Is It Safe To Eat Chocolate While Breastfeeding?

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Chocolate is a delicious treat that many people love to relish. Therefore, craving for chocolate while breastfeeding isn’t uncommon for nursing women. But since chocolates contain caffeine, nursing mothers would contemplate if they can eat some chocolate or avoid it entirely.

Caffeine is a psychostimulant, which can pass through breast milk to your baby when consumed in excess. Since babies have sensitive bodies, even small amounts of caffeine can make them irritable, fussy, and sleepless.

Keep reading as we give you an insight into different components of chocolate, how caffeine affects babies, and should you avoid chocolate-mixed foods when lactating.

Components Of Chocolate

• Chocolate hardly needs an introduction! It is typically a sweet, usually brown-flavored, food prepared from roasted and grounded Theobroma cacao seeds.

• The main ingredients of chocolate are chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, and added sugar.

• It contains carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, water, caffeine, cholesterol, and theobromine.

Can You Eat Chocolate While Breastfeeding?

Yes, you can eat chocolate when breastfeeding. But limit it to moderate amounts as it is high in fats and sugars and has little nutritive value. A breastfeeding mother needs to eat a healthy diet rich in vegetables and fruit. You may consume sugar and processed foods in small amounts as occasional ‘treats’. This will keep you healthy and energetic enough to take care of your baby.

If the nursing baby shows side effects such as the below, avoid chocolate.

• Restlessness
• Rashes (due to an allergy of dairy products)

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• Hyperactivity
• Insomnia
• Refusal to drink milk

If your baby shows any of these side effects, stop chocolate consumption temporarily and see if your baby recovers; else see a pediatrician.

Caffeine In Chocolate And Breastfeeding

• Chocolate may affect a nursing baby for many reasons but caffeine in it is believed to be the primary one.

• Less than 1% of caffeine that enters the mother’s bloodstream ends up in breast milk and would be at peak after an hour of consumption.

• A baby’s system takes longer time to clear caffeine and high intake by the mother could make babies irritable.

• Moreover, a breastfeeding mother may find caffeine affecting her let-down reflex or making nipple vasospasm worse, in case she has it (1).

Why High Caffeine Intake Irritates Breastfeeding Baby?

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Half-life is the time required for the concentration of a substance in the body to become half. The half-life of caffeine is high in infants, and makes it difficult for them to fall asleep (2).

Theobromine In Chocolate And Breastfeeding

Theobromine is not a cause of worry for the nursing baby if the mother eats normal amounts of chocolate. A study has found that if a mother ate a 4-ounce chocolate bar every six hours and the baby is breastfed when the theobromine concentration in milk was at its peak, the baby could ingest about 10mg of theobromine a day (3).

Is Dark Chocolate Or White Chocolate Good During Breastfeeding?

Small amounts of dark chocolate is better than white chocolate. Dark chocolate has lesser sugar than white chocolate and contains flavonoids, which is good for your heart (4). White chocolate is highly processed and contains high levels of sugar.

Should Chocolate-Mixed Foods Be Avoided When Breastfeeding?

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• Chocolate-mixed foods like chocolate cookies, chocolate ice creams, chocolate cakes, or chocolate almond milk can be taken occasionally. But remember that you need to take nutritious food to maintain your health as well as provide the essential nutrients to your baby.

• A few babies may be intolerant to cow’s milk or show up egg allergies. In such cases you need to avoid dairy and egg products, including chocolate.

Infographic: Side Effects Of Eating Excess Chocolate While Breastfeeding

Now that your pregnancy is over, do not go berserk about eating chocolate excessively. This is because whatever you eat while breastfeeding, including the chocolates, affects the baby. So, look through the infographic below to learn about various side effects your baby may face if you eat excess chocolate.

References:

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Joanne Aubrey

(IBCLC)

Joanne Aubrey is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), nurse, and a proud mom to three children. She is a member of the International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA) and Lactation Consultants of Great Britain (LCGB). Aubrey works internationally, supporting women to achieve their breastfeeding goals. With six years of experience, she specializes in maternal and infant health and lactation....
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Swati Patwal

(M.Sc. (Food & Nutrition), MBA)

Swati Patwal is a clinical nutritionist, a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) and a toddler mom with more than a decade of experience in diverse fields of nutrition. She started her career as a CSR project coordinator for a healthy eating and active lifestyle project catering to school children. Then she worked as a nutrition faculty and clinical nutrition coach in...
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