Period snacks: hot chocolate for cramps and magnesium bark

When cramps hit, we want two things: something warm to hold and something to chew. These are the two period snacks we make every cycle, written out properly with measurements and steps, because "a mug of cocoa with some ginger" is not a recipe. Each one is built around a nutrient fact we could verify, and each one has an honest note about what it is not.

Why magnesium keeps coming up in period snacks

Magnesium is the mineral most period snack recipes are quietly about. A 1991 trial gave 32 women 360 mg of magnesium a day from mid-cycle to the start of their period and saw lower premenstrual mood scores than placebo. Small trial, decades old, but it is why the pumpkin seeds are in the bark. The NIH puts the recommended daily intake at 310 to 320 mg for adult women, and most of us do not hit it. Cocoa turns out to be one of the densest food sources there is: unsweetened cocoa powder carries 499 mg of magnesium per 100 grams in the USDA database, and 70 to 85% dark chocolate 228 mg per 100 grams. That is the whole logic of both recipes.

Recipe 1: Hot chocolate for cramps (ginger and cinnamon)

Why this one: two tablespoons of cocoa powder is roughly 11 grams, so about 50 mg of magnesium in the mug before the chocolate goes in. The ginger and cinnamon are there because both have small trials behind them for period pain: a 2015 meta-analysis found 750 to 2,000 mg of ginger powder over the first days of a period reduced pain scores, and a 2015 trial of 114 students found 420 mg of cinnamon three times a day cut pain severity and duration versus placebo. Makes 1 large mug.

• 1 cup milk (dairy, oat, or almond all work; oat is creamiest)
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup, or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, or 4 thin slices of fresh ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 ounce 70% dark chocolate, chopped (about 2 squares)
• Pinch of salt and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Put 2 tablespoons of the milk in a mug with the cocoa, ginger, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to a smooth paste; this is what stops the cocoa clumping.
2. Warm the rest of the milk in a small pan over medium heat until it steams at the edges. Do not let it boil.
3. Whisk the hot milk into the paste a little at a time, then pour it all back into the pan.
4. Add the chopped chocolate and the maple syrup. Stir over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes until the chocolate melts and the drink turns glossy.
5. Off the heat, add the vanilla. If you used fresh ginger, fish out the slices or leave them in for a stronger cup. Drink it with the heating pad on.

Honest note: a quarter teaspoon of ground ginger is about half a gram, and the cinnamon in this mug is a fraction of the trial dose too. This is a warm cup with the right things in it, not a capsule. If you want trial-level ginger, that is a conversation with a pharmacist, not a recipe.

Recipe 2: Dark chocolate bark with pumpkin seeds (the magnesium bomb)

Why this one: roasted pumpkin seeds sit at the top of the NIH magnesium table at 156 mg per ounce, and 70 to 85% dark chocolate adds 228 mg per 100 grams. By our arithmetic from those two figures, a batch made as written holds roughly 850 mg of magnesium, so a piece lands somewhere around 70 mg. Call it a fifth of a day's worth in a snack that keeps for two weeks. Makes about 12 pieces.

• 8 ounces 70 to 85% dark chocolate, chopped (bars, not chips; chips have stabilizers and set waxy)
• 1/2 cup roasted, salted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
• 1/4 cup dried tart cherries, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons sliced almonds
• 1/4 teaspoon flaky salt
• Optional: 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon stirred into the melted chocolate

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Measure all the toppings and put them next to the stove; once the chocolate is spread you have about 2 minutes.
2. Melt the chocolate gently: in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stop when a few small lumps remain and stir until smooth. Overheated chocolate goes grainy.
3. Pour onto the parchment and spread with a spatula to about 1/4 inch thick. Thinner snaps better; thicker chews better.
4. Scatter the pumpkin seeds first, then the cherries, then the almonds, then the flaky salt. Press lightly so everything sticks.
5. Chill 20 to 30 minutes until firm. Break into rough pieces by hand. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks. Left out in a warm kitchen it will bloom (go pale and streaky), which looks bad and tastes the same.

Swaps that work: sunflower seeds for pumpkin (less magnesium, still decent), dried cranberries for cherries, a pinch of chili with the cinnamon. What does not work: milk chocolate, which drops the magnesium to a rounding error, and "sugar-free" bars, which set badly.

Where a bar fits

We make Girl Chocolate for the same reason we make the bark: a dark chocolate bar with magnesium and other functional ingredients, for the days around your period, sold as a pouch of eight bars so there is one for every cycle. Made for your cycle. Supports PMS relief*. It is what we carry when there is no kitchen; the bark is what we make when there is. The bar is at girlchocolate.co. If it is the week before your period and the cravings are the loudest part, our piece on sugar cravings before your period explains why, and the dark chocolate and magnesium article goes further into the numbers.

Sources

• NIH ODS: Magnesium fact sheet
• USDA FoodData Central: cocoa powder, unsweetened
• USDA FoodData Central: dark chocolate, 70-85% cacao
• Facchinetti 1991, Obstet Gynecol: oral magnesium and premenstrual mood (PubMed)
• Daily 2015, Pain Medicine: ginger for primary dysmenorrhea (PubMed)
• Jaafarpour 2015, J Clin Diagn Res: cinnamon versus ibuprofen for dysmenorrhea (PMC)

When to talk to a doctor

• Pain that stops you doing your normal daily life.
• Bleeding through a pad or tampon every hour.
• Pain that suddenly got much worse than your usual.
• Pain with a fever.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.