Pre-eclampsia Prevention?

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Pregnant?  Protect your baby and yourself from pre-eclampsia with dark chocolate? Yes, you heard right.

Chocolate has been shown to help guard against it.

Worried about developing a serious pregnancy complication like that? Admit it, you can't help but worry.

Your baby's health is foremost in your mind. What can you do?

Enjoy some quality bittersweet treats (consult with your doctor first, of course!) and relax a little.

One less worry during your pregnancy is a priceless health benefit of dark chocolate.

What is Pre-eclampsia?

It's an abrupt increase in blood pressure and protein in the urine that usually occurs after the 20th week of pregnancy.

Another name for it is toxemia of pregnancy.

Develop this serious pregnancy complication and both you and your baby could be at risk...

• The high blood pressure can reduce blood flow to the baby slowing her growth
• The placenta can detach causing profuse bleeding endangering mother and child

Is there a remedy/cure? Delivery of the baby. It's the leading cause of premature births in the United States according to the American Heart Association.

Treatment can buy the baby time to mature.

Unchecked it may lead to eclampsia which can cause irreversible damage to your kidneys, brain, and liver.

Failure to treat it could be deadly for you and/or your baby.

A way to prevent this serious pregnancy problem has yet to be discovered.

But what if dark chocolate could help?

Prevention?

Can dark chocolate really help avoid a serious pregnancy complication?

Dr. Triche of Yale University and her team put chocolate to the test. Could it's heart healthy benefits foil pre-eclampsia?

To find out, they interviewed a group of women (mothers) about their chocolate consumption and studied the amount of theobromine in the cord blood.

Here's the good news...

• Women who ate chocolate at least 5 times a week had a reduced risk of developing this pregnancy complication
• Women with the most theobromine in the cord blood were almost seventy percent less likely to develop the pregnancy problem

Benefit! Looks like those chocolate antioxidants have done it again.

The good Dr.Triche and her team have more work to do. They've got to determine which type and how much chocolate will afford the most protection.

Psst...I'm guessing it'll be dark.

Be sure to consult with your doctor before you try this at home.




Eat chocolate and possibly prevent pre-eclampsia, protecting mother and child. Wow, that's a pretty significant benefit of dark chocolate. Wouldn't life be sweet if it could help fight all pregnancy complications?




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