Ice cream

[Mum007]

Has anyone any idea what the ingredient is in ice cream that causes restless legs. I’m dairy free so it’s nothing to do with that. Anyone any suggestions?

[Hidden]

Its sweet..? so sugary..

[Mum007 in reply to Hidden]

Well if I have a piece of flapjack which has a lot of sugar and syrup in I’m ok!

[Hidden in reply to Mum007]

Hmmm, maybe someone will know then.

[Hidden]

Hi Mum007. My research has turned up this: More ice cream has gluten in it than you would think. Gluten is in many things you would never suspect. Also the sugar isn't helpful but I would suggest staying away especially from any artificial sweeteners to avoid sugar. When you start reading about how these chemicals affect so many illnesses you will probably -as I did- throw your supply out and never use again. I did this 2 years ago and over time noticed many vague sx disappear-mainly-for me- muscle aches and pains. If you're interested I would google ice cream ingredients esp by brand. I think you will be amazed at how much 'stuff'' can be packed into a product that should only contain 3-5 real food ingredients. It's still hard to get the whole picture as there are ways around having to list 100% of ingredients. And remember whatever the animals were fed who supplied the milk/cream/ eggs/etc you are eating too. Scary!

[Mum007]

My ice cream is vegan and gluten free. But I get your point. I am also dairy and gluten free.

[Eryl]

I would say sugar. I find sugar from any source, or a carbohydrate rich diet gives me rls. Possibly, the type of sugar in ice cream is more easily digested and causes a higher peak in blood sugar (glucose)

[Hidden]

Hi!

Maybe the build-up of sugar in your system (over days)? Have you had any other sweets in the days leading up to your ice cream day?

For example: Last week I had a coke before bed and had a good night, but couple that with a piece of cake the next day, some cookies the next, and another coke the next and my legs are awful.

[Hidden]

Look at what all the ingredients that are in the ice cream you ate. It might give a clue.

[Artsy in reply to Hidden]

Ice cream is different for me. If I wake up in the middle of the night and my legs or arms are bothering me, I get up and have ice cream, because the cold ice cream seems to help me go back to sleep and helps the feelings in my arms and legs. If I have Greek Yogurt I eat that but needs to be cold.

[Madlegs1]

Most artificial sweeteners are lethal. Also any hydrogenised ingredients can be bad for some people.

Also consider associations of ingredients - and that may differ for each individual.

It's a real minefield.

Msg apparently comes in about 200 different forms and disguises. Take your pick.

[Hidden in reply to Madlegs1]

It's amazing how much junk food companies can put in what should be a simple-few ingredient-food!!! irina1975

[DicCarlson]

I eat ice cream for the opposite effect - counteracts Glutamate the excite-neurotransmitter - SLEEP! justafewhealthnotes.com/?ta...

Counteracts glutamate:

Lunesta

Valium

Ice cream

Taurine

Dopamine agonists

Magnesium

Singulair

Leukotriene blocker

[jan_ET]

heck thats interesting im addicted to caffiene and icecream - why is it that if we are addicted to something that seems to be the exact thing we must avoid?

[Samsgran]

I never eat ice cream. What makes you think it causes rls ?

[Hidden]

I've noticed the same with ice cream or at least I think so. Can be so hard to know what does what when you have RLS every night. Apart from the sugar which I think does affect me I decided it might be vanilla. The same happens with custard which I really love and used to eat by the bowlful in the past when no RLS. it contains vanilla too.

[Graham3196 in reply to Hidden]

The difficulty in identifying which food causes your problem is the reason why you go on a STRICT exclusion diet.

You start out with a horribly limited range of foods that are known to be very unlikely not to be tolerated. You live (quite successively) on these until you prove that some part of your RLS is triggered by a food that you have stopped eating. In my case this took about 12 weeks. (The unexpected benefit in my case is that I have lost a fair bit of weight, just to encourage anyone who has a problem that way)

Fortunately (for most people) the foods that might cause you problems can be grouped according to their contents. If you are now RLS symptom free you can then introduce one group of foods for a few days and see if your symptoms return. At this stage quantity is important. So take a spoonfull per day for three days (Get expert advice to help you with this or it can all become too confusing) if your RLS returns then that is one whole group of foods you cant eat again probably for ever. If you are still healthy and sleeping then take a half cup per day for three days and continue in this way until your RLS returns or you are satisfied that this group of foods is acceptable to you.

Then start on the next group. If you are lucky you might only be intolerant to one group.

