Leg Cramp Site

One of the most popular and well-known folk remedies for preventing and curing leg cramps is drinking apple cider vinegar and honey. There are lots of different versions of this leg cramp drink. Some versions prescribe just using apple cider vinegar and water to prevent leg cramps and some prescribe just using honey, but the most common leg cramp prevention recipe calls for them to be mixed together. Here’s the general recipe:

Mix 4 ounce of high quality organic apple cider vinegar with 4 ounces of the natural honey of your choice. If the honey is too thick to stir, feel free to add 8 ounces (or less) of warm mineral water (cold water or ice will initially thicken the honey).

Stir thoroughly.

Once stirred together you may either add an ice cube or even warm the mixture up in the microwave or stove. You may even brew it with the mulling spices of your choice.

Both apple cider vinegar and honey each have approximately 175mg of potassium in an 8 once portion, so your body is immediately getting some of the benefits of a high potassium food in a liquid form. People who eat a few teaspoons of honey before bed in order to prevent leg cramps are also benefiting from this potassium boost.

You may want to try several different apple cider vinegars and different types of honey because the taste of both can vary quite a bit. Some of the brand name apple cider vinegars have a taste that is not nearly as harsh as the generic label bands. The sweetness of the honey and mulling spices takes some of the sour flavor away from the vinegar, making the drink somewhat comforting once you get used to it. Apple cider vinegar made from organic apples and fermented naturally will most likely offer the most health benefits and leg cramp relief. To prevent leg cramps you probably start with a small amount, no more than 4 ounces at a time to gauge it’s effectiveness.

Apple cider vinegar itself may offer more in the way of leg cramp prevention than just a healthy dose of potassium. Cider vinegar has been used for thousands of years as a natural remedy to a variety of different ailments including runny nose, leg cramps, muscle soreness, excess weight, allergies kidney and bladder problems, upset stomachs, arthritis and even high blood pressure. No one is exactly sure how it works in many cases, but apple cider vinegar does contain a number of healthy vitamins and chemicals including potassium, pectin, acetic acid and malic acid.

Applying Apple Cider Vinegar Directly on Leg Muscles
If you can’t get past the bitter taste of apple cider vinegar then you may have another option for relieving leg cramps. Some people have reported that rubbing undiluted apple cider vinegar on their legs has helped relieve them of their night time leg cramps and lessened the symptoms of restless leg syndrome. Leave out the honey for this one! While there is no clinical evidence regarding using apple cider vinegar as a topic solution, there are still lots of people who swear this method has relieved knee and joint pain as well as nocturnal leg cramps and regular charley horses. Typically the cider vinegar is rubbed on at night before bed and allowed to dry before going to sleep.

Apple Cider Vinegar Pills for Leg Cramps
The stories about apple cider vinegar’s healing properties have been growing over the last couple of years and now you can actually get a concentrated version of cidar vinegar in apple cider vinegar pills. Just like taking potassium supplements to prevent leg cramps, apple cider vinegar pills are designed to give you health benefits without forcing you to change your diet. Apple cider vinegar pills allow you to get the benefits of drinking apple cider vinegar without the bitter taste. Though the cider vinegar pills are mostly marketed towards weight loss though they may also alleviate other symptoms. Again, some people have reported an almost total reduction in leg cramps just by taking these pills on a regular basis.

It’s recommended that you talk to your doctor before starting a diet that’s heavy on apple cider vinegar because it’s high in acetic acid and it can interact with certain drugs and actually cause your body to lose more potassium than it should (which can actually cause leg cramps). You’ll always want to mix apple cider vinegar with something or dilute it with water because it can actually wear away tooth enamel or cause problems with your esophagus if taken straight. Other possible problems with taking excessive amounts of apple cider vinegar: heartburn, stomach upset, throat and esophagus irritation, allergic reactions including hives and wheezing. While the FDA does not officially endorse using apple cider vinegar and honey as a cure for any sickness there are many, many people who believe they have found relief from leg cramps and even restless leg syndrome by introduce apple cider vinegar into their regular diets.

One of the best ways to fight and prevent nightly leg cramps is to be sure your body is getting enough potassium throughout the day. Potassium is an important mineral that helps lower your blood pressure, regulates heart and muscle functions and helps keep fluid, adrenal and kidney functions in check. Having too little potassium in your diet could lead to a general feeling of weakness and muscle cramping problems. People who regularly have low potassium problems are said to suffer from hypokalemia. Getting frequent leg cramps at night is one possible sign of hypokalemia.

