Can this chocolate bar really beat PMT? – November 24^th 2006

TESS STIMSON, 38, is a British-born writer and author. She lives in Florida with her husband and three children aged 12, nine and four.

She says:

I don't suffer from PMT and - at certain times of the month - I'll kill anyone who says otherwise. But roughly once every four weeks, my husband goes out of his way to irritate me.

He'll suggest we go out to see a movie, which obviously means he thinks I'm fat (why else would he want to take me somewhere dark?) Or he'll buy me flowers, which means he's got something to hide. Or offer to wash up, which means he thinks I'm fat and he's got something to hide.

At times like these, it's only natural for a girl to turn to chocolate. And I do, in industrial quantities. For five days a month, I eat enough Cadbury's Dairy Milk to supply a small country (or, indeed, build one). It doesn't have any noticeable effect on my temper, but it makes me feel better.

So when I'm asked to test a new Swiss chocolate bar that promises to 'take sweet revenge' on PMT as well as being good for you, I'm very keen to know more (although not nearly as keen as my husband).

I'm slightly put off by the fact it describes itself as "an exclusive blend of soy and chaste tree berry with a subtle taste of rose". Chocolate is supposed to be sinful, not chaste. But it is organic, and packed with fibre - as much as an apple - as well as being low-glycaemic, the diet Holy Grail du jour.

It smells of rosewater. And it's dark chocolate, which I hate. I know it's good for me, with its solid cocoa and anti-oxidants. But I don't eat chocolate because it's good for me. I eat it because it makes me feel good. The Wonder Bar doesn't. It leaves an unpleasant aftertaste which even a strong coffee doesn't kill.

Nor do I notice any improvement in my temper: my husband is just as irritating the week before my period as he always was. I still radiate enough heat to solve the world's energy crisis and burst into tears at the sheer poignancy of Desperate Housewives.

Nonetheless, I continue to eat the recommended 2oz per day. In the interests of scientific study, I have even eliminated all other chocolate from my diet, and asked my husband, as an independent observer, to monitor my moods.

His response is unequivocal. Three weeks into the trial, I come home to find the Wonder Bar in the bin, and four family-sized bars of Cadbury's Dairy Milk on my desk.