If you dont pass the first stage and after a long time on the exclusion diet then there are some other things you can rule out. I am not an expert on this and I can only think of a couple because I have found an intolerance to them. Gluten and lactose are a problem for me. I think lactose is only a problem for 1% of people who have some symptoms. Its so rare that my dietician was prepared not to bother with lactose because it was such a rare problem. Fortunately I decided to eliminate it anyway and discovered that it was one of my intolerances.

If I was starting again then I would eliminate lactose and gluten in the initial elimination diet period. Its easy to live without these two things now because there are many gluten free breads around and lactose free milk or almond milk substitutes that work fine. Personally I dont like coffee (decaf of course) made with almond milk but I can survive even that cruel blow.

Always ask if everything is gluten free. For example Hot potato fries or chips are usually powdered with wheat flour to make them cook crisply. The flour can be so important that some people cannot eat un-floured chips if they have been cooked in oil that has been used for cooking floured chips. FODMAP friendly bread probably contains gluten. In Australia ice cream probably contains Gluten and Lactose. Jams labelled strawberry and rasberry etc usually contain apple and pears. (Because they are cheaper) The label says 100% fruit but not 100% strawberries. There is a French jam company that makes their jam 100% of whatever its supposed to be so you might be able to eat that. Of course you have to know that oranges are safe before you try marmalade etc.

There are two exclusion diets that I have experience with but I am not an expert on either. You need expert help from a dietician to do this . Its really hard to do it alone.

Give the dietician a hard time. Just like you would a doctor who has never heard of augmentation. Make sure the dietician is familiar with the Monash university FODMAP diet and the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Low Chemical diet. The FODMAP has world wide recognition for treating irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) but the RPAH diet is not as well known but apparently well respected for investigating food intolerances.

[Phogan]

Oh please don't tell me that I can't eat ice cream anymore

[Lash65 in reply to Phogan]

I know right?!

[Hidden in reply to Phogan]

Don't despair, Phogan. All ice cream is not created equal. Check the ingredients and compare different brands. You may have to do this online. Some ingredient lists use euphymisms and/or list several ingredients under one heading and it's hard to know what you're eating. I once read a peanut butter jar label that very proudly listed on the front label-extra omega-3. Now I know there is no omega-3 in peanut butter. A little label reading (which was such fine print I asked another shopper to read it to me -too small even with glasses). Turns out the company had added fish cartilage in order to promote the omega 3 marketing. Needless to say I didn't buy it. Take care. irina1975

[Lash65]

That's interesting. I eat ice cream often before bedtime. Hadn't considered it as a cause for rls. I eat Lactaid mint ice cream.

[jan_ET in reply to Lash65]

salty caramel lol

[Lash65 in reply to jan_ET]

mmm...sounds delish!

[Hidden in reply to jan_ET]

Hi Jan. Couldn't resist butting in after seeing salty caramel. I think sea salt caramel ice cream by Talenti gelato is almost better than s-x!LOL.

[Hidden]

I can eat ice cream with no problems. It can be a trigger for some people, Its a trial thing you would have to do, see whether not eating makes any difference to your symptoms.

[Hidden]

Thank God this conversation is happening when it’s freezing outside. If it was summer I’d be in trouble!😀

[Graham3196]

I am intolerant of gluten and lactose

I can buy ice cream that is gluten free OR lactose free but not both

Sugar doesnt seem to affect me so Im lucky there but others report sugar to be a vigourous trigger

What do you make dairy free ice cream out of???

Graham

[Hidden in reply to Graham3196]

hi Graham. In the US many 'dairy products' usually made from milk are made from soy: ice cream/milk/cream cheese/sour cream/yogurt/etc. I have, in the past bought these products and many surprisingly tasted very good-esp the cream cheese (to me). However, several years ago when I began to look more closely at specific ingredients,where they came from,and how they affect the body, this what I learned about soy. I think it's been common knowledge for sometime that, in the US, 2 of the top GMO (genetically modified foods) are soy and corn. So after my research I stopped eating these two foods in any form. I also discovered-along the truth-in-advertising lines that just because a product label says 'organic' does not guarantee it is 100% organic. To be so, it must state 100% organic (meaning it is also a non GMO food). Long story short these soy products are processed foods which means the more processing and more ingredients the further the food moves away, I believe, from being a healthy real whole food. I made the decision for myself not to eat processed food any longer. I know I don't follow this 100% because I do eat out and I don't know all ingredients. But I do it rarely, have my own set of guidelines for choosing restaurants and menu items, and I don't buy processed foods when I shop. There are other controversies re soy products in general that can be researched online. Many of these stories are based on anecdotal info. But the info re problems with GMO-grown foods are well-documented. Many people eat them and may do fine but for me and my med problems, health, and age I try to eat as healthy and clean as possible. Hope this helps. Take care. irina1975

[Graham3196 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Irena

I will ring around manufacturers in Australia and see if any make these products. They might even feel inspired to test the market for a friendly ice cream. I think I mentioned that one manufacturer sells lactose free ice cream. They also sell sugar free ice cream so a gluten free ice cream should not be a great stretch. They charge like wounded bulls for it of course but even at that it might not sell enough to be profitable.

