The Bettinelli Family Prayerbook
front cover
Oh, What is this? A new book?
For me?
Hold still, Bella! I can’t get a good shot.
Read the book again, mama.
back cover
sample spread
The Bettinelli Family Prayerbook
front cover
Oh, What is this? A new book?
For me?
Hold still, Bella! I can’t get a good shot.
Read the book again, mama.
back cover
sample spread
Now I’m sure that their definition of a serving of chocolate 5x a week and MY definition of a serving of chocolate 5x a week differ. . . And as for that “no excuse” thing, it is my humble opinion that chocolate HAS to produce good breast milk!! And no, I didn’t buy FOUR large Russell Stover Dark Chocolate bunnies 90% off after Easter. . . Not at all!! Actually, speaking of. . .
Hooray! Six more weeks of guilt-free dark chocolate
Danielle Bean has information about another chocolate health benefit study.
Also, please note that as I suspected dark chocolate is far superior to milk chocolate in terns of health benefits as well as in taste.
lc,
alas I totally missed out on the post-Easter candy sales. By the time we got to Target all that was left were some white chocolate and lemon Hershey’s kisses. Which we bought, of course, but no chocolate bunnies. 🙁
on the breast-milk front… well, I haven’t heard any complaints….
That’s interesting. I always crave chocolate when I’m pregnant, and with my last pregnancy I think the baby and I lived on rye toast and chocolate pudding. However, the nausea, which plagues me throughout pregnancies, gets too bad towards the end to even think about chocolate. All of my biological babies were at least 5 weeks early because my preeclampsia runs amok and turns into HELLP syndrome. But if we’re blessed with another baby in my womb, I’m going to pay attention to how much time elapses between when I can no longer eat any chocolate and the baby’s arrival.
I’m not in any of the at-risk groups, but I’m still willing to sample its various benefits!
I’m sure eventually they’ll find more benefits that will cover your demographic.
I agree that dark chocolate—the darker the better—is *far* superior to milk in taste. Nice to know it’s superior in other ways, too.
I’m not in any of the at-risk groups, but I’m still willing to sample its various benefits!
OK, does the chocolate work chemically to reduce the risk of Pre-eclampsia, OR does the joy of chocolate so relax the expectant mom that her blood pressure goes down?
Hey Melanie! You broke this story in my world, and I just realized that one of the main researchers has been a friend of my family since I was about 3 years old! She and my mom have been very close friends for YEARS—they went to college together! I know this is a little random, but I was looking up email address and found references to the article and thought, wait, didn’t I read that on Melanie’s blog? Cool!
leticia,
I found some more details in other articles here.
“Researchers have speculated that the presence of anti-oxidants called flavonoids in dark chocolate may confer cardiovascular benefits.”
and here:
“Chocolate and especially dark chocolate is rich in a chemical called �theobromine� which dilates blood vessels, stimulates the heart and has been used to treat chest pains, hardening of arteries and high blood pressure…. Theobromine, which is rich in chocolates, has the ability to improve circulation within the placenta while lowering down oxidative stress.”
and here:“Chocolate contains more than 600 beneficial compounds including flavonoids, magnesium, and theobromine, and recent research suggests that chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, may benefit cardiovascular health. The potent antioxidants in flavonoids can induce nitric oxide�dependent vasodilation and also have antiplatelet and anti-inflammatory effects.”
Though I think there might be something to the relaxing theory.
lc,
How fun. I love that kind of random coincidence. Once I got one of those email stories that circulate around the internet for years and years and realized it had originally been written by a friend of mine who had absolutely no connection to the person who forwarded it to me except me so it must have really gone through some circuitous route to get there and back.
Thanks for the information, Melanie, this is important information, I think I’ll post on it as well.
My favorite dark chocolate source is that Ghiardelli dark chocolate brownie mix.