Is Chocolate Bad for Restless Legs?

Chocolate is one of the foods you should not take if you suffer from restless legs. Chocolate could be a trigger for RLS.

There is a standard list that you can find for all kinds of diseases and disorders as potentially unfavorable. Apart from chocolate, coffee, alcohol and smoking are also always mentioned.

I once considered participating in drug research. You then go internally for a while to test new medication as a guinea pig. It seemed like a good way to earn some extra money at the time.

Beforehand I received extensive information about what I could and could not take before and during the research period. This list of prohibitions also included chocolate, coffee, alcohol and smoking.

These four apparently influence all kinds of processes in your body. This is when you already have a disease or condition, but also with medicines that you may take for it.

What is chocolate

Chocolate is a mixture of cocoa powder, cocoa butter and sugar. Chocolate is available in the flavors dark, milk and white. You also have raw, bitter or extra bitter chocolate. It is high in saturated fat and high in calories.

Chocolate contains a limited amount of the protein tryptophan. Tryptophan is converted into serotonin in combination with carbohydrates. Serotonin improves your mood. Another chemical in chocolate is phenyl ethylamine. This neurotransmitter causes your brain to produce endorphins. Endorphins give a happy and happy feeling. You probably need to eat quite a bit of chocolate for these effects.

Chocolate contains, among other things, magnesium and iron.

Dopamine is also mentioned in connection with chocolate. The other substances I just mentioned seem quite beneficial in their own right. This is especially true for dopamine when you are talking about restless legs.

The culprit in chocolate is probably caffeine. Caffeine is also found in coffee and black tea. Caffeine makes it harder for you to fall asleep. The longer you lie awake, the greater the chance that your restless legs will kick in before you’ve even closed an eye.

Easter bunny

Many people love chocolate. It is very tasty and you feel a little happier when you eat it.

Years ago I remember standing next to an older man on the cross trainer at the gym. He told me that his job involved importing cocoa beans from South America. In this way, chocolate was his core business for many years.

The man talked happily and fascinatingly about his working life. He and his wife had traveled many times for it. They had also experienced beautiful things with chocolate in the Netherlands.

At Easter, their son-in-law’s bakery always made the biggest chocolate Easter bunny imaginable. This was such a festive memory for him that it made him a little nostalgic.

Chocolate makes you happy. This man had devoted his life to this. At that time I hardly had to deal with restless legs, let alone worried whether or not eating chocolate would be good for that.

Restless legs

I know of some fellow sufferers that they think they suffer more from RLS if they have eaten chocolate that day. They therefore think three times before doing this.

I don’t have that experience myself. Whether I’ve eaten chocolate or not, my legs are restless every night. Some nights they play more violently than others, but I have never been able to discover the connection with eating chocolate.

However, you are doing yourself a favor by testing whether certain foods containing cocoa or chocolate have a negative effect on your restless legs. If you can do something in this way to influence your complaints in a good way, you should of course not miss this opportunity.

On the other hand, I would not assume in advance that chocolate or, for example, coffee and alcohol are in principle bad for your RLS.

I also know fellow sufferers who feel extremely unhappy, because they had to give up all kinds of stimulants. However, this procedure did not significantly reduce their leg troubles.

It is advisable to handle these types of products moderately. Perhaps it is better to limit the intake of chocolate, coffee and alcohol, especially in the evening, just to be safe.

Coffee and alcohol are known to be unfavorable for your sleep quality. This makes it more difficult to fall asleep, but also to sleep well. Indirectly this undoubtedly has an effect on your restless legs. The more you lie awake, the greater the chance that you are aware of your legs playing up.

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