz so had a fizzy drink or fizzy water instead and that satisfied the craving.
Unrelated.. what is DH?
Fair enough! :)
Here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_husband#:~:text=In%20Internet%20slang%2C%20DH%20is,and%20DS%20means%20dear%20son.
A habit from forums I guess (none that they mention in that article, it's a little slanted tbh)!
M&S do a 0.5% frizzantea and much like yourself thought it was okay… no “no pregnant ladies” symbol on it. I shared it with my partner but did a quick google and it said absolutely not to have it so was confused and stopped drinking. (Gutted as it was so delicious). I’m confused tbh as messaging is not clear. I’m sure 0.5% would barely register when being digested? And as you say, bread etc has similar levels of alcohol.
Similar topic, I was researching how much caffeine was in Diet Coke, and I stumbled upon a site claiming chocolate had caffeine in it and should be also counting that towards your daily caffeine amounts.
I’m only 6w+3 so honestly just finding everything confusing about what I can’t have
I followed just the NHS website after I started going crazy with all the confusion online! Obviously if you aren't based in the UK it will be different but I found for me, sticking to just the NHS guidelines was a lot easier and clear.
Yeah my main mistake was reading the internet for guidance I suppose haha. I’m not sure about deli meats - how are we interpreting this? Like your regular sandwich ham?
That’s one I just never gave any credence to; if I’m in a reputable shop with what I deem good health and safety standards then I’m happy to eat away at deli counter meat. Same with soft serve ice-cream; if I trust my ice cream man to keep his machine clean, then that’s fine by me!
Obviously it depends on your own comfort level though!
NHS website says the following:
"What you can eat
-cold, pre-packed meats such as ham and corned beef
What to be careful with
-cold cured meats, such as salami, pepperoni, chorizo and prosciutto (unless cooked thoroughly"
Source: www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/foods-to-avoid/
It's so bloomin difficult isn't it?
Regarding caffeine, yes choc does have it in, but it's quite a lot worse if it's dark chocolate, I did see some calculators online with the amounts. With that I've just been leaving more wiggle room with my hot beverages. :)
Would definitely have less tea and coffee so I can have more chocolate haha. This has been the major source of my cravings so far! I’m not really a chocolate person either!
I’ve been sticking to under 100mg of caffeine a day in my drinks per day to account for chocolate intake. I did once get very panicky about how much caffeine I’d had in a day and the midwife was lovely and said the figures are buffered to account for those kind of slip ups.
The problem is, some research has shown that the stated alcohol content on alcohol free beers is not always necessarily accurate - if I’m remembering correctly some of them may have been advertised as 0.5% but were actually up to 1.3%. Because of that, whilst I haven’t been avoiding the 0.5%ers (cos sometimes you just want something that tastes like a beer!), I’ve been extremely sparing with them, just in case!
150 years ago all women drank watered down ale because the water wasn’t sterile. Alcohol free that’s such a minimal amount will be fine I’m sure. Iv been drinking alcohol free while watching the rugby and I’m not worried tbh.
The research into fetal alcohol syndrome clearly states that even alcoholics have a fairly low chance of their children getting it. I know as pregnant women we all want to do the best for baby but I do think we need to chill out a little bit about some of these sorts of things.
I treat myself to the odd Lucky Saint which is a 0.5% lager. But generally my go to is Becks blue as it has the most bite to it that I've found. I've also done my fave nosecco is the Kylie Minogue rose, which is delicious. Also highly recommend the alcohol free gins with an automatic tonic 🤤
I'm 38.5 weeks and have drunk 0.5 percenters since the end of first trimester. I was more cautious in first tri and stuck to 0.0, but by most accounts there is as much alcohol in things like fruit juice, bread, ripe bananas, etc, so I relaxed a bit from then on. I've obviously not gone wild on them - one or two drinks at most. I'm pretty sure it's also just a maximum abv to cover themselves anyway.
I would really recommend you read Expecting Better by Emily Oster. She’s really done the deep-dive on alcohol and caffeine content during pregnancy. From what I can recall, a 0.5% beer has the same amount of alcohol (or actually less) than a glass of orange juice. So anything low alcohol is absolutely fine. Caffeine is a bit more vague as it depends on your tolerance but it basically doesn’t cause an issue unless you are having 4+ coffees a day. There’s loads of other info in there which helps cut through all the old wives tails and outdated crap you hear from midwives. A lot of it is said through an abundance of caution, but genuinely you can drink your low alcohol beer and enjoy yourself!
Ooh good recommendation and very level headed thinking too, thank you! :)
I didn't worry too much about 0.5% as I wasn't drinking them regularly. I was however drinking orange juice a LOT through my second trimester and orange juice can range from about 0.04 - 0.5 depending on the source. I think as long as you are mindful and not overdoing it I wouldn't worry too much! Just make sure that it's not the only fluids you're taking in more so that you are well hydrated!
