Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

This article at Vox illustrates just how hard it is to know who to believe and to get facts. It also illustrates that science is often way behind thought and that it takes decades for research to often catch up. Leaves us in a Catch-22.

http://www.vox.com/2015/10/8/9478259/pr ... h-benefits

Supplements in general have been getting a lot of bad press lately, and for good reason. Often they do not contain what they say they do and even if the supplements actually have what the label says, often they don't work. For example, most fish oil capsules don't contain the amount of omega-3 it says on the label. I used to take a fish oil capsule daily but now eat more salmon. It tastes better too.
When a friend asked her doctor if her husband should take probiotics after a course of antibiotics the doctor said not to waste their money. And to get a viable dose from yoghurt you'd need to eat buckets of it.
Advertising has great power to convince the public of practically anything.

Yankiwi wrote:Supplements in general have been getting a lot of bad press lately, and for good reason. Often they do not contain what they say they do and even if the supplements actually have what the label says, often they don't work. For example, most fish oil capsules don't contain the amount of omega-3 it says on the label. I used to take a fish oil capsule daily but now eat more salmon. It tastes better too.
When a friend asked her doctor if her husband should take probiotics after a course of antibiotics the doctor said not to waste their money. And to get a viable dose from yoghurt you'd need to eat buckets of it.
Advertising has great power to convince the public of practically anything.

Indeed.

Interesting article Ann. Thanks. I do not waste my money any more by buying expensive probiotics in health food stores and agree with much of what was written. I am a bit suspicious (as is my nature) because I remember reading some time back bad press about Vox.com and their writers lack of objectivity. I agree that probiotic claims to treat all sorts of ailments are far fetched. Imo so are all the off label uses of medication by Big Pharma. Doesn't make either of them right.

That being said I do drink Kefir and have found it to be of value to me. In general I am a believer in fermented foods. I drink Kefir in the morning when I take the few supplements I have found to be helpful for me. I usually follow that with breakfast. Before Kefir I would take my vitamins with breakfast and often I would have bloating, gas, you get the picture.

As an aside, many of the foods, vitamins, minerals and prescription medications I see mentioned on the forum are possible blood thinners. They are not commonly listed with aspirin, fish oil, etc. but if you look them up separately you will find them to have those properties. I found this out when I got a B12 Infusion and the site where my blood was drawn continued to bleed. It seemed the majority of the stuff I was eating or taking had blood thinning properties. My doctor informed me that even Gabapentin could be a contributor.

Dairy products can help your blood clot because of their calcium, which I thought would be good for me under the circumstances. I won't drink regular milk from this country for a number of reasons but I don't feel the same about fermented milk from organic grass fed, pasture raised cows. Calcium supplements are tricky to absorb so i figure Kefir is doing a few good things for me. Of course, as with everything it's an individual thing and we are all different.

You're welcome. Per lack of objectivity...as a one-time Communications major, that applies to just about every source. Investigations regularly show bias, even within scientific researchers. I rarely read one outlet and assume everything is true.

Per the probiotics, until we can discern how supplements might work, if they can get past the gut, and find sources that have the intended ingredients, my guess is that making your own sauerkraut, pickles, yogurt, and other fermented products. is likely the best way to have some effect. I was making yogurt regularly and stopped - I need to start again. I made pickles recently - only took 4 days! Delicious, too.

It looks like Australia is doing some research on gut bacteria and weight:
http://sydney.edu.au/perkins/research/c ... iome.shtml

In the meantime I was motivated by Ann and I am making some sauerkraut!

I was a Media Specialist for 25 years and one of my primary responsibilities was teaching information literacy which included Website Evaluation. I'm still beating myself up for passing on erroneous information about Magnesium a few weeks ago. We all need to become discerning users of information.

ViewsAskew wrote: Investigations regularly show bias, even within scientific researchers. I rarely read one outlet and assume everything is true.

I agree wholeheartedly. eg: that Coca Cola is funding many science and nutrition studies which show that sugary drinks aren't a cause of obesity and other health problems.

I make yoghurt from raw milk, it's excellent. Fermented foods are beneficial, but be careful of sauerkraut or pickles if you tend towards high blood pressure.