Yes, you read that right: pickle juice. I was a long-distance runner for over twenty years, but time and injury have slowed me down. Maybe related, maybe not, but for the past few years I've experienced leg cramps, mostly at night. Some of these have been excruciatingly painful, causing me to break out in a sweat. I have to get out of bed and move. Sometimes that helps, sometimes I just have to sweat it out.

I work in a running store, so I'm usually aware of sports-related news, but even I did a double-take when I heard that pickle juice could relieve cramps. On a whim, I found some online and ordered a small supply (twelve 8oz bottles). Yesterday at work, a woman customer I was helping mentioned her success with pickle juice. Later, after work, which had been a busy day, my legs felt tired, and I just knew I was going to have cramps. I drank a bottle of pickle juice before bedtime, and went to bed.

The next thing I knew it was morning. I had slept the entire night without a single cramp!

Okay, it's not much of a testimony, but I've done my share of Google searches, and there seems to be a lot of positive commentary on pickle juice.

I'm going to have another bottle tonight (my legs are still feeling a bit worn out). Does anyone else have a story about pickle juice?

How much sodium is in that juice? And have you been avoiding salt?

Magnesium and potassium are also helpful. Eating a banana (though it has a high glycemic index) can be helpful, as can Calm or similar products that you use to make a “tea.”

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:
Magnesium and potassium are also helpful. Eating a banana (though it has a high glycemic index) can be helpful, as can Calm or similar products that you use to make a “tea.”

Yep, Mg, K, and NaCl will all help. Also make sure you are drinking lots of water too. I have heard a number of successful stories with pickle juice, didn't know they were selling it by the 12-pack now.

I love pickle juice. Have been drinking it since I was a teenager. Not necessarily for cramping, I just like the stuff. I recall that Gatorade was invented at the University of Florida as a substitute for the pickle juice that a trainer was giving to the players to drink during games. Or something like that

My wife is an R.N. and she uses it to relieve cramps. Dill pickle juice only. She always keeps dill pickles in the house for that reason. It works works for her and stops the cramps pretty quickly. She doesnt use it as a preventative, just to stop one after it has started

quote:

Originally posted by fpuhan:
Does anyone else have a story about pickle juice?

My story is about making pickles.

My father gave me a recipe to make pickles, and I followed it exactly, (or so I thought!)
After doing everything it said, I left the big jar of soon to be pickles on my kitchen counter. After 2 days, I came home to the smell of garlic. When I turned the corner into my kitchen, I discovered that the jar of pickles had exploded, shooting them everywhere including pickle juice on the ceiling.

I guess I should have payed more attention to the last line of the recipe about leaving the lid loose?

quote:

Originally posted by ranger312:
...she uses it to relieve cramps...

I wish I had heard about this when I was married! She sure needed something!

Isn't that how Gatorade got started. The story I was told was the Florida Gator football team had a problem with terrible leg cramps from the two a days and the heat. A new recruit swore that pickle juice would take care of their cramps. Low and behold the team started drinking pickle juice and no more cramps.

Researchers then wanted to know why pickle juice was working so they took the pickle juice into the lab and figured out why it was working for leg cramps.

They came up with Gatorade because it was the aid that helped the Florida Gators football team. That is also why it started out as a green liquid resembling pickle juice.

Dude, skip the "designer" juice and just go buy you a big ole jar of Mount Olive dills. Enjoy the juice as an "after run" drunk (straight out of the jaf) and eat the pickle for an afternoon snack.

Just saved you money!

There is an easier way that works 100% of the time for everyone I have personally recommended it to, probably 6 or 8 people over the years: when leg cramps begin consume one tea spoon of yellow mustard. They will disappear usually within one minute. People have been thanking me for this advice for years.

I get gallon jars of dill pickles at Costco. Plenty of juice included, for four bucks. I can't make my own pickles that cheaply.

And now, for something completely different.

As an USPSA shooter I have consumed gallons of Gator Aid at the hot weather matches. Have not had the foresight to truck out a jar of mostly consumed pickles to a match. I have sipped out of a pickle jar in the evening after a shower and dinner.

Figuring to double up on hydration and relaxation I tried to make a dirty (pickle juice) martini. Being a Texan that was adjudged to to be less than succesful.

Sonic Drive-In just announced their summer slush flavors.

The one that is generating the most talk? Pickle Juice.

I.KID.YOU.NOT

https://www.sonicdrivein.com/

I wake up with painful leg cramps. I hobble out to the kitchen, eat half a pickle, and drink maybe an ounce or so of the juice.

Potassium tablets also work well for me.

I'm going to try eating some pickle before bed time, see if that works as a preventive measure. I'll report back.

It works.

My daughter loves pickles so I always buy a big jar and just drink the juice when I need it.

I don't need it much any more. I started taking Magnesium and Potassium supplements and that took care of the issue.

The research on cramps is by no means conclusive. But endurance athletes often have HIGHER concentrations of minerals in the bloodstream that normal, simply due to dehydration. When I get cramps, sometimes severe, the cure has been immediate large amounts of plain water.

I experimented with pickle juice, mustard, magnesium, etc, etc, ....but good old plain water works for me. I suspect the must be individual differences since the research and the anecdotal evidence is so widely varied.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
I wake up with painful leg cramps. I hobble out to the kitchen, eat half a pickle, and drink maybe an ounce or so of the juice.

Potassium tablets also work well for me.

I'm going to try eating some pickle before bed time, see if that works as a preventive measure. I'll report back.

I used to suffer from painful leg and foot cramps in the wee morning hours. I’d have to walk around my bedroom for a few minutes for relief. A magnesium tablet after supper wholly fixed that issue.

Separately, I like pickle juice for its taste – especially the juice from a jar of pickled green olives.

What is it in the pickle juice that works, do you suppose?

Vinegar, salt, sugar, herbs, cucumbers, and sometimes onions.

I'd start by thinking that maybe it is the vinegar, with the salt as a possibility, if there is anything to it.