Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS)

Have you heard about RLS?

Or maybe you have it and didn’t know it had a name. It’s a common condition that causes significant sleep loss in some people. Vitamin D deficiency is often responsible for aggravating the condition. It’s twice as common in women and gets more prevalent with age. The symptoms include: twitching, throbbing, jerking type sensations in the legs at night, waking one up or stopping them from being able to get to sleep in the first place. There may also be cramping and a general sensation of restlessness or tightness in the legs. These unpleasant feelings may be reduced by shaking or stretching the legs or getting up and walking around the house at night. The condition is a major cause of insomnia and daytime fatigue.

What often helps is

  1. 1 tsp Magnesium Citrate Powder or 4 Magnesium Chelate capsules
  2. More salt in food – even take some Himalayan salt in the morning in water
  3. And surprisingly, a vitamin D deficiency is often the root of the problem – Vitamin D3 Premium helps significantly

A study titled The Effect of Vitamin D Supplements on the Severity of Restless Legs Syndrome was published in the medical journal Sleep & Breathing. The study recruited 12 adults with primary RLS and vitamin D deficiency. All of the study participants initially had blood vitamin D levels <20ng/mL. The average blood level was 9ng/mL. Scary!

They were all given vitamin D supplements to bring their blood level up to 20ng/mL which is still very low!! You want it up around 60 or 70 or even higher. The researchers concluded the study with the following statement: “This study indicates that vitamin D supplementation improves the severity of RLS symptoms and advocates that vitamin D deficiency is conceivably associated with RLS”.

I developed a lovely Vitamin D3 supplement of 5000iu (called Vitamin D3 Premium) – and at 1 a day this should bring up blood levels nicely in a few months. I also have an excellent Magnesium Citrate powder which I love. As well as Magnesium Chelate capsules if you don’t like the powder.

Try these from my online store at https://sallyanncreed.co.za/shop if you are battling with this condition – I’d love to hear how you fared.

 

Disclaimer

You can simply click on the name of each product mentioned above (in bold) and a hyperlink will take you directly to the product for an easy purchase.

Originally published on https://www.facebook.com/SallyAnnCreedSA/ in 2020.

Related articles

sarcopeniablog

Sarcopenia

Sarcopenia, a Greek term for “poverty of the flesh, ” describes the loss of muscle mass, function and strength from the ageing process. This results in a decreased quality of life, increased falls and injury and inability to perform daily tasks.  “Muscle mass decreases approximately 3–8% per decade after the...
Blog_ImmunoDerm

Food and supplements for skin health

This week’s article on foods for your skin is inspired by two articles the office was reading this week. The first article from Cosmetics, a peer-reviewed journal and the second is a 15-year long 2020 study. In the long-term study, they looked at over 700 participants over 45 years of...
Blog_ChocMacadamias

Chocolate Macadamia Nuts

Really – there is nothing better than the deliciousness that you will experience in these air-roasted, chocolate-covered macadamia nuts. An earthy, natural and healthy dessert snack. When feeling like a sweet treat why compromise in health. There’s nothing quite like the combination of smooth, pure sugar-free chocolate and rich, buttery...
Blog_ZincCollagen

Why Zinc is Critical to collagen absorption

…and what about VITAMIN C? The wonderful thing about taking PURE Hydrolysed Collagen, is that it is easily absorbed, instantly, from the stomach – however there’s a caveat – you need to have the right environment to do so. Collagen-repairing enzymes in the human body are all ZINC-BASED. If you...
Blog_Pirosil

The truth about Pirosil

When we hear the word ‘additive’, we immediately think ‘danger zone’! With growing consciousness around what we put into our bodies, labels that include ingredients such as additives, preservatives, colourants or anything with an ‘E’ followed by a bunch of numbers, are a definite no-no. At Sally-Ann Creed, we advocate...
Blog_Fats2

The facts about saturated fats

The current WHO guidelines on saturated fat are to keep them <10% of your daily calorie intake. The American Heart Association recommends even lower intakes of saturated fats, at <5-6% total calories. Historically, the health professional guidelines have always had straightforward messages: higher saturated fat levels equated to higher cholesterol...