My Ten Steps to complete from RLS and to amazing good health

[notnowdad]

I have posted a number times about my progress toward complete relief from RLS. More than seven years ago I found that I could switch my RLS on and off by controlling the amount of oxalate in my diet. In subsequent years I discovered and shared various issues that could impede a person’s progress to relief via a “low oxalate diet”. One of these impediments is the liver’s tendency to produce excess oxalic acid after consumption of gelatin and other concentrated sources of glycine. Another is the grocery industry’s proclivity to spray “non-organic” vegetables and fruits with an oxalic acid solution.

My attention to my diet and to various issues surrounding “eating healthy” led me to experiment with other dietary modifications which seem to have given me extraordinary improvements in my health and vitality. Not only have I become completely free from any discomforts of RLS, but I feel like I have a new pair of legs, with a vitality and a “spring in my step” that I haven’t known for 30 or 40 years. In addition to the rejuvenation of my legs, I have slimmed down to the my college weight without reducing my food intake. And, I stopped having severe allergies to dust mites and pollens.

I realize my extraordinary improvements may be idiosyncratic. However, because some people have expressed interest in my protocol, I have compiled my dietary modifications into a list of ten steps. I offer them here in the hope that others may find them beneficial. The first five are specifically tailored to addressing RLS issues. For now, all I can say about the other five is, “you might want to try this for a couple of months.”

Other than my own experience, I have no scientific basis for believing that the co-toxicities of fluoride and refined, bleached and deodorized cooking oils made from seeds caused me to lose my ability to tolerate normal amounts of oxalate and glycine in my diet. Nevertheless, I suspect this is, in fact, the root cause.

As always, I wish you all the best. Jim Hejl

MY TEN STEPS TO ACHIEVE COMPLETE RELIEF FROM RLS (AND A NEW LEVEL OF GOOD HEALTH)

1) Eat a low oxalate diet.

2) Take magnesium supplements but not magnesium glycinate. Excess glycine seems to stimulate the liver to produce oxalic acid inappropriately.

3) Avoid gelatin and gelatinous soups and stews because of their high glycine. Be mindful of animal protein that may be especially high in glycine. Collagen supplements probably should be avoided.

4) Eat organic vegetables and fruits. Non-organic are typically sprayed with oxalic acid solution post harvest to preserve freshness and nutrients.

5) Avoid eating asparagus. Apparently asparagusic acid operates similarly to oxalic acid.

6) Avoid refined, bleached and deodorized cooking oils made from seeds. I believe these oils have made me especially susceptible to fluoride poisoning. (I mostly use unrefined, virgin coconut oil and cold pressed olive oil. I also enjoy butter and ghee.)

7) Limit wheat products to those made with unenriched, unbleached, unbromated flour. Eat unenriched, organic pasta. When using commercial yeast instead of the natural leavening of sourdough starter, allow the dough to rise unrefrigerated for 12 to 18 hours, or more. (I typically buy King Arthur flour.)

AVOID CONSUMING FLUORIDE! Drink properly filtered or purified water. Avoid non-stick cookware that isn’t PTFE and PFOA free. Avoid canned foods unless the can liners are free of fluorocarbons. Don’t drink bottled or canned beverages made with fluoridated water. Wine, especially from California, is typically high in fluoride. Many pesticides are high in fluoride, so eat organic. (If you drink water purified by reverse osmosis you probably should add back appropriate minerals.)

9) You may need to take a break from goitrogenic foods. RLS and oxalate intolerance may be evidence of unusual susceptibility to fluoride and you may, like me, have a significantly impaired thyroid. In addition to damaging the gut lining, impairing iron absorption, causing magnesium deficiency and suppressing melatonin production, fluoride has traditionally been used as a medicine to suppress thyroid function. I experimented with avoiding all goitrogenic foods and my thyroid function greatly improved. After avoiding fluoride for more than a year I am slowly reintroducing cruciferous vegetables and the many wonderful fruits of the rosacea family. (I had been wary of eating fruit because of wide swings in my blood sugar. Eventually I realized that, for me, it was the goitrogens of certain fruits, rather than the fructose, which was causing my energy swings.)

10) Whenever possible avoid medicines that stress the liver’s detoxification function. I suspect the RLS augmentation from Pramipexole and similar drugs is due to liver impairment. Oxalic acid is a normal byproduct of liver function and it must be properly disposed of. When liver function is impaired, overproduction of oxalic acid may occur, especially in the presence of high glycine.

