Study just released in U.S.: “Consumption of seven or more units of alcohol per week is associated with higher iron levels in the brain, according to a study of almost 21,000 people. Iron accumulation in the brain has been linked with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and is a potential mechanism for alcohol-related cognitive decline.”
Interesting since we with RLS want higher levels of iron in the brain but……alcohol causes other issues we don’t want. 😞
I don't think we need to worry about Alzheimer's nor Parkinson's since we are just trying to achieve normal amounts of iron in our brain. That is interesting about alcohol though and that people with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's have higher iron in their brain.
It depends on whether you believe that iron levels ar the cause or whether you believe that it's only a marker. I believe it's only a marker as, if it was the cause then infusion would be the cure which it isn't. I believe that the cause in most cases is blood sugar levels.
Can you explain more about blood sugar levels please? With thanks, Sally
High blood sugar contributes to systemic inflammation which makes nerves hypersensitive, leading to rls and long term raised blood sugar contributes to Alzheimer's. The answer is a low carb diet free of high gi processed foods.
I had a visit with my neurologist as a follow up last week; he says high blood sugar can be one cause of inflammation which can lead to neuropathy and can TRIGGER RLS, but is not the root cause of RLS. I haven't done any research of my own on this topic to back up either debate because I have never had any issues with blood sugar or diabetes. However, I find the topic quiet interesting as another data point
Yes, high blood sugar is one of the causes of systemic inflammation which is the most common cause of RLS. Others can be the oxidative stress of refined seed oils, the effects of natural toxins like oxylates or nightshades in the diet or in rare cases heavy metal poisoning. Just because something isn't the primary cause doesn't mean that it doesn't contribute at all. Too much sugar can cause diabetes in some but obesity in others or neuropathy in others, every body is different. The good thing is that you can experiment with your diet and as long as you identify all sources of blood sugar including refined starch and fruit juices you can cut them out temporarily and see if they make a difference to your RLS, they did for me within three or four days, with continuing reductions over the next six months.
Unfortunately you will only be able to tell retrospectively with Alzheimer's so if you want a long healthy life isn't it worth taking action even if it turns out to be an old wives' tale in the end? Have you walked under many ladders recently?
Eryl, I salute the fact that you share what worked for you. But again, there is no single "cause" to RLS. Those are your own hypothesis, not backed by science. Following your own reasoning, if sugar and PUFAs were the cause of RLS, we'd all be cured by sugar-free PUFA-free diets. However, there are many testimonies here of people trying these diets for weeks and months with no effect on their RLS.
Most of the time, RLS is a secondary condition. There are three great examples of this. 1) Pregnant women are 2 to 3 times as likely to get secondary RLS because of hormonal changes as well as iron and folate status during pregnancy. Following pregnancy, RLS goes away (see the first reference below). 2) In a lot of cases, iron deficiency cause RLS. In those cases, resolving iron deficiency solves RLS. 3) People suffering from celiac disease disproportionately suffer from RLS because of malabsorption-related iron deficiency anemia and peripheral neuropathy. There is a common feature here: iron deficiency. This explains why the "iron thesis" is still held as the most likely (see the second reference below).
Primary RLS is associated with a genetic predisposition. There are many genetic markers for RLS. For primary RLS, there is no cure at this point. In this case, most people with RLS have normal iron levels, but have a hard time getting iron across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). This situation is said to cause RLS because "Two major pathophysiological consequences of low brain iron are hypoxia and demyelination." Those two consequences then cause the symptoms we know as RLS. As shown by the efforts of fellow RLS sufferers here, so far, there is no cure for this type of RLS.
If you solved your RLS with diet, then you suffered from secondary RLS. I encourage you to keep sharing your experience because it might help others from suffering from the same form of RLS.
However, please, please, please, watch your phrasing. Your own experience and the self-reported experience of a few others are no basis to claim that RLS is caused by sugar and PUFAs. It’s just very frustrating reading this when you suffer from primary RLS and nothing has worked to keep it in check except Pregabalin and Methadone. I don’t take those drugs for fun. I take them because nothing else helps.
Srivanitchapoom, Prachaya, Sanjay Pandey, and Mark Hallett. 2014. “Restless Legs Syndrome and Pregnancy: A Review.” Parkinsonism & Related Disorders 20 (7): 716–22. doi.org/10.1016/j.parkreldi....
Vlasie, Andrei, Simona Corina Trifu, Cristiana Lupuleac, Bianca Kohn, and Mihai Bogdan Cristea. 2022. “Restless Legs Syndrome: An Overview of Pathophysiology, Comorbidities and Therapeutic Approaches (Review).” Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine 23 (2): 1–10. doi.org/10.3892/etm.2021.11108.
Silber, Michael H., Mark J. Buchfuhrer, Christopher J. Earley, Brian B. Koo, Mauro Manconi, John W. Winkelman, Christopher J. Earley, et al. 2021. “The Management of Restless Legs Syndrome: An Updated Algorithm.” Mayo Clinic Proceedings 96 (7): 1921–37. doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.20....
Iron article
Time for Yet Another Paradigm Shift
Blood tests ✅ 
