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Know 4 Benefits of Consumption of Chocolate for Pregnant Women
Rp_News88..Chocolate is one of the foods that almost everyone likes. Starting from children to adults love chocolate, pregnant women are no exception.
In general, chocolate is safe for consumption by pregnant women. However, you need to monitor and pay attention to the sugar and caffeine contained in chocolate. It's good to read carefully the amount and content in chocolate products before you consume them.
Reporting from the Healthline page, there are several ingredients that pregnant women need to pay attention to in choosing chocolate that is safe for consumption, such as sugar content, caffeine content, and calories that are not excessive.
Although there are a number of things to note, there are a number of studies that discuss the benefits of chocolate for pregnancy.
Well, here are some of the benefits of consuming chocolate for pregnant women and their fetuses.
1. Rich in Antioxidants
Chocolate is rich in flavonoids which are antioxidants that help maintain your health. A number of studies have found that flavonoids can reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and keep your body healthy
2. Helps Reduce Stress During Pregnancy
Chocolate is known to be good for your mood, including for pregnant women. Pregnant women often experience mood swings caused by hormonal changes.
Consumption of chocolate is believed to improve mood or mood. Some studies say that dark chocolate can help reduce stress and improve the mood of the mother.
It is known that stress has an influence on pregnancy complications, reproductive diseases and fetal development. The flavonoids in chocolate also help reduce fatigue in pregnant women.
3. Healthy Heart and Control Cholesterol
The antioxidants in chocolate promote heart health and prevent heart disease later in life. The flavonoids in dark chocolate also help regulate cholesterol levels in the blood.
This content is also able to help increase blood flow which plays a role in helping the placenta develop normally.
4. Make Babies Happier
Chocolate is known to reduce stress in pregnant women. This turns out not only to have an impact on the mother, but also on the baby in the stomach. Chocolate helps protect the baby from the stress of the mother and makes the baby happier. Happy babies have the opportunity to grow and develop better.
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Safety of eating chocolate during pregnancy
Chocolate is safe for consumption for pregnant women. However, you need to monitor and pay attention to the sugar and caffeine contained in chocolate.
Read carefully the amount and content in the product before you consume it.
Here are some ingredients that pregnant women need to pay attention to in choosing chocolate products that are safe for consumption:
1. Sugar Content
Research shows that too much calorie and added sugar intake during pregnancy affects the health of the fetus.
Consumption of sugar during pregnancy can increase the risk of the following conditions:
- Gestational diabetes
- Weight gain during pregnancy
- Preeclampsia
- Premature birth or premature birth
Therefore, you need to pay attention to the sugar content in the chocolate you eat. Choose low-sugar chocolate.
2. Caffeine Content
Too much caffeine is not good for the fetus. Excess caffeine in pregnant women can increase the risk of miscarriage, low birth weight, and anemia.
The safe limit for caffeine consumption in pregnant women is 200 mg/day. This means you can still snack on an occasional moderate amount of chocolate.
As a hint, here are some estimates of the caffeine content in chocolate:
- 1.45 ounce dark chocolate (dark chocolate) bars contain 30 mg of caffeine
- 1.55 ounces of milk chocolate (dairy chocolate) contains 11 mg of caffeine
- 1 tablespoon of chocolate syrup contains 3 mg of caffeine
Dark chocolate is lower in sugar than chocolate mixed with milk, but has a higher caffeine content. Always watching and managing the intake of chocolate that enters the body during pregnancy can prevent you from excess caffeine and sugar from this delicious food.
Pregnant women can drink milk chocolate, warm chocolate or eat white chocolate which is known to be quite safe to consume during pregnancy. It's important to pay attention to the occasional portion of chocolate cake and ice cream you can eat.
3. Excess Calories
The calories in chocolate are often linked to weight. Chocolate is known to have a fairly high calorie.
Eating too much chocolate can cause weight gain due to excess calories and fat.
Excess weight in pregnant women can cause complications such as gestational diabetes, varicose veins, hypertension, and problems giving birth normally.
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What to Pay Attention to When Pregnant Women Consumption of Chocolate
Pregnant women can eat chocolate in the early trimester of pregnancy, but you need to reduce chocolate intake in the later trimester. Some studies say that in the last trimester chocolate can have a bad impact on pregnant women. However, this is still much debated and requires more in-depth research.
Until now, chocolate still tends to be safe for consumption in reasonable limits. Well, here are some tips that you can try in choosing and consuming chocolate during pregnancy:
1. Choose chocolate bars instead of processed chocolate such as cakes or cakes that have more fat and sugar.
2. Choose dark chocolate, because the darker the chocolate the lower in sugar and high in flavonoids.
3. Bite in small sizes. Think about the size of the bite you will eat. You need to adjust the bite portion to control the chocolate that enters the body.
4. Enjoy every bite of chocolate you eat. Enjoying each bite slowly creates deep pleasure while preventing you from overeating.
Thank You.
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Healthy Heart and Control Cholesterol
Helps Reduce Stress During Pregnancy
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Safety of eating chocolate during pregnancy