[Einszwei]

I have the utmost admiration and respect for your continued research and your documentation of everything that is helping you with your rls symptoms.
Thank you for sharing your experience.

I have been on a low oxalate diet for close to 2 years now and my symptoms have continued subside. I am back to beeing able to eat almost everything (in moderation) with minimal rls symptoms. I look forward to give some of your other points a try.

Can you share some of the proccesses that you use to identify problematic food groups or ingredients? Where do you get you information regarding the inner workings of our bodies? Wikipedia or are there other helpful sources?
Thank you.

[notnowdad]

EZ, thank you for the kind words and your positive report.

I keep trying to take different people’s insights and evaluate them against my personal experience. I keep in mind the traditions of my ethnic group, and assume the validity of traditional ways of doing things. Is there a reason why berries and cream seem to go together so well? How did we get from “Give us this day our daily bread” to “Yes, please, but make mine gluten free”?

Several credible doctors and researchers had been making a good case that cooking oils with polyunsaturated fats could be bad for people. Several other doctors had written books and suggested that fluoride was detrimental to thyroid function. It was pure luck that the pandemic created a situation where I happened to be experimenting with avoiding refined, bleached and deodorized cooking oils at the same time I was avoiding fluoride from both my city’s water and my non-stick cookware. And it took me about a year to realize that my buying some cookware that was only “PFOA free” and not also “PTFE free” was the reason that my allergies returned. But the fact that I was ultimately able to become a person without allergies seemed very significant and worthy of consideration.

As I looked more deeply into the research around the negative effects of fluoride, I began to wonder if over exposure to fluoride could be the reason I lost the ability to tolerate normal amounts of oxalate in my diet. Currently I believe this explanation may be plausible. And it seems reasonable that there may be a factor of co-toxicity with the RBD cooking oils. Because I am only a single person I realize my results may be idiosyncratic. But I also feel like the promise of my results is something I shouldn’t take to the grave with me, so I share. And I eagerly await news from people like you about whether my solutions work for others. Thanks again. Jim

[avaneendra]

MY TEN STEPS TO ACHIEVE COMPLETE RELIEF FROM RLS (AND A NEW LEVEL OF GOOD HEALTH)

1) Eat a low oxalate diet.

9) You may need to take a break from goitrogenic foods. RLS and oxalate intolerance may be evidence of unusual susceptibility to fluoride and you may, like me, have a significantly impaired thyroid. In addition to damaging the gut lining, impairing iron absorption, causing magnesium deficiency and suppressing melatonin production, fluoride has traditionally been used as a medicine to suppress thyroid function. I experimented with avoiding all goitrogenic foods and my thyroid function greatly improved. After avoiding fluoride for more than a year I am slowly reintroducing cruciferous vegetables and the many wonderful fruits of the rosacea family. (I had been wary of eating fruit because of wide swings in my blood sugar. Eventually I realized that, for me, it was the goitrogens of certain fruits, rather than the fructose, which was causing my energy swings.)

Hi notnowdad,
Thanks for detailed information on the plan.

point 1 and point 9 are contradictory to me. Am I missing something here. goitrogenic foods are in-fact low oxalates foods. Wondering how do you balance between the two?. you avoided this goitrogenic food for one year to get rid of flouride, but reintroducing them again?. Does not it cause flouride issue?.

thanks
-Avanendra

[notnowdad]

Excellent question. Thank you for asking.

Please understand I am not a medical professional or scientist. I can only answer with what I believe to be true. I am giving you my subjective interpretation of what I have objectively noticed happening in my body.

I seem to be more susceptible than most people to the negative effects of chemicals in our environment and food supplies. My belief is that over exposure to fluoride caused me to lose the ability to tolerate normal amounts of oxalate in my diet. After almost a year of avoiding fluoride as much as possible I seem to have recovered my ability to tolerate oxalate and I seem to be completely cured of RLS. For several weeks I have been eating spinach, nuts, whole oats, blackberries, and potatoes with skins almost every day with absolutely no discomforts of RLS.

My dietary struggle with RLS made me more observant about how all foods affect me. As I got older my lifelong problem with inconsistent energy and wide swings in blood sugar became more extreme. I suspected I was “hypothyroid”. I noticed that goitrogenic vegetables made me more susceptible to the swings in blood sugar which one of my co-workers referred to as my “sinking spells”. Eventually I noticed that if I avoided cruciferous vegetables, soy, and fruits of the roseacea family (cherries, apples, peaches, plums, etc.) I had an extraordinary increase in vitality and sustained energy.

