Pickle Juice for cramps? Does it work.
Pickle Juice for cramps is something you might not heard of but has been a growing aid for athlete a like to deal with muscle cramps. Some athletes live and die by its effects with only reporting positivises about their use of pickle juice however there are many sceptics out there that have their doubts about its affect.
As bazar as it sounds research within aids to help deal with muscle cramps and specifically pickle juice goes back over 14 years. Don’t get me that’s a relatively short amount of time investigating pickle juices effects on cramps however the research is quite promising at the moment in light of recent research. However we must bear in mind that we can’t just cherry pick and rely on one study to back up pickle juices benefits, but its pointing us in the right direct and its defiantly worth experimenting it on yourself. Who knows it might become one of your must haves in your gear bag this season.
I going to be going through in this article why pickle juice deserves your attentions and why it might become the next addition into your performance nutrition tool box.
What causes muscle cramps ?
Cramping seems to be much more common within endurance athletes compared to other sports, it is difficult to get an exact representation on how many athletes suffer from cramping, however research on 2600 triathletes reported that 67% experienced cramping during or after training/competition.
We know that cramping is more common when exercising in hot conditions when sweat rates are high resulting in electrolyte depletion. However cramping can occur at times when electrolyte depletion/dehydration have not occurred. It is though that in these cases cramps ae due to altered control of muscle contraction by nerves as a direct result of fatigue (maybe due to fitness level of fuel availability). However the exact mechanisms are not well understood due to issues associated to studying cramping.
How Pickle juice works
A cramp happens because it is the neurological response to a physiological problem, resulting in excessive, involuntary muscle contractions. It can be due to a number of reasons, weather your dehydrated or missing something from you diet (i.e. electrolytes, or essential minerals), can be due to exhaustion from exercise where the muscle cramps as a protective mechanism to prevent and further damage from occurring, could be due to poor circulation and lack of oxygen/fuel getting to the working muscles.
Whatever the cause the result is the same, a muscle or muscles cramp preventing you from using them to move your forward completely or drastically reducing your pace. Either of which is something no athlete wishes to go through.
When we introduce pickle juice into the body what’s actually happening is the blend of vinegar shocks and interrupts the pathway of the firing neuroma in the cramping muscle, blocking the nerve signal from being sent from the brain to the muscle/muscles that are cramping shorting the duration and severity of the muscle cramp. It’s important to note that the use of pickle juice is for immediately use once the cramp has begun to occur, its ineffective if taken in advance, so pickle juice can’t be used as a preventative measure unfortunately. But can come in real hand once a cramp has started. And as we all have been there anything that can shorten or reduce the pain of a cramp is good in my book.
How to use to Pickle Juice
For the immediate onset of a cramp (so when you get that feeling of a cramp about to start or even if the cramp has begun) you need to consume 1ml per kg of body weight of pickle juice. Gurgle the pickle juice in your mouth (like when using mouth wash) for 10-15 seconds and then swallow. There is anecdotal evidence that pickle juice can have an effect on stopping the cramping form continuing from as little as 35 seconds of ingestion . However this is interpersonal dependant as each person will have different responses and out comes, so you need to experiment with this one on yourself
For example;
An 80kg athlete would need to consume 80ml of pickle juice to get the desired effect of shorting the duration and severity of a muscle cramp.
One of the main benefits and reason why I’m a big fan of pickle juice is its light weight and easy to store weather that be in your gear bag, or on you or your bike when racing. It doesn’t need to be refrigerated and doesn’t take up much room or weight much if you bring it with you to your events. Also depending on the source you opt for, pickle juice form pickle power has an extended shelf life of 3 years, so you can buy it and stash it away for when needed. I recommend having at least 2-3 shots (remember 1ml pickle juice per 1 kg of body weight) with you when competing, just as back up or in the case of multiple cramps ,you have it there ready to aid you.
Where to get it?
You have a few options if you want to get your hands on pickle juice.
- Buy a large jar of pickles and strain the juice off and keep the liquid in a separate bottle for yourself. This works just as well as the supplement form.
- You can visit https://picklepower.com/ and buy pickle juice shots.
Take home notes
- Pickle juice interrupts the pathway of the firing neuroma in the cramping muscle shorting and reducing the severalty of muscle cramps.
- Need to consume 1ml per 1 kg of body weight
- Gurgle the juice 10-15 seconds before swallowing
- Can use pickle juice straight form the jar or purpose made supplements
- Pickle juice has a long shelf and doesn’t require refrigeration
I would just like to thank you for checking us out and having a look at our blog. This is the first edition from our newest team member Michelle.
And please do remember that we are here to help you in any way we can so don’t be shy and get in touch with any of your questions, Id be more than happy to help you.
Don’t forget to download our E-book on the Food exercise and the Gut. This is an essential guide to solving any GI issues you may have during your training while also preventing any GI episodes from happening when you are competing next.
Here are the main areas that I cover in this eBook that can help you take your performance to the next level.
- Finally, understand what’s happening to your Gut when competing.
- How to optimal train your gut to absorb more carbs
- How to fuel for correctly for your training.
- Know what supplements can help and not waste your time and money.
- How to build an insurance policy preventing GI upset from happening to you.
References
Maughan, R. and Shirreffs, S., 2019. Muscle Cramping During Exercise: Causes, Solutions, and Questions Remaining. Sports Medicine, 49(S2), pp.115-124.
Miller, K., Knight, K. and Williams, R., 2008. Athletic Trainers’ Perceptions of Pickle Juice’s Effects on Exercise Associated Muscle Cramps. Athletic Therapy Today, 13(5), pp.31-34.
Miller, K., Mack, G. and Knight, K., 2009. Electrolyte and Plasma Changes After Ingestion of Pickle Juice, Water, and a Common Carbohydrate-Electrolyte Solution. Journal of Athletic Training, 44(5), pp.454-461.
MILLER, K., MACK, G., KNIGHT, K., HOPKINS, J., DRAPER, D., FIELDS, P. and HUNTER, I., 2010. Reflex Inhibition of Electrically Induced Muscle Cramps in Hypohydrated Humans. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 42(5), pp.953-961.
Tapper, E., Salim, N., Baki, J., Zhao, Z., Sundaram, V., Patwardhan, V. and Nikirk, S., 2022. Pickle Juice Intervention for Cirrhotic Cramps Reduction: The PICCLES Randomized Controlled Trial. American Journal of Gastroenterology, Publish Ahead of Print.
