Well...again...you ask 10 people...you'll get an answer right down the middle so I'll ask on here. I know with Peri and menopause sugar isn't good...neck it's not good in general for anyone and you always hear watch your caffeine (because of hormones) So, which is better...dark chocolate or milk chocolate if you had to choose one. I know a lot of women have fibrocystic breasts so I'm asking this question to try and get a better understanding just how much chocolate affects the breasts and hormones if really at all. What do you think?
Dark chocolate. It's lower in sugar and in small amounts is actually good for you. But you have to get the kind that is at least 70% cocoa not the Hershy kind. I like it. But any more than 70% is pretty bitter.
Dark chocolate is supposed to be better for you but I'm not a big fan of the dark. I prefer milk chocolate and used to eat a lot of it. I believe like with anything, moderation is the key. I don't think have a some chocolate now and then is that bad for you as long as you don't over indulge. I know since I started taking vitamin suppliements and eating more fruit and less junk I do feel better but I have a sweet tooth so I do treat myself from time to time. Life is too short, have to have something to enjoy right?
I'm new to Peri so I didn't know that i had to worry about any of this ! But I have noticed that I've been craving chocolate lately and I've never been a sweet eater . But lately I've been indulging in chocolate.
Would you say that those Brookside chocolates are good for you?
I haven't ever looked at those so I don't know. If the chocolate says 70% or more cocoa they would be OK. As far as acai berry being good for you, I've read that you need a huge amount for that to happen. But check the cocoa content on them. And I think dark chocolate is a better alternative but I don't know if good for you is the right way to put it.
Lyn, I believe I have fibrocystic breasts. I have had cysts, breast pain for YEARS and its gotten SOOOO much worse since Menopause. I even have chest swelling too and it accompanies hot flashes. OK, here is what I have found, coffee which I drank today and yesterday and that was a big mistake makes my breast hurt really bad. I dont eat much chocolate but it aggravates it too, Sugar is also a significant problem for me. I know the moderator will block me but I will say this there are some fantastic sites about Fibrocystic breasts. I was on one tonight. YOU are heaven sent, I was actually praying tht someone would be here to deal with this issue.
Lennie,
I'm sorry you are having so much pain. Like medications, I'm learning that foods that are have health benefits can also have the not so good side of it. It's so complicated like we hear eat fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds....well, that's not so good for people with IBS (irritable bowel) so, with hormones all over the map during this new chapter of our lives, some of those rules apply. What to eat and do to keep our hormone level evened out. They say exercise is good but not too much because too much decreases estrogen...ugh...really? Why is it this complicated? So much to figure out I guess. Anyway, yes I have heard that caffeine does make fibrocystic breasts hurt worse and yet again, coffee has its benefits. What do ya do? 😝
Lyn, I went to the website that I want to tell you about but will be blocked, but I can tell you some of the things that women with the breast issue are doing, iodine, I cant say the brand, but iodine, selenium, magnesium, Evening Primrose Oil, and Some women said they rubbed castor oil on them with a cheese cloth, apparently many of these women have lumps and cysts and swelling. ALSO< vitamin E, Vitamin, C and Vitamin D. No coffee at all or caffeine of any kind. I am going to get a mammongram next month. I had a lot of anxiety around it and my gut tells me this is peri-related, But, I want to be on the safe side. I feel its peri related because it started when peri started, the pain and swelling always accompany heat flashes. Do you have the pain and swellling or just pain. Also, the pain and swelling goes away periodically.
I have pain off and on but mine is more due to a botched stereotactic biopsy then had another a week later and it was benign but I do know that fibrocystic is very common and yes pain can be a perimenopause symptom. I have heard about the Primrose oil and some of the other you has mentioned. When you go for a mammogram, IF they ever say that you have calcifications, those are also very common which at the time I did not know and they threw me into instant panic by the way they approached me with it when alls they had to say how common it was especially being perimenopusal. Just a heads up on that.😉
Thank you, Lyn, I forgot also to say that I have had 4 normal mammograms in the last 7 years. Furthermore, I had a biopsy of a swelling/lump in my shoulder area, it was benign. The mammogram is more of a scratch if off the list, my supervisor has breast cancer, she said she never experienced any pain at all, she felt a lump around her breast area. One reason I was reluctant to get the mammo is not just my anxiety which is significant, but I don't like to keep getting radiated.
