6 reasons why pregnant women need to eat chocolate more often

Pregnancy cravings can be weird.

From cheese slice, pancakes to chocolate, pregnancy can make you crave for anything and everything in the middle of the night.

And because you are eating for two, there is no one to stop you.

Some women crave a little too much chocolate. If you are also among them and are worried about overindulgence, there is some good news for you.

Craving for chocolate might be keeping you and your baby healthy, say new studies.

1. Eating chocolate during pregnancy

As per studies, eating chocolate during pregnancy can make the mother and baby healthy by reducing their risk of preeclampsia and improved placental function. That’s not it, there are more reasons why eating chocolate during pregnancy is nothing to feel guilty about. Here are six benefits.

2. A happier baby

According to a study conducted in Finland, women who ate chocolate during their pregnancy reported having livelier and happier babies.

3. Helps manage stress

As your hormones are all over the place during these nine months, it can be really stressful. Chocolate can help in lowering your stress levels, say researches. Studies have even found that eating dark chocolate daily reduces the levels of stress significantly.

4. Reduced chances of miscarriage

Though there is no one remedy that you can follow to prevent miscarriage. But it was found that pregnant women who eat chocolate daily have 20 per cent less chances of suffering a miscarriage during the first trimester.

5. Helps maintain your weight

A piece of chocolate can help keep those extra kilos at bay. Say yes to dark chocolate, to maintain healthy weight gain and lower the levels of cholesterol.

6. Reduced chances of preeclampsia

One of the recent studies reported that daily intake of chocolate can decrease the risk of preeclampsia (high blood pressure) that can cause premature births, convulsions, blot clots and even death. Consuming chocolate reduces the risk of preeclampsia by 50 per cent.

7. Better fetal development

Women who consumed chocolate every day during their pregnancy have better placental and fetal growth, say several studies.