Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a condition that causes a strong urge to move your legs due to an uncomfortable sensation in the leg. Usually, it happens in the nighttime and occasionally in the evenings also. Moving eases, the unpleasant feeling temporarily.

The most prominent symptom is the strong urge to move legs. People may also experience symptoms like:

  • Nighttime leg twitching
  • Pain in the leg
  • Difficulty sleeping at night, feeling sleepy during day hours, disturbed and deprived sleep.
  • Fatigue or restlessness in the whole body
  • Having a burning and tingling sensation in legs, and the uncomfortable ure to move often.

CAUSES OF RESTLESS LEG SYNDROME:

The cause of RLS is still not completely identified, although there might be a connection between Restless Leg Syndrome and low levels of iron in the brain and interruption in the dopamine pathway in the brain.

Other factors that may be responsible for the cause of this autoimmune condition (Restless leg syndrome) include:

  1. Allergies
  2. Nausea
  3. Depression
  4. Psychosis

FACTS ABOUT RESTLESS LEG SYNDROME:

  • Women are twice likely as men to get RLS.
  • It is more common and tends to be more severe after middle age
  • Conditions such as peripheral neuropathy, diabetes, and kidney failure may lead to RLS.
  • You are more likey to have restless leg syndrome if it runs in your family.

Lifestyle and home remedies:

  1. Try baths, massages, soaking legs in warm water so that the leg muscles can relax.
  2. Applying hot or cold packs will reduce the leg pain and the urge to move your legs.
  3. Establish good sleep hygiene
  4. Exercise.
  5. Avoid caffeine as it spikes up the anxiety.
  6. Consider using a foot wrap.

Dietary requirements:

There is no permanent cure for restless leg syndrome but you can lower the risk of the symptoms leading to this autoimmune condition by having a healthy diet.

A person, who has restless leg syndrome, must include foods rich in iron, protein and foods that induce sleep.

Include amaranth flour, quinoa, millets, and oats in your daily meals to add on your iron content.

Inculcating green leafy vegetables that are rich in iron like spinach helps maintain the iron and magnesium content for the day.

Calcium and magnesium are minerals that aid in the functioning of muscles and nerves, so they may help RLS patients

Including fruits high in magnesium like avocados and will help induce sleep.

Certain vitamins that are beneficial for people who experience Restless leg syndrome include:

  1. Vitamin D Deficiency

Vitamin D deficiency coupled with magnesium can cause this restless leg syndrome. Foods containing vitamin D such as fatty fish, fortified dairy products, mushrooms, etc can be acquired, however, supplementation would be a much better choice owing to easy availability and absorbability in the body as compared to foods.

It’s also found in certain foods such as fatty fish and fortified dairy products, though it’s very difficult to get enough from your diet alone. Supplementing with 2000 IU of vitamin D can help the adults to overcome this condition. Including foods rich in vitamin D such as,

  • Fatty fish
  • Egg yolks
  • Fortified cereals
  • Milk
  • Yogurt

Supplementing adequate levels of vitamin D reduces the RLS symptoms and thereby overcomes it over a period of time.

  1. Vitamins C and E:

Supplementing vitamin C along with iron helps your body to better absorb iron as low iron levels are also one of the causes of RLS. Also, adequate vitamin E along with vitamin C is another good treatment for reducing RLS in patients undergoing hemodialysis.