When I began to look into the negative effects of fluoride I wondered if my apparent thyroid problem could also be attributed to that chemical. For almost 100 years fluoride has been known to be a thyroid suppressant. In the early days of modern medicine it was used to treat people with overactive thyroid glands (hyperthyroidism). Now I am very happy to report that, in addition to recovering my ability to tolerate oxalate, I seem to have recovered my ability to tolerate goitrogenic vegetables. I have been eating cauliflower almost daily for several weeks with no decrease in vitality. I am still avoiding goitrogenic fruits and soy.

I have no way of knowing if others with RLS may have thyroid issues similar to mine. It was very difficult for me to avoid goitrogens while I was also avoiding oxalates, however it definitely was worth the struggle for me. At the moment it seems possible that avoiding fluoride along with refined, bleached and deodorized cooking oils made from seeds may have removed both problems from my life. I mention the seed oils because that seems to be part of my recovery, although for now I don’t have an explanation for why that might be a contributing factor. I hope you find this information useful and I wish you the best of luck.

[Macadwel]

Hello Jim,
I am coming late to your thread, but I am very interested to learn if you are still RLS-free? I am at the end of all medical therapies and found your thread about diet, and with the list of food items it looks like a diet I can adopt and actually like. I live in the country on a well, so drinking city water with fluoride has not been an issue for me, though we have been purchasing bottled water due to heavy rains and some murky water. Do you know if spring water has fluoride added to it? Also, do you know if the ceramic pans have the PTFE and PFOA in them? I have two pans but am looking into stainless steel and I have a castiron I use a lot.

For questions about the actual foods you eat, when eating beef and pork do you have to eat the lean cuts or can you choose the more fatty cuts? example tenderloin vs Ribeye? I personally like the ribeye that is why I ask! You also mention gelatin, but the University of Pittsburgh shows that you can eat unflavored Gelatin and Jell-O is that an issue? Just trying to cover all my bases! If you have any other insights that would be helpful for someone whose medication is no longer working and who will have to go off meds and find alternatives please let me know! Thank you, Melissa

One more question, how much magnesium is suggested?

[notnowdad]

Hi Melissa,

I didn’t see your response until today because I have been without power for 3 days due to an ice storm here in Austin. I recommend that bottled water be described as “purified” which the small print on the bottle will say was processed by reverse osmosis. Most purveyors of spring water have multiple sources and the natural fluoride can vary from one source to another. I believe most “mineral water” is especially likely to be high in natural fluoride. You can probably find out if ground water in your area is typically high in fluoride.

Most companies selling true “ceramic” non-stick cookware advertise that their products are both PTFE and PFOA free. That is what I look for. New black cast iron and steel pans are typically pre-seasoned with a seed oil like canola which causes my allergies to return. I scrub them thoroughly with washing soda and re-season them several times with organic palm oil. I usually use uncoated stainless steel saucepans when boiling foods.

I believe saturated fats from “100% grass fed” animals are actually healthful. However, I have read that animals raised on modern farms are typically fattened up using feed which is heavy in refined, bleached and deodorized seed oils because those oils are so effective in causing weight gain. I have also read it may be that eating the fat from those animals may be just as bad as eating the seed oils yourself. I have been eating only grass fed red meats in the past year which means I haven’t been eating pork at all. I buy only organic chicken.

I truly believe my current diet is restoring my ability to tolerate normal amounts of dietary oxalate without any discomforts of RLS. I believe avoiding fluoride and the RBD seed oils is helping my digestive tract to heal and reduce oxalate absorption from food. I also believe that avoiding fluoride reduces the tendency of my liver to over produce oxalic acid. I have recently been finding different bits of science which seem to help explain what I have been experiencing and I will be sharing this information soon. Because I’m doing so much better I haven’t been avoiding gelatinous soups and stews recently, however, I won’t be eating processed gelatin or Jello in the near future.

I suspect that regularly consuming unrefined coconut oil may well be an important part of the improvements I have been experiencing. I found a study which reports that an extract of coconut may mitigate the toxic effects of fluoride in the gut.

I am currently using three quarter teaspoons of Dr. Dean’s ReMag liquid each day which, according to the label, gives me 54% of my recommended daily allowance. I also eat a lot of fruit and vegetables. I hope this information helps. Best of luck to you, Jim.

[RLS113]

Hi there! I am very interested in your journey and success. I’d like to do anything I can to fix this without meds if possible. And am getting close.

