Celebrate Menopause with Healing Chocolate: Get Relief with These Powerful Symptom-Soothing Ingredients.

I’ll never forget when my mum went through menopause.

She was young, only in her 40s, sitting out on the porch surrounded by five feet of snow, wearing only a tank top and jean skirt. And she was sweating.

The hot flashes were absolutely horrific, overwhelming, and constant. She could only get about 4 hours of sleep at night, always waking around 3 am and reading to keep herself distracted.

The hormonal surges, the brittle hair—you name it, she suffered from it. For over a decade.

Menopause has a bad rep because of the uncomfortable symptoms that often accompany it. But this can also be a time of celebration, a transformation that spurs a reconnection to your amazing body. Finding the joy in this time starts with supporting that body with healing foods.

My mum sought out biodynamic hormones, herbs, patches. The search for relief took over her life. And so did the chocolate cravings. OMG. There were oversized chocolate bars all over the house—Kit Kats, Coffee Crisps, Oh Henrys. Which would have been fine, if they were good chocolate, but they were made with terrible ingredients that are dreadful for your health.

My mum passed away a few years ago. Creating the Menopausal Goddess bar was my Aunty Arlene’s idea. Brilliant. I’m not saying this bar will cure you—nor should it replace hormone replacement or whatever you’ve found that works. What I hope is that you can get some of the healing goodness of this bar while indulging in healthier chocolate.

In contrast to the overly processed milk chocolate used by most big-name chocolate bars, the specialty organic cacao we use in our Eat Gold Organics bars is full of antioxidants and other nutrients to help support your body’s overall wellness. We also use organic coconut sugar, an alternative to regular sugar that is low on the glycemic index, which means you won’t spike and crash.

Our Menopausal Goddess bars are suffused with thoughtfully chosen ingredients that have been shown to alleviate some of the symptoms associated with this time.

We used organic chaga, a mushroom used traditionally in Russia and parts of Northern Europe to support immunity and overall health. It’s also been shown to reduce inflammation. During menopause, estrogen—which reduces inflammation in our bodies—drops significantly. This can lead to joint pain. Adding anti-inflammatory foods such as chaga to your diet can reduce these effects.

In this batch, we use organic bee pollen, which is a mixture of flower pollen, nectar, enzymes, honey, wax, and bee secretions. This isn’t honey, which might or might not contain pollen. It’s the pollen collected by foraging honey bees from plants and transported to the beehive, where they store it and use it as food for the colony. A study on an herbal remedy containing bee pollen extracts showed that 65% of participants reported a reduction in hot flashes. I will say, I'm looking for an alternative for our next batch. As a very dedicated vegan (raising vegan children who love bees), I know there is another remedy out there equally as potent, while being kind to mother earth. I am grateful to the bees for contributing to this healing batch.

Finally, we added organic lavender. Lavender was used in the ancient Mediterranean as a holy herb. Today its soothing scent is often used in aromatherapy. But it can also be consumed in teas (and chocolate bars!), and its calming effects may be especially beneficial to women during menopause.

According to one study, lavender consumption improved sleep in menopausal women. It was also shown to alleviate depression, anxiety, and physical symptoms. About 70% of the subjects reported feelings of relaxation and happiness after using lavender.

Find what makes you feel good at this new stage of life by indulging in delicious and healthy chocolate filled with extra goodies to ease the transition!

Shop our Menopausal Goddess bar here.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16096172/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22819687/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6718645/