Where can I get magnesium from to help my menopause?

You're right to be looking for sources of magnesium during the menopause as magnesium helps calm the nervous system and reduces some menopausal symptoms, including tiredness and fatigue.

Magnesium is naturally occuring in a number of foods, including pumpkin seeds, mackerel and spinach.

However, one of the best ways to get extra magnesium is to get it in supplement form, but you need to be careful. You need to get the right sort of magnesium and you need to make sure that you're not actually taking too much. I tend to recommend things like magnesium citrate capsules. You can get liquid magnesium tonics and you can also get magnesium powders that you can just mix into water or fruit juice.

I would normally suggest starting at 200mg a day and see how you get on with that. Magnesium tends to work really quickly at making you feel better, so you should certainly know within a week or two, if not sooner, if it's actually going to help you.

You can get magnesium supplements from any good health shop.

We have a product called Menopause Support which contains magnesium and soy isoflavones for all stages of menopause. It can be used in combination with Menoforce sage tablets for hot flushes.

Eileen Durward