I just love the feedback I get with the food articles. A lot of times it’s from folks who have tried the recipes and liked them or have offered their own to make a featured food more interesting.
Today, I thought I’d combine some of the info on three of my favorite minerals with a great bedtime snack recipe to help alleviate a common problem for a growing number of people: Restless Leg Syndrome.
We’ve talked in the past about RLS, but I’ll summarize the problem again briefly. This irritating and sleep-stealing problem occurs when the brain is ready to go to bed but the muscles in the leg are misfiring and still trying to do the day’s work.
It’s like leaving the gate open at the farm after you leave for the day…the critters want to run loose and mayhem ensues.
What causes the gate to be left hanging open? A variety of things are to blame, but the most common (and easily remedied) is a vitamin deficiency.
Doctors have found that people who suffer from RLS almost always are deficient in 3 minerals: calcium, potassium, and magnesium.
This little trio of minerals, when lacking, cause the large muscles of the leg to misfire. There are problems all over the body, and with a lot of systems because of this deficiency, but RLS is sometimes the most noticeable.
Some doctors even consider it an announcement of sorts to other looming problems. Most of which can be corrected simultaneously with the right treatment.
Sometimes doctors will prescribe a powerful magnesium supplement, and that may help…but research actually shows that increasing all three minerals is more effective.
Some ‘natural’ remedies focus on herbs and supplements that can be almost as dangerous as the pharmaceuticals they are meant to replace. This is particularly true if you are not sure what, or how much to take. They can interfere with other medications as well.
So honestly, the best way to try and naturally calm those itchy, twitchy legs is to focus on the trifecta of mineral power, which is to increase all three little wonders at once. And the best way to do that is by focusing on diet adjustments to increase more of the hardest working fruits and other foods.
The recipe below offers a way to use bananas that loads up a healthy dose of potassium, magnesium and calcium.
Try this bedtime snack:
Banana Pancakes
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole grain flour
1 ½ Tbsp stevia plant sweetener
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg, beaten
1 cup skim milk
¼ cup fat free yogurt
2 Tbsp olive oil
¼ tsp almond extract
Combine ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix just until moistened all the way through. Let a few lumps stay in the batter. If you want thinner pancakes, add a little water (1/4 cup at a time) until your batter is your favorite pancake consistency.
On a heated griddle (about 300 degrees), spray the surface with non-stick pan spray, such as olive oil spray. Then pour the batter ¼ cup at a time in round, flat dollops. Once the bubbles pop and disappear and the edges get a little dry, flip them over for just a couple more minutes.
Pull them off when they are a nice light golden color on both sides.
I like mine with more sliced banana, but if you crush about a ¼ cup of blueberries with a tablespoon of water and a sprinkle of the sweetener, it makes a nice substitute for sugary syrup.
You could also throw on a little yogurt and sprinkle with wheat germ to increase the fiber and acidophilus content as well.
For each serving, which is 2 pancakes (plain), you will get less than 225 calories, about 40 grams of carbs, 300 mg of sodium, and 5 grams of fat. There is very little (if any) saturated fat and since the recipe calls for stevia sweetener instead of sugar, you are not overloading on sugar.
The small amount of carbohydrates will help to naturally get your brain ready for sleep and the whole grain in the flour, plus the fiber in the yogurt, will help get you “moving” in the morning.
For more natural methods to improve your sleep and drive away insomnia, try my guide today.
Warm regards,
Christian Goodman
El331005
In 2006 my wife and I visited Spain and walked the El Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage road of ST James the Apostle (Patron Saint of Spain). We walked with backpacks for 29 days. The most difficult part was the last mile into the city of Santiago. We were stopping every hundred metres from sheer exhaustion. Eventually we stopped at a pharmacy to get something to help. The pharmacist supplied us with a packet of tablets that contained Calcium, Potassium, and Magnesium. She told us that exhaustion was a deficiency of Magnesium. WE swallowed 2 tablets with a glass of wine at a nearby tavern. Waited half an hour and walked on to our destination. We now take these with us whenever we go travelling.
I have multiple sclerosis and one problem is muscle spasms, mostly in my legs. Sometimes this gives the restless legs too.
Quinine helps slightly (some brands of tonic water contain it) and so does a magnesium supplement. The latter has helped enormously and I heartily recommend it.
Regards
Wendy in UK
I really like your various health topics and the little Extras you include in.. Thank you. Gigi.
thanks for the very informative article. I liked it.
Stevia is a plant that contains natural sweeteners that are used in foods. Researchers have also evaluated the effect of chemicals in stevia on blood pressure and blood sugar levels. However, research results have been mixed.^:^”