Literally any excuse to eat dark chocolate works for me!

Gonna get avocado and 85% schogggi on the NY's eve

85% is not easy- really. But Lindt 70% with a touch of salt, wow.


Talklater- reading around Coro + Vit D deficiency- it seems that skin rashes can also be a sign of not sufficient Vit D- so worth looking into.

Coop Prix Garantie dark chocolate for me

Aldi has nice dark chocolate!

Yeah, most or many forms of magnesium pull water into the intestines and can cause "the D word." That especially applies to Magnesium citrate, which is also used as a laxative. So that's why I take Magnesium glycinate -- because the glycinate form is the best for absorption and also has no nasty side effects like many of the other forms of magnesium do. I have to buy mine from the US, though (from iherb.com, which has extremely cheap international shipping) because it's apparently rather difficult to find magnesium glycinate here in CH for some reason.

https://ch.iherb.com/pr/KAL-Magnesiu...-Tablets/18943

Ha, just realized that some skin rash I had for a while virtually disappeared as I spent one week in the sunny mountains. And now it's back again in grey ZH. Thanks, I'll check this with my doc.

I have been on Vit D +K, Mg, Vit C, Omega 3 for years. I am actually wondering if I have overdosed
I must have lucked out

Any views on Aldi Mg tablets vs Migros water-soluble ones? I enjoy the Migros ones but they might have salt and sweetener stuff which might not be healthy?

AFAIK, it's actually better to do 1-2 month campaigns with 1-2 month breaks, rather than continuously taking it.

I wonder which forms of magnesium those are. It seems that most of the magnesium sold here in CH is either magnesium citrate or magnesium oxide (or a mixture of both), and those can both cause "the D word" for some people. I guess magnesium oxide can also cause burning in the intestines for some people as well. I have never had any problems at all with the magnesium glycinate that I take, ordered from the US. I wonder why that's so difficult to find here. It's the best kind for absorption (apparently).

Magnesium glycinate can have a paradoxical effect on some people and stop them sleeping. Vitamin D can have the same effect. Migros's Magnesium oxide from the Dead Sea is much more tolerable for the stomach but is a bit more expensive.

This whole vitamin supplement business is a rip-off, particularly now. Very difficult for the laymen to see what is sufficient and what is not - but as the pharmacist would say "this is about your health so the decison should not be about cost".

Melatonin has it's hour of glory

https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/2020...treat-covid-19

Yes. And our pharmacy has homeopathics "against the virus" and "for all immunity" on sale, imagine that.

I got some cheap D3-K2-Zinc-Selenium and then some random high dose B12 and we pop high C at times..Not sure if it makes a difference, or it's the running and cold showers that work. And sleeping through Xmas break.

I just got off the phone with my family/docs and this is exactly what they suggested.

Another correlation vs. causation story?

people who have quality sleep are more healthy and are more likely to successfully battle off a viral attack?

Well, I know for myself that I feel much, much better when I take magnesium, vitamin D, B12, etc. I was once actually feeling suicidal years ago due to a severe lack of vitamin D, while living in Seattle.

Interesting... I wonder why that would be -- why or how exactly melatonin could help protect against COVID. I do remember reading once, years ago, that it may help prevent cancer. Perhaps it's unfortunate then that you can't buy melatonin here in CH (I order mine from the US but don't take it often). My doctor said you can only get it via prescription here and one of the reasons for that is due to its potential side effects.

That's more of a second-order effect because there's still a causal link in that assumption (melatonin -> quality sleep -> more healthy).

A correlation would be more like, "mostly only rich people take melatonin and they're more healthy because they can afford a better diet (or nicer beds)".

Sorry, I guess I forgot to quote this one, too.

I never heard that about magnesium glycinate before. I'll look into it. I don't think it's ever had that effect on me, and I usually take mine in the evenings or about an hour before bed. With vitamin D, I actually usually start to sleep much better once I take the high-dose supplements, after my D was found to be too low (apparently, insomnia is one of the potential symptoms of low vit D). I do try to take my vitamin D early, though -- not too late.

Okay, I couldn't resist, so out of curiosity, I just did a search for "melatonin and immunity." Apparently, melatonin does play a role in helping to regulate or boost immunity and in suppressing inflammation:

Melatonin: Buffering the Immune System
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3645767/

Immune-Boosting Effects of Melatonin
https://www.lifeextension.com/magazi...s-of-melatonin