Tingling Feet

Why do my toes and feet tingle?

Tingling feet or paresthesia is another sensation that the brain receives when the nerves malfunction. It can be caused by direct pressure on a nerve. Like when you sit cross-legged for too long or hit your funny bone (totally NOT funny!)

When a nerve becomes compressed it fires randomly or stops firing. This leads to the numbness and loss of sensation that drives you crazy for a minute or two following. Some people even have a powerful physiological response when this happens. A friend of mine hit her funny bone and promptly passed out. She collapsed on the floor in the kitchen and freaked out everyone in the house. A moment or two later she was back and doing fine, but the aberrant signals going to her brain basically caused a reboot.

Deficiency

There are several things missing from our western diet that certainly promote tingling feet.

A substantial percentage of the population is deficient in vitamin b12. Avoiding red meat is the main cause of this (another idea that is not supported by quality science). Since it is required for proper nerve function, deficiency of B12 is a common cause of numbness and tingling. Take malnutrition of B12,  add damage due to elevated blood sugars, and Wham! Your diabetic neuropathy worsens.

Want to make it even worse?

For over 300 biochemical reactions in your body, magnesium is a critical component. It’s an essential element for nerve function and regulates your heartbeat, immune system, and even helps your bones remain strong. Because we consume large amounts of sugar in our society, our bodies use up massive amounts of this mineral to process it. This among other reasons has led most of us being deficient in this essential mineral as well.

For most people,  tingling feet aren’t due to a single cause.

The result – tingling feet.

Due to a lack of blood flow, nutrients, damage due to toxins or high blood sugar or a combination of these, the nerves can’t send correct signals to the brain. The brain then doesn’t know what to do with these unclear signals. It’s like static on the radio, and so your brain does its best to interpret them. The end result is tingling or paresthesia.

If you are diabetic and suffer from neuropathy, it’s practically impossible to say that it is ONLY caused by your blood sugar. There is usually a myriad of factors, and if you only address one of them, you will be missing the boat.

Peripheral neuropathy is not simple, but there are some simple steps you can take to limit the damage, and even stop and reverse it. Most mainstream solutions focus on treating the symptoms, but this is just a stop-gap measure. It doesn’t ever address the causes.

Now I’m all for feeling better, but don’t get stuck trying to treat the symptoms. Attack the causes of your neuropathy – and kick it to the curb.