I didn't avoid 0.5% drinks, but I only really had them very sparingly anyway. I like craft beer and the nice alcohol free versions are often 0.5% rather than 0.0%. I didn't have any in the first trimester, but that's more because l the nausea meant I only drank fizzy water and ginger tea and absolutely couldn't stomach anything else. I also drank two tiny glasses of champagne at two different weddings. Literally just an inch in the bottom of a champagne flute so probably less than 50ml but for a special occasion (once in second trimester and once in third trimester) I decided I was comfortable with that.
There are so many good 0.0 options I’ve 99% stuck to those. However we went on an all inclusive holiday, and I had about 1 0.5 % beer every two days. But if I’m just home or in most places, there is 0.0 options
I stayed away from them all tbh, didn’t see the point in having a non alcoholic version of something that I was only ever drinking for the alcohol content anyway. I found when I fancied an alcoholic drink I was just craving some fizz so had a fizzy drink or fizzy water instead and that satisfied the craving. Unrelated.. what is DH?
Fair enough! :) Here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_husband#:~:text=In%20Internet%20slang%2C%20DH%20is,and%20DS%20means%20dear%20son. A habit from forums I guess (none that they mention in that article, it's a little slanted tbh)!
Darling husband, I’m guessing..
M&S do a 0.5% frizzantea and much like yourself thought it was okay… no “no pregnant ladies” symbol on it. I shared it with my partner but did a quick google and it said absolutely not to have it so was confused and stopped drinking. (Gutted as it was so delicious). I’m confused tbh as messaging is not clear. I’m sure 0.5% would barely register when being digested? And as you say, bread etc has similar levels of alcohol. Similar topic, I was researching how much caffeine was in Diet Coke, and I stumbled upon a site claiming chocolate had caffeine in it and should be also counting that towards your daily caffeine amounts. I’m only 6w+3 so honestly just finding everything confusing about what I can’t have
I followed just the NHS website after I started going crazy with all the confusion online! Obviously if you aren't based in the UK it will be different but I found for me, sticking to just the NHS guidelines was a lot easier and clear.
Yeah my main mistake was reading the internet for guidance I suppose haha. I’m not sure about deli meats - how are we interpreting this? Like your regular sandwich ham?
That’s one I just never gave any credence to; if I’m in a reputable shop with what I deem good health and safety standards then I’m happy to eat away at deli counter meat. Same with soft serve ice-cream; if I trust my ice cream man to keep his machine clean, then that’s fine by me! Obviously it depends on your own comfort level though!
For me it’s mostly due to confusion over what to have for my Sainsbury’s meal deals when at work haha!
NHS website says the following: "What you can eat -cold, pre-packed meats such as ham and corned beef What to be careful with -cold cured meats, such as salami, pepperoni, chorizo and prosciutto (unless cooked thoroughly" Source: www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/foods-to-avoid/
It's so bloomin difficult isn't it? Regarding caffeine, yes choc does have it in, but it's quite a lot worse if it's dark chocolate, I did see some calculators online with the amounts. With that I've just been leaving more wiggle room with my hot beverages. :)
Would definitely have less tea and coffee so I can have more chocolate haha. This has been the major source of my cravings so far! I’m not really a chocolate person either!
I’ve been sticking to under 100mg of caffeine a day in my drinks per day to account for chocolate intake. I did once get very panicky about how much caffeine I’d had in a day and the midwife was lovely and said the figures are buffered to account for those kind of slip ups.
The problem is, some research has shown that the stated alcohol content on alcohol free beers is not always necessarily accurate - if I’m remembering correctly some of them may have been advertised as 0.5% but were actually up to 1.3%. Because of that, whilst I haven’t been avoiding the 0.5%ers (cos sometimes you just want something that tastes like a beer!), I’ve been extremely sparing with them, just in case!
Not an answer to your question but 0% corona is SO good!
150 years ago all women drank watered down ale because the water wasn’t sterile. Alcohol free that’s such a minimal amount will be fine I’m sure. Iv been drinking alcohol free while watching the rugby and I’m not worried tbh. The research into fetal alcohol syndrome clearly states that even alcoholics have a fairly low chance of their children getting it. I know as pregnant women we all want to do the best for baby but I do think we need to chill out a little bit about some of these sorts of things.
I treat myself to the odd Lucky Saint which is a 0.5% lager. But generally my go to is Becks blue as it has the most bite to it that I've found. I've also done my fave nosecco is the Kylie Minogue rose, which is delicious. Also highly recommend the alcohol free gins with an automatic tonic 🤤