Restless legs comes from the gut. I initially tried fodmap food exclusion diet with some success for my restless legs which would occasionally spread to whole body But the one that really worked was a more strict version of fodmap called sibo, by doctor siebecker. After 6 months on it i have changed my small intestinal gut bacteria levels to near normal. After 28 years of madness i have been free of rls for 3 months now. For me there was a strong link between my bowels and rls. When my rls played up my small intestine would almost itch.
It's hard to stick to the diet but its worth it, Even if it takes a year to heal bacterial overgrowth and leaky gut.
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Mikeca
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A common error in nutrition is thinking energy comes from protein. Newborns have a high protein requirement but mother's milk meets that requirement with only 5 % of calories from protein. Oatmeal is 16%, beans 26%. The problem is too much protein which plays havoc with kidneys and other bodily functions. Anyone, even on a plant-based diet, who gets sufficient calories to satisfy hunger gets sufficient protein. Adding animal protein or supplements is not healthy. Energy comes from starches, plants such as wheat, rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes, white potatoes. For the science behind this check sites such as nutritionfacts.org and drmcdougall.com.
I saw a naturopath who suggested I had sibo so I took the test and it came back positive. I didn’t actually move forward on this for a few reasons. Firstly the naturopath was expensive and so were the treatments. Secondly, i’ve done a ton of research on Sibo and even if you can treat the issue with chemical or natural antibiotics and continue with the sibo diet the research shows that the benefits are only short lived (months) before the symptoms recur and treatment needs to start over. This seems like a huge commitment for a small payoff.
Having said that if you are a person that can maintain a restrictive diet and it helps then go for it. There isn’t a whole lot of data out there to support it but there seems to be a lot of anecdotal evidence. I don’t see how cleaner eating can ever be a bad thing!
Mikeca I am extremely happy to hear of your success in getting relief. Anytime someone can find relief is awesome.
I wish your relief was a true cure for all of us. For myself, leaky gut is not the cause. I will 100 % join in with you on promoting probiotics though. Very important in today's health regiment. With all the fluoride and chlorine in the water supplies today..its amazing anyone is still gut healthy. I also feel that for some....intestinal issues could absolutely contribute to muscular/nervous system malfunctioning. I am not familiar with the Sibo diet. I will do some research and see what correlations I can find between it and my symptom relief system. I can stop my symptoms instantly with one exercise....most of the time, but I can no way state that my exercise has stopped symptoms for 3 months. To me...that warrants looking at what you have to say because frankly...no one, and I have been studying this since 94, has ever claimed such a miracle without meds( requip, Sinimet, klononipin,etc). I am sorry to say this because I'm not doubting your success, I just don't feel its a cure for everyone.
Thank you again for sharing. With enough sharing and collaboration we will figure out the cause
I cured my restless legs for a year-and-a-half with a total raw food diet. At the time, I was a real raw food fanatic. But now I think it's positive effect on restless legs had more to do with its anti-inflammatory properties then all the other hype about raw foods. The RLS started coming back after a year-and-a-half and I lost the will power to continue on the diet.
My son has rls. He’s getting the SIBO breath test next week. The treatment is an antibiotic for the gut. Did u try the antibiotic to get rid of th SIBO? Or do u have to do the diet? Ty.
Sorry if this sounds stupid, but how can a neurological disorder be caused be a “leaky gut”? I’ve had RLS my entire life. I realise that secondary RLS (ie the one that comes on later in life) must be caused by something external, but I’ve never found a change in diet in any way helps. Having said that, if you’ve found something that works for you then that’s fantastic and I’m really pleased for you.
MumofSam -- think about it: How do your neurons get their nourishment? Through the bloodstream. And having said that, there are multiple studies showing a connection between intestinal bacterial overgrowth, SIBO, intestinal permeability and the foods one eats and RLS. Just as one example -- a diet too high in protein can cause elevated ammonia levels -- which are associated with RLS. A google search will turn up these studies...
Congratulations. If more people realised how many conditions can be cured by the correct diet, 'Big Pharma' would struggle. Many people say that diets don't work, but most often they haven't been following them rigorously, or they expect instant results. Meds aren't a cure, they just mask the basic problem.
Have actually begun a low fodmap diet this past week and having some relief. I'm very interested in this avenue of research and will pursue.
This thread popped up on the right in "related posts"; I'd posted a link to Wm Davis' blog post on SIBO and all the conditions gut imbalances might cause. I am interested in the concept, so it excited me to find your post. So 6 months later, how are you doing? Some people call the gut the "second brain" that controls so much of our body; I ran across a Scientific American article on it- scientificamerican.com/arti... Looks like this is an incredibly complex system; they haven't even begun to scratch the surface understanding what all the gut controls. I'm tickled to find someone who has had success with this. And I didn't know there is a SIBO diet specifically to heal this mess.
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