by Russell Waldron

Created on: July 16, 2010

According to recent studies from Yale, eating ‘dark’ chocolate regularly during pregnancy may prevent preeclampsia. Preeclampsis is a potentially life threatening hypertension complication in pregnancy. The hypertension is associated to significant amounts of protein in the urine. Researchers have the belief that this is due to the theobromine content found in dark chocolates. What is theobromine? Theobromine is a chemical which dilates blood vessels, prevents hardening to the arteries and reduces blood pressure. Furthermore, a thorough examination of the scientific research suggested that eating dark chocolate while pregnant, could have health benefits for mother and her unborn child. A myriad of pregnant women refrain from eating chocolate when pregnant just like they avoid smoking and alcohol, for health reasons. But eliminating chocolate could be more a bad idea than a good one. Theobromine, is known to stimulate the heart, dilate blood vessels and relax smooth muscles.

Scientists wished to determine if chocolate’s suspected cardiovascular benefits could help prevent preeclampsis. Therefore they studied 2,291 women who had given birth. Mothers who had consumed the most chocolate and those mothers whose babies had the highest concentration of theobromine in their umbilical cord blood, were the least prone to develop preeclampsia. Those women who had eaten five or more servings of dark chocolate in a week during their third trimester, were 40% less likely to develop preeclampsia in comparison to those who ate chocolate less than once a week. It is thought that theobromine could improve circulation within the placenta while blocking oxidative stress.

Another eye opener is the fact that researchers at the University of Helsinki, Finland asked more than 300 pregnant mothers to rate their psychological stress levels along with their chocolate consumption. Six months after the birth of their babies, the mothers rated the behaviour of their babies in various categories. These categories included fear, smiling, laughter and soothability. Those babies born to the regular chocolate eating pregnant mothers rated much more positively. Those babies born to stressed mothers who had regularly eaten chocolate showed a lowered level of fear to new situations than babies of stressed mothers who had not consumed chocolate. Researchers believe that the contentment related to newborn babies, could be due to the chemicals found within chocolate which are definitely

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