I’m finding SO much info online on low oxalate diets and frankly it is a bit overwhelming. I’m a pretty simplistic person, so information overload is a hurdle for me. I am however continuing to research AND looking into the no fluoride idea as well.

My question is:
If I water/black coffee fast for 4-5 days, (making sure the water is fluoride free and the coffee is not instant), do you think that would cause a Oxalate dump, therefore letting me see if, in fact, something in my diet is causing the RLS? Can those stores and other cellular stores be depleted enough to start from scratch?

Thanks in advance!

[XenMan]

My question is:
If I water/black coffee fast for 4-5 days, (making sure the water is fluoride free and the coffee is not instant), do you think that would cause a Oxalate dump, therefore letting me see if, in fact, something in my diet is causing the RLS? Can those stores and other cellular stores be depleted enough to start from scratch?

People's experiences with oxalate are different, as are the recommendations.

Fasting for a couple of days or having a no oxalate diet will cause dumping. The issue that I found is that if your kidneys aren't cleared of oxalate, then it is reabsorbed and just recycled. This made me feel like I was dying, so it should make you feel bad if you have a stored oxalate issue.

Other people have more of a consumed oxalate issue without the storage. You can test this by consuming high amounts of oxalate before bed to see if it makes your RLS worse. Beetroot juice is insanely high and you can increase the amount before bed and see what happens. I makes my legs have a light burning sensation the next day.

[RLS113]

Very interesting. Thank you for the “test” info. I’ll definitely give this a try to see if it is an issue with me!

[pmcjeffers]

I’m curious about the magnesium glycinate since it’s recommended for causing the least amount of digestive upset & helpful for insomnia & I thought RLS?

[notnowdad]

Please don’t get overly concerned about the details. I want to get you at least 90% relief of discomforts. I’m not a scientist but I have observed my responses and I’m only telling you what I believe is important based on my experience. For 60 days, just don’t use the magnesium glycinate. In me it caused excess production of oxalic acid by my liver. That much I am sure of.

I use Dr. Dean’s ReMag which seems to be the purest and most restorative form of magnesium. In her books and on her website, Dr. Dean comes across as committed to educating people on the vital importance of magnesium to our health. And I believe she has done her best to offer a high quality product which is probably what we should have. If you choose not to use her product, I can tell you I was using magnesium citrate during my initial period of success with a low oxalate diet. And my RLS discomforts came back really strong when I switched to magnesium glycinate.

My belief is that RLS sufferers are vulnerable to a disruption of the “citric acid cycle” (also known as the Kreb’s cycle). Somehow ingesting strong doses of glycine triggers excess production of oxalic acid. I don’t know why this happens, but I’m working on understanding it. Many of the websites addressing oxalate issues are now acknowledging that eating gelatin (which is very high in glycine) raises oxalate levels in the body. This concern about glycine has led to my understanding that gelatinous soups and stews can trigger RLS discomforts. Good luck to you, Jim

[sarahpatto]

I am willing to try a low oxalate diet to see if it would help with my RLS. I spent the weekend clicking through the Trying Low Oxalates FB page. I am not a regular FB user so I find it not that easy to navigate. I posted a question on there somewhere and now can't get back to it to see if someone answered! I managed to download the all-knowing 327 page Spreadsheet but I'm daunted by the task of opening up my computer and searching for every single food I want to put in my mouth. Surely there is an easier way to test out the LO diet to see if it's what my body wants? What about one of the LO cookbooks out there? Would you recommend one of those?

[XenMan]

Surely there is an easier way to test out the LO diet to see if it's what my body wants? What about one of the LO cookbooks out there? Would you recommend one of those?

There certainly is, you can try no oxalate or very high oxalate.

No oxalate is just meat and dairy, although a bit of rice should be OK. Try it for a week and see what happens. I felt better for a day and then started dumping and went on 3 day cycles of feeling bad to really bad. RLS was dreadful. Then I knew oxalate was an issue and dealt with it.

Beetroot juice has the highest oxalate that I can find. It is usually in a blend from the supermarket. Take increasing amounts before going to bed and see what happens. I took it to try and control my dumping, and all it did was make my legs have a slight burning feeling the next day.

It either of these have an effect, then it is up to you to decide what to do next. Some reduce their oxalate slowly, whereas I'm into clearing the kidneys and dumping as much as possible quickly. Although after years of doing this I may have made a mistake on my diet, and experimentation, dumping and bad RLS continues.

Fortunately, I know what causes my RLS and one day I should get things right.