Finally, some good news about pregnancy and what we might choose to eat or drink during those nine loooonnnngggg months.
Researchers at Yale University studied more than 2200 pregnant women between January 1996 and September 2000, and found those who reported eating at least five servings of chocolate a week were 40 percent less likely to develop pre-eclampsia than those who consumed less than one serving a week.
Preeclampsia is rare but serious, sending the mother's blood pressure soaring and often leading to premature deliveries and babies at serious risk of dying. It's scary stuff and the cause is unclear.
Researchers believe the chemical theobromine , which occurs naturally in chocolate, could be responsible for the protective effect. They tested the levels of theobromine in the umbilical-cord blood of babies born to mothers in the study. It found a correlation between women who consumed the most chocolate, therefore those whose babies had the highest concentration of theobromine, and a significantly reduced incidence of preeclampsia.
And this is my favorite pregnancy-eating quote ever from any expert, ever: Lead researcher Dr Elizabeth W. Triche said, "Because of the importance of preeclampsia as a major complication of pregnancy, a detailed assessment of chocolate consumption is warranted."
I'm anecdotal proof: Two pregnancies, a preexisting love for chocolate and carte blanche to indulge (what? It made the baby move), and no preeclampsia either time – low-ish blood pressure and overdue babies, actually. Almost makes me want to get pregnant again so I can justify my sweet tooth.
