Can pregnant women eat chocolate?

The content of the article

1 The benefits of chocolate during pregnancy
2 What is the harm of chocolate during pregnancy?
3 What chocolate is better to eat during pregnancy?
4 Video: the benefits and harms of chocolate

Each woman, as soon as she finds out about her interesting situation, tries in every possible way to protect her baby from all kinds of diseases and troubles. The first and most important thing that a future mother can do is to abandon bad habits, devote more time to her health, and try to lead an active lifestyle. But most importantly, you need to change the diet - to exclude salty, fried and unhealthy foods from the diet, refuse semi-finished products and sweet pastry. But what to do with chocolate? Is it also so harmful that it should be forgotten during pregnancy? Chocolate is a unique product that can change the mood of any woman. How does it affect the body during pregnancy, try to figure it out.

The benefits of chocolate during pregnancy

Saying “chocolate” we will mean a quality product made from natural cocoa beans without adding vegetable or palm fat. If this is just such a treat, do not deny yourself the pleasure. After all, natural chocolate is not only possible, but also necessary, even during pregnancy.

First of all, chocolate is an inexhaustible source of endorphins that increase mood, promote the production of the hormone of joy and happiness. After eating a piece of chocolate, a woman becomes much calmer, her emotional state stabilizes, life becomes better!
In the composition of natural chocolate there are flavonoids that are useful for female beauty. These substances strengthen the walls of blood vessels, making them more elastic. Regular but moderate consumption of natural chocolate slows down the aging process in the body.
Chocolate has sugar and caffeine, they improve brain function. This is especially true for pregnant women who continue to work and lead an active lifestyle - study, go to work, etc. A slice of chocolate will help to collect your thoughts and concentrate, get rid of apathy and drowsiness.
Often, women in early pregnancy suffer from toxicosis, which increases with starvation. That is, a vicious circle forms - you cannot eat because you feel sick, you feel sick because you are hungry. You can break the circle with chocolate. A piece of delicious treat usually suppresses nausea and vomiting, the body does not repel a healthy product. In addition, only one piece of chocolate can support a woman with energy and vitamins.
Chocolate has the perfect ability to relax tense muscles. This can be used not only for uterine hypertonicity, but also in the prenatal period - cervical dilatation will be much easier.
Chocolate contains a lot of useful substances that a woman needs during pregnancy. This ensures the normal growth and formation of the baby in the womb.
Chocolate has a lot of magnesium, it is necessary for the growth and development of the brain of the child. A sufficient amount of magnesium in the body is a protection against stress, seizures of the limbs, uterine hypertonicity, etc.
Natural cocoa beans contain iron, which is essential for raising hemoglobin levels in the blood. Good chocolate is the prevention of iron deficiency anemia.
High-quality chocolate is able to increase blood pressure, it is not only effective, but also a safe medicine for hypotensives, because many medicines are prohibited during pregnancy.

Recent studies have shown that regular consumption of natural chocolate can prevent the development of pro-eclampsia. The diagnosis develops due to insufficient functionality of the heart, manifested by high blood pressure and severe edema.

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What is the harm of chocolate during pregnancy?

The main risk is that chocolate is one of the strongest allergens. If a woman has ever had an allergy to chocolate, you should refuse it, because during pregnancy, the body's reaction intensifies tens of times. Even if you have never had an allergy, you should limit your intake of chocolate in your later pregnancy. The fact is that after 30 weeks a child’s own immune barrier is formed, different from the mother’s. If you lean on allergenic products during this period, your baby may suffer from diathesis, and your child’s allergy to sweets will last a lifetime or for many years.

Another minus of chocolate is its high caffeine content. In a small amount, it is, of course, safe, but an excess of chocolate can lead to excessive activity of the baby in the womb, the woman herself has anxiety, a sense of anxiety, panic attacks. The abuse of chocolate is also a high risk of gaining excess fat. After all, this is a fairly high-calorie product, you should not use it without measure. Frequent and uncontrolled eating of chocolate worsens the blood supply in the body, this can slow down the flow of blood to the placenta, the baby will suffer. In addition, after chocolate, heartburn can intensify, which in the late stages of pregnancy constantly torments the future mother.

What chocolate is better to eat during pregnancy?

Many sweet-tooth mothers who cannot refuse their favorite treats want to choose something very tasty, but the least harmful. Speaking about the benefits, we mean that all the valuable and important substances in chocolate are due to cocoa beans. Therefore, white chocolate for lack of cocoa is not considered so useful. You can eat it, but there is very little benefit in it. Milk chocolate is much more valuable. The most useful is considered to be dark chocolate with a high content of cocoa. Try not to eat chocolate with nuts - this is an additional allergen. In order not to harm the baby and feel good, it is enough to eat no more than 25 grams of chocolate per day.

If the future mom wants her favorite chocolate - do not refuse her this. Moderate consumption of goodies will bring a pregnant woman only good and good mood!

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