Three Cheers for Chocolate
Can Chocolate Lovers Indulge During Pregnancy?
Yes, the food of the gods does contain a little caffeine, but much less than caffeinated beverages, and it can be a great mood lifter. In fact, a study done a few years ago at the University of Helsinki found that babies of moms who ate chocolate daily were more active and smiled and laughed more often. Even moms who considered themselves under stress had babies who were more chilled out than the infants of stressed moms who didn’t eat chocolate.
There’s even more good news for chocolate during pregnancy. A study done by researchers at Yale and the University of California found that women who ate chocolate while pregnant had a reduced risk of preeclampsia. The researchers didn’t just take the participants’ word for how much chocolate (in the form of dark or milk chocolate, cocoa, chocolate milk, chocolate cake, cookies, or ice cream) they ate; they also tested the levels of theobromine—a plant chemical in chocolate that’s similar to caffeine and crosses the placenta—in their umbilical cord blood. Theobromine doesn’t have much of a stimulating effect on the nervous system as caffeine and it actually lowers blood pressure. It has been used to treat hypertension, angina, and atherosclerosis. The results: Women who ate the most chocolate (five servings or more per week) and whose babies had the highest concentration of theobromine in their cord blood were 69 percent less likely to develop preeclampsia. The beneficial effect of chocolate seemed to be the most important during the last three months of pregnancy.
This news ranks right up there with the discovery of your high school rival is living in a trailer park. Before you go to Costco and start buying Hershey’s bars, keep in mind that a 1.3-ounce bar of chocolate contains about 200 calories. Dark chocolate has a little less sugar than milk chocolate and contains more theobromine, so it’s a smarter choice. Oh, and if you’re a white chocolate fan: Sorry, it doesn’t contain any of the plant chemicals that make chocolate good for you.
One final note: If you’ve been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, talk to your doctor before adding any sweets to your diet.
| Caffeine Content of Foods and Beverages | |
| 8-ounce cup of coffee 14-dark chocolate-covered coffee beans 16-ounce chai latte 1 can Red Bull 12-ounce can Jolt Cola 1-ounce espresso shot 1 cup coffee ice cream 8-ounce cup of black tea 1 serving instant cappuccino 12-ounce can of cola 8-ounce cup of green tea 8-ounce cup of white tea 1 1.69 ounce bag of milk chocolate M&Ms 6-ounce cup of instant cocoa 8-ounces low-fat chocolate milk |
95-200 mg 138 mg 100 mg 80 mg 71.5 mg 64 mg 58 mg 47 mg 39 mg 29 mg 25 mg 20 mg 7 mg 4 mg 2 mg |
