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[lily]

Enjoying this thread ladies - here was me thinking i was unusual still having periods at 53+  I started at 12 and a half, my cycle was 34 days and had 2 babies quite light birth weights. Never had bad periods, did have pmt and breast pain. Longest i gave gone without is 4 months then had one in January, waiting to see when next will be. Putting on weight and craving chocolate all the time 

[elainediva]

Lily- me too gaining weight and craving choc all the time, its awful isnt it

[lily]

Hi elainediva

I've always loved chocolate, but am getting worse - one is not enough! Had 2 cream eggs today, can't understand people who say they are too sickly 

[elainewin]

The funny thing is I was never really a chocolate lover but now i also crave it ,elainediva seems we got same first name im 55 56 november, just thought i would mention the coincidence lol x

[elainediva]

elainewin hehe that is funny, i always loved chocolate but it seems to be worse now
lily, i know what you mean i always liked them, im hooked on choc with nuts in it at the moment
i have found a really dark choc- 90% hardly any sugar its ok if you like it that strong

[blossom60]

It could be you are magnesium deficient.

There is a theory that women crave chocolate when they are deficient, because chocolate is a source of magnesium.

[elainediva]

blossom60
i take magnesium tablets, they seem to help with the mood swings
so maybe the extra from the choc is helping too

[lily]

Think i will try magnesium. Today's chocolate intake has been a cream egg, 2 choc digestives, a ripple and some wee mini eggs 

[elainewin]

Why not Lily for all we go through a little bit of what you fancy hey , but on a serious note i think i to will try some magnesium supplements but for now everyone enjoy a HAPPY EASTER 

[Hurdity]

I don't think it is necessary to take magnesium - in the sense that you are unlikely to be deficient in it, but it's a different matter if there are medicinal uses eg like Milk of Magnesia. There is information about Mabnesium in the diet here:
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vitamins-minerals/Pages/Other-vitamins-minerals.aspx#magnesium

However eating choc is a different matter - I haven't had any for ages but I love it - especially the dark 80 - 90%!

Hurdity x

[blossom60]

I found this information on magnesium and the best foods to eat to achieve sufficient. However, it also indicated that most people do not get enough from their diets. Admittedly this is an American article but I doubt if there is much difference this side of the pond.  It's a thoroughly bona fide academic piece so is well worth a read.   


Dietary surveys of people in the United States consistently show that intakes of magnesium are lower than recommended amounts. An analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) of 2005–2006 found that a majority of Americans of all ages ingest less magnesium from food than their respective EARs; adult men aged 71 years and older and adolescent females are most likely to have low intakes [21]. In a study using data from NHANES 2003–2006 to assess mineral intakes among adults, average intakes of magnesium from food alone were higher among users of dietary supplements (350 mg for men and 267 mg for women, equal to or slightly exceeding their respective EARs) than among nonusers (268 mg for men and 234 for women) [22]. When supplements were included, average total intakes of magnesium were 449 mg for men and 387 mg for women, well above EAR levels.

https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/

[Hurdity]

I don't want to sidetrack Elaine's thread too much but you mentioned magnesium deficiency blossom and I want to comment further.

All that extract (taken from the website you quoted, not the paper itself) shows is that in those populations at those particular times a sample of Americans ate a very unhealthy diet that did not contain sufficient magnesium - which doesn't surprise me! – Also yes I do think the results would be different for the UK because diet for many Americans has been ('still is) notoriously poor – hence a lot of them are fat and unhealthy due to eating junk/fast/fatty/sweet food. OK we are not brilliant in UK but I doubt we are as bad.

Even if we were (as bad - not eating the right foods to get sufficient magnesium in our diet) – it still does not show – nor does anything I read in the web link - that we cannot get sufficient magnesium from our diet (with the exception of a few groups eg those with specific conditions such as Crohn's disease). Just to re-iterate I am not talking about the use of magnesium for medicinal purposes which is not what the article and your comment was about.

I stand by the NHS recommendation and the advice from this website – that we need to eat a diet containing a wide range of fresh ingredients, and get out in the sunshine as much as we can - and we should be able to get sufficient nutrients, minerals and vitamins that we need. The occasional use of certain well chosen supplements may be advised eg iron and Vit D for certain groups of people and in certain circumstances.

Hurdity x

[blossom60]

Really can't agree with you Hurdity, but that is what this forum is about, sharing information and opinions.

I think if you take another look at the article, you will see it is written for health professionals.  Also the references given are excellent.

We'll just have to agree to differ on this one