Currently professional, college and high school football teams and college and high school cross country track teams are beginning their hot summer practices. They will also begin their need to drink pickle juice as a way to help stave off muscle cramps. Runners and bikers, especially those in the very warm southern climates also know full well the benefits that pickle juice provides. Pickle juice can definitely help to prevent muscle cramping.
Pickle juice contains salt, calcium chloride and vinegar. The basic ingredients are similar to what you would find in isotonic drinks. Where pickle juice has acetic acid, isotonic drinks contain citric acid, like the sports drink featuring the name gator and power in it.
Great Moments in Pickle History:
The history of pickles stretches so far back into antiquity that no definite time has been established for their origin, but they are estimated to be over 4,000 years old.
-Cucumbers are mentioned at least twice in the Bible (Numbers 11:5 and Isaiah 1:8) and history records their usage over 3,000 years ago in Western Asia, ancient Egypt and Greece.
-Cucumbers were brought to the New World by Christopher Columbus, who is known to have grown them on the island of Haiti.
-George Washington was a pickle enthusiast. So were Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Dolly Madison.
OK - Let's Get to it.
Sometimes you may sneak a sip of juice from the pickle jar. That's OK. That seemingly worthless liquid, which often gets tossed into the trash when the pickles are gone, could be the key to athletic endurance and avoiding debilitating leg cramps?
PURPOSE WITH SOME BACKING
The use of pickle juice as a defense against muscle cramps first attracted headlines when the Philadelphia Eagles credited pickle juice with their cramp-free win over the Dallas Cowboys in the over-one-hundred-degrees Texas heat. Rick Burkholder, the Eagles' head trainer, called it his "secret weapon." Pickle companies (such as Mt. Olive Pickle, Vlasic Foods and Golden Pickle) claim that pickle juice is similar to an isotonic beverage and can prevent muscle cramps caused from strenuous exercise.
Golden Pickle has even created a sports drink, appropriately named "Pickle Juice Sport." Golden Pickle claims that Pickle Juice Sport has "approximately 30 times more electrolytes than Powerade and 15 times more than Gatorade." It is even endorsed by Dallas Cowboy Jason Witten.
This past weekend I participated in a bicycle race in Wichita Falls, TX, called the "Hotter N Hell". My distance was 100 miles in hills and I believe that drinking the above mentioned pickle juice helped me to stay in the ride and then finish with a flair(for me). With temperatures reaching upper 90's and humidity around 80% there was a whole lot of sweatin' going on. Lots of bikers had to be picked up by the SAG wagon and carted back to the finish line, unable to complete the ride. I started cramping in my upper quads at about mile 68. I stopped at the 70 mile support area and consumed 24 ounces of straight pickle juice. After about 30 minutes I felt completely refreshed and took off again. I stopped again at two out of three remaining support areas and filled up my drink bottle with pickle juice. I experienced no more cramps and closed the last 5 miles with a 20 mph average. 24 oz of straight pickle juice is way above what a 2 oz. serving suggests, but I did also drink some of my own energy drink as well. However, I do know the effect I received after drinking the 24 oz was real. No more cramps was also real as well.
RATIONALE
So how does this work? Muscle cramps are caused by dehydration from exercising in hot weather and not drinking enough fluids. How could pickle juice help? When you sweat during exercise, you lose a lot of salt and minerals. These minerals and salt are also known as electrolytes. This loss of electrolytes can cause muscle cramping, especially in hot, humid weather. Cells in the body use electrolytes in the cell fluid to maintain voltages across their cell membranes and to carry electrical impulses to other cells. In the case of my bike ride, I had to be able to use my muscles in both a pulling and contracting motion, or muscle contractions. Pickle juice has a very high salt, or electrolyte content. Therefore, drinking pickle juice before and during exercise could possibly provide your body with enough salt, that your muscles will not cramp.
Confused? Don't be. Anything liquid containing any or all of the four commonly considered electrolytes, sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium will work to help to prevent muscle cramping. Obviously, the more the better. Give it a try on a daily basis and see for yourself. Don't worry about how people look at you when you tip that empty pickleless laden jar of liquid up to your lips.
Re-posted From Matt Ney's Article.
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