Interested in the problems with GMO soy and so forth but at the moment my brain is struggling to maintain the discipline with FODMAP friendly, low gluten and no lactose.

I am a bit suspicious of Soy and RLS but only based on sometimes being unable to identify what I did wrong when my legs and arms start playing-up. My food diary doesn't always record if I had a soy coffee just because the Cafe didn't have lactose free milk. Never been a good book-keeper.

[Hidden in reply to Graham3196]

Hi Graham. You're doing fine no need to go soy/lactose/sugar/gluten/ and god knows what else-free all at once. Just take it a step at a time. Everything is a process, in my opinion. I did want to say something about sugar-free products. For me using a sugar-free product has come down to which is worse-the sugar or the artificial sweeteners. And I believe we each have to decide for ourselves which is the lesser of 2 evils. I try not to eat much sugar. Have diabetes which is now diet controlled with weight loss and healthy eating over about 2 years. I do not want to go back on insulin or other diabetic meds so I watch my sugar. For quite a few years I ate badly and no doubt contributed to my med problems. But when I got serious and began researching how to clean up my eating, based on my research, there is one item I decided never to eat again- and this is artificial sweeteners. I believe they are such bad chemicals to put in our bodies. So if I want something sweet I choose sugar over artificial sweeteners. I can honestly say this is the one item (I hesitate to call it food) I have not eaten in at least 3 years. I used to use sweet and low like crazy and once I stopped the sweeteners the first thing I noticed after a few weeks was muscle aches and pains-for whatever reason-disappeared. This was a big deal for me as I always seemed to ache somewhere and feeling physically better kept me going. This is just my own experience and certainly sugar is not a healthy food. But if I really want something sweet I'll take the sugar over the other 'stuff'. For years I was so attached to my sweet and low I even packed a box in my luggage years ago when I traveled to the (then) Soviet Union. I knew they wouldn't have it there. Other people on my tour wanted some too but I'm afraid I was very miserly with it so I wouldn't run out.(True story!) That was 1975. Anyway don't mean to preach. Take care and remember-making healthy food changes is a few steps forward and a couple steps backward. Take care. irina1975

[Mum007]

I’m in a he uk and my ice cream is called Swedish glacé dairy free smooth vanilla made with soy. It’s vegan dairy free lactose free kosher and gluten free and still gives me restless legs. Ingredients are water, glucose, sugar, glucose-fructose syrup, coconut oil, dextrose, soybean powder, locust bean gum, gust gum, carrageenan, emulsifier (mono and dig luxe rides of fatty acids) flavourings, salt, vanilla bean pieces and carotenes. Sugar doesn’t seem to bother me in anything else so must be something else in the ingredients that upset me.

[Jaywell]

Sadly the only way to be sure what's in a food is to make it yourself. I have severe reflux problems as well so have to make things from scratch to be sure that no lemon or vinegar are hidden. I find chocolate and caffeine are very bad for rls and reflux. Wine's not good either. All the nice things give us problems.

[Jaywell]

BTW has anyone tried cannabinoid capsules? They're made from hemp which is part of the cannabis family but totally legal in the UK because they don't contain the ingredient that makes you high, and they are sold at Holland and Barrrets. I'm giving them a try.

[Retren]

Probably gluten.

[Mum007]

Nope my ice cream is dairy and gluten free

[2everett]

It’s hard to give up sugar but I’ve found a great non-sugar biscuit recipe.

Basic recipe:

Mash banana (not too ripe) add oats form into biscuit shapes. Bake for 12 minutes turn over continue for around 6 minutes. Cool and enjoy.

If you wish add some of the following whilst making the mixture.

Peanut butter

Flax seeds

Nuts

Chopped dates

Chai seeds

A spoon of organic honey

Unsugared dessicated coconut

Cocoa nibs

Since eating these I find shop biscuits too sweet.

Hope this helps with those sugar cravings.

[Whippetmama]

Tonight I noticed a link between ice cream and rls. I hadn't noticed a link before now but now there definitely is. I made this ice cream myself and there are no artificial ingredients. It is sweetened with sugar and stevia. Flavor is strawberry and blueberry So bummed!