Fortunately, there are lots of foods that have a fair amount of potassium in them. Some people who suffer from leg cramps prefer to keep their diet the same and just add potassium supplements to their diet, but with the large variety of fruits, vegetables and other food that contains potassium, it’s relatively easy to make sure you have enough throughout the day. Be careful, though: you can have too much potassium in your diet (hyperkalemia) if you aren’t careful. It’s generally recommended that an adult’s potassium intake not exceed 2000 milligrams (mg) per day.

Consult the table below for some of the more common high potassium foods. There are obviously also an infinite amount of prepared and prepacked foods that are high in potassium, but we focussed on most of the fresh and raw ingredients that contain potassium. For your convenience the list has been arranged from highest to lowest amouns of potassium.

Most foods that you cook will retain more potassium if you cook them with dry heat as opposed to boiling or submerging in hot water. So a baked potato will definitely have more potassium in it than a similarly sized potato that’s been boiled. Lots of different fruits also have some level of potassium in them, so fruits like oranges, peaches, strawberries and raspberries all have between 150mg to 250mg of potassium in them, so a summer fruit salad might give you plenty of potassium for the day.

Even a small increase in your dietary potassium levels can make a world of difference in preventing and stopping regular night time leg cramps and charley horses.

One of the easiest and most commonly followed methods for preventing and curing leg cramps is increasing the level of potassium in your body. Potassium is an essential mineral that helps keep your kidneys, your skeleton, heart and body muscles healthy and in good working order. Many people have learned that taking a daily potassium supplement can greatly reduce their leg cramps at night.

Taking a daily potassium and magnesium supplement has helped many people avoid night time leg cramping and charley horses.

If you get leg cramps or charley horses at night it could be a sign that you are not getting enough potassium throughout the day. Potassium helps your body contract its muscles efficiently, so without enough potassium the muscle has to work harder to contract and move. The harder the muscle moves, the more lactic acid (a waste product) builds up. It is generally believed that when your leg cramps or spasms that the nerve endings to the muscles are just “overwhelmed” or “short-circuited” with waste products and don’t have enough oxygen to turn off.

Potassium and salt, though chemically similar, play very different roles in your body and can affect muscle cramping and functions. Your body’s potassium needs will generally increase with an increase in dietary sodium. This means that a salty meal during the day could contribute to your leg cramps at night because the excess salt in your body requires more potassium than your body has available to process it.

Your body also loses potassium in other ways, such as through various medical conditions (such as Crohn’s disease) or when you exercise a lot and lose minerals and electrolytes through sweating. Some medications such as certain diuretics and laxatives can also contribute to an unusually rapid loss of potassium in the body.  Sudden leg cramps can be one sign that your potassium levels are low.

Hypokalemia – Low Potassium Levels

Potassium is such a vital element that people with low potassium levels are said to have Hypokalemia. Some of the symptoms of Hypokalemia are general weakness and tiredness, stomach problems, an irregular heatbeat and muscle cramps, including nocturnal leg cramps. Because potassium is found in so many common fruits and vegetables it is rare that severe hypokalemia is caused by a dietary potassium deficiency. This means that if you are eating plenty of potassium and still have some of the symptoms of Hypokalemia such as muscle cramping you should definitely see a doctor.

Increasing Potassium For Leg Cramps

There are lots of potassium-rich foods that can prevent leg cramps, but there are also a number of potassium supplements that, when taken properly, can greatly reduce or completely diminish nocturnal leg cramping.

Potassium supplements come in several different common dosages and forms. You can get your potassium from a multivitamin or you can take take potassium in their own supplements. Your body also needs the mineral magnesium to be able to work with potassium, so unless you have Hypomagnesemia (high magnesium levels) it might be a good idea for you to consider taking a supplement with magnesium and potassium combined into one tablet.

Most people who take potassium supplements for leg cramps do report a definite decrease in frequency. Obviously, you should be careful when first starting to take any supplement and you should consult with your doctor or health care provider first. Children should not be given potassium supplements unless instructed by a doctor.

There is a danger of having too much potassium in your body as well. A healthy adult should generally get about 2,000 mg of potassium per day, though as noted before, that number can range widely with sodium intake, activity level and other health factors. Potassium supplements, like most vitamin supplements, can have side effects and unintended interactions with other medicines you may be taking. If you’re getting leg cramps you might want to try increasing the potassium in your diet gradually over a week or two to see if it makes any difference in your comfort level and number of leg cramps you get. For some people a small potassium supplement or change in dietary habits makes all the difference. For others there may be other treatments needed.

Some people who suffer from night time leg cramps have found that some of the minor side effects of potassium supplements (some nausea or stomach upset from time to time) are still preferable to suffering from painful leg cramps at night.