Worth a try

[Boldgirl45]

Hi there - I am not an extreme sufferer of RLS (I have it mildly...at the moment) but my elderly mum is, and so I am always interested to learn more. I just wanted to put something I've found 'out there' as it is a way of eating I am very interested in, and am about to embark on (for other health issues / general health) . I just found a bit of anecdotal evidence that it helps with RLS so thought I'd let you know. It's a diet called The Perfect Health Diet by Paul Jaminet. What I like about it is the fact that he and his wife are scientists, and have taken an evidence-based approach to nutrition, i.e out of the myriad studies that are out there, which are the ones with the most compelling evidence regarding health. The results are very interesting. They have taken this, and come up with a sort of blueprint for eating. It's a big thick book and a lot to get your head around, but possibly worth looking into. The thing that is the most interesting to me is the nutritional deficiencies and how they propose tackling them. I know people on here have tried lots of different diets / supplements etc....but as someone very interested in nutrition, this particular approach seems very compelling.

There are lots of people with differing health problems that have improved their symptoms through the diet, but this caught my eye:

Hi Paul, just wanted to let you know that after approximately 2 months on PHD and taking the recommended supplements, my restless leg syndrome has completely disappeared. I was a bit hesitant at first to believe it could be true, but it’s been a few weeks now so I can say it’s officially gone. This is something I remember having since I was a young child, maybe 6 or 7 so it’s pretty neat to resolve the issue through diet.

As we know, what works for one does not work for all, but thought I'd share in case it can help anyone.

Thanks all - if anyone tries it and has any effects whatsoever please let me know!!

[Madnaz]

Can I ask what is PHD and what are the supplemental you took? Really want to get rid of my restless legs

[Boldgirl45 in reply to Madnaz]

Yes I'm sorry - the guy in the quote (not me ) is referring to the Perfect Health Diet when he talks about PHD. It's what the fans often call it. Lots of supplements, some of the usual suspects. I'm compiling a list at the moment so could share? But recommend you look at the whole diet - you could do things in stages maybe. The evidence against consuming seed oils for example (sunflower oil / rapeseed oil) is quite compelling!

[Madnaz in reply to Boldgirl45]

Could I have that list of supplements please? I’m taking vitamins b12, c and d. Iron. Magnesium. And zinc. All on high levels. Bought them myself. But. Still. To no avail. I’m going to look into PHD. Maybe I do need to change my diet. Although that will be hard as that’s one thing I’ve never wanted to give up on, despite whatever illnesses I get. I always assumed exercises and supplements will be ok. But. Might have to look into diet now.

[Boldgirl45 in reply to Madnaz]

So sorry but I think diet is super important. But the best way to do that is to eat everything recommended and cut other things out ('cold turkey' I suppose) for a few months to see if it helps. Once things have settled down you might be able to get away with your favourite foods once a week. Just working on the supplements list so will post once done. You'll see that some of what they recommend is actually supplementing in the form of food.

[Boldgirl45 in reply to Boldgirl45]

PS one thing I learned from the book - people take zinc willy nilly and to quite high levels. Without balancing with copper this can be positively dangerous. Just a word of warning!

[Madnaz in reply to Boldgirl45]

Oh wow. I didn’t know that high levels of zinc can be dangerous. Thank you for that. Looks like I will need to try the phd now and sees if that helps. Since nothing else has worked. Anything to get rid of these restless legs. At times it gets so bad that I want them chopped off. But then when I have the good days. I realise these legs are a blessing too.

[Stdorn in reply to Boldgirl45]

Just heard a story of someone taking zinc willy-nilly and it crashed their copper levels and there kidneys shutdown and they very nearly died.

[Boldgirl45 in reply to Stdorn]

Oh wow, sorry just saw this. Yes, it seems to be a little-known fact...and zinc is widely taken with no mention of copper.

[Stdorn in reply to Boldgirl45]

If you care here's a link to the video. I like this guy's videos they're usually a case of some idiot took too much of this or that and here's what it did to him. m.youtube.com/watch?v=oeyt2...(Not working as expected?)

[Boldgirl45 in reply to Stdorn]

Thank you - will definitely watch!

[Whymelord]

Hi,I am an extreme sufferer of rls for years and years.ihave tried everything that is discussed on this forum,I never really associated diet with rls but I now believe its very relevant. I have stopped sweet or sugary foods and it has made my life so much better.although I take one tablet of 0.18 pramipexole along with Gentle Iron every other day,definitely I believe my diet made all the difference.i will look at the Perfect Health Diet for sure,thankyou for sharing.

[Boldgirl45 in reply to Whymelord]

No problem - do let me know if you try it and how you get on

[Boldgirl45 in reply to Boldgirl45]

Also - I think my mum is on a similar dose of pramipexole. I'd love to get her off it, but I just think that's impossible as I don't think she'd cope with any worsening of symptoms which it seems you have to go through to get off it

[Stdorn]

It's interesting his PhD is in physics.

[Boldgirl45 in reply to Stdorn]

Yes, as I say, they are not nutritional scientists, but rather people in the field of science (I think he’s a NASA scientist and she a molecular biologist) who can apply the same rigour to filtering all the evidence that they would in their usual field of work.