Yes, that is understandable. How often do you get mammograms? When you get it, ask for the thyroid shield so you can protect that area. I hope your supervisor is going to be ok!!! It's hard getting older!😕
I had one when I was 43, 46 or 47. 50 and 52 I think, its been quite a few. They did use the shield I believe I honestly have forgotten, my supervisor is a year younger. She said her grandfather had bladder cancer. Her sister has had breast cysts too. The whole thing frightens me really badly, my boss is going through chemo. I pray for her very much. I know quite a few people who have had chemo and treatments and they are doing well.
Prayer is powerful! There was a post just posted by Jamie and she asked if there was anyone who was post menopausal and has gone back to normal. Great question! I hope to hear some uplifting stories and know there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I have health anxiety too but my thing is, I have a lack of trust in most Dr's as we have Dr friends and we know how the whole Dr/pharm. Rep work. Western medicine is designed to manage symptoms instead of getting to the root and treating the problem...that's so scared to me. Plus all the research I do is enough to really have anxiety but then again, you want to stay on top of things unless one is fortunate enough to have a Dr who REALLY cares and is REALLY looking out for you and want to treat the root cause and not just manage symptoms.
Lyn, prayer is very powerful and please, please pray for me and I will pray for the ladies here. I am with you 100 percent about doctors, western medicine that its mostly bandaids that never get to the root of the problem. Most of it is about money. My health food store guy told me that sugars and candida are the roots of many problems, for women our age
there is clearly an imbalance somewhere with our hormones. I am strongly looking at adopting a very different diet and addressing my issues homeopathically. I am with you, I want to hear success stories too.
yes, dark chocolate, two cubes per day
follow up with nuts like walnut, almond, if you have a problem with blood sugar
Yes I have heard NUMEROUS times that sugar and overgrowth of Candida is a lot of the issue. But usually is the root problem of unbalanced hormones. I'm trying to figure out a good diet myself with my irritable bowel. It's not easy at all. I also have heard over and over that gluten messes with hormones as well. Well, gluten is in about everything these days! If you don't eat gluten, what's left...rice based products and what's in rice? ARSCENIC! So like I said, its really hard for me to figure out a good diet plan for me with IBS. Oh and sugar is in most things too under many different names so what are we to do...starve? It's hard watching my husband eat everything and anything he wants and however much he wants when now there's so much I shouldn't eat.😕
Speaking of sugar, I did a little experiment when I had to get my routine blood work done. I was suppose to fast for the blood sugar test but didn't and instead I took a cinnamon capsule the night before and one the morning of my test. I didn't mention that I had eaten and my glucose went from 98 to 86. Keep in mind, I don't take a Whole lot of medicine so it had nothing to interfere with. Also, if you look into a cinnamon supplement, make sure it's Ceylon cinnamon and not cassia which is what most cinnamon is.
Lyn...............dont know if choc affects breasts, but i have had low blood sugar for 35 years, and its worse since meno, but has settled somewhat now thank goodness since post, dark chocolate is better as its more natural form of sugar and what they call an unrefined sugar, but only in moderation during meno as it will send your sugars up, then crash later, so eat protein with it, milk choc is worse as it has added milk which has lactose in, so is what you call a refined carb very bad for sugar levels, dark, or unrefined sugars, are still be bad for your sugar level, if you take in too much, whilst your sugars are erratic stay off the chocolate, but have it inbetween in moderation, stick with dark, and follow it with protien of some sought for when the crash hits.
I like to eat the Brookside dark chocolate pomegranate or acai berry which about 16 pieces equal 10 mg of caffeine. I was just wondering for women who have fibrocystic breasts, what is a safe caffeine level to where it won't bother the breasts in that way.