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Thread: Rx for pickle juice??

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Rx for pickle juice??

    Visited my Doctor and mentioned I sometimes have leg cramps or charley horses if I sit in front of the computer late at night for too long.

    Told him I was wondering about deep vein thrombosis, and he said if it is night time or just when you get up it is usually leg cramps, and not thrombosis. He told me not to laugh, but studies show that a spoon full of pickle juice a day lessens the cramps. When asked sweet or dill, he didn't know.

    I also asked if that is just another version on taking vinegar? He said there were studies on that too, and the pickle juice was the one that worked on leg cramps.

    Anybody heard of this one??

    PS: Believe it or don't, the dill pickle juice is easier to drink than the sweet. I have been doing it for two nights, and will report after a few weeks.
    Rick Potter

    DIY journeyman,
    FWW wannabe.
    AKA Village Idiot.

  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by Rick Potter View Post
    Visited my Doctor and mentioned I sometimes have leg cramps or charley horses if I sit in front of the computer late at night for too long.

    Told him I was wondering about deep vein thrombosis, and he said if it is night time or just when you get up it is usually leg cramps, and not thrombosis. He told me not to laugh, but studies show that a spoon full of pickle juice a day lessens the cramps. When asked sweet or dill, he didn't know.

    I also asked if that is just another version on taking vinegar? He said there were studies on that too, and the pickle juice was the one that worked on leg cramps.

    Anybody heard of this one??

    PS: Believe it or don't, the dill pickle juice is easier to drink than the sweet. I have been doing it for two nights, and will report after a few weeks.
    My wife claims that it works. Get a bad cramp, take a few slugs of the juice, and it goes away.

    When I’ve spent an hour mowing the lawn, or digging a hole in the ground, slugging back an ice cold beer also helps. I don’t know if this is related.

  3. #3
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    My wife has been doing this for years with dill pickle juice. And yes, it works. Whenever we empty a jar of dill pickles, she makes me save the juice just for this reason. As the old saying goes; "Try it, you'll like it"!
    My Dad always told me "Can't Never Could".

    SWE

  4. #4
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    Or maybe just eat a pickle.
    Lee Schierer
    USNA '71
    Go Navy!

    My advice, comments and suggestions are free, but it costs money to run the site. If you found something of value here please give a little something back by becoming a contributor! Please Contribute

  5. #5
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    They sell pickle juice in the supermarket right next to the pickles. The wife has been taking it for over a year now. I don't know if it's helped her but she likes pickles so drinking the juice seems natural to her.

  6. #6
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    It dates back to a UF Gators coach having players with cramping issues drink pickle juice and Gator Aid was born. Not sure if it is the salt or something else in the juice that does it. Me I was adding magnesium citrate to my water and after several weeks it started working but I was running thirty miles a week at the time. Now I just keep my salt intake up to keep cramps away. I do have to be careful when stretching in bed still.

  7. #7
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    I thought the cure for leg cramps was potassium. Maybe pickle juice has a lot of potassium.
    < insert spurious quote here >

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Stan Calow View Post
    I thought the cure for leg cramps was potassium. Maybe pickle juice has a lot of potassium.
    Potassium is part of it but it's mostly sodium to alleviate cramping, in my experience. I'm a cyclist and I sweat a LOT. To the point where drinking regular water or even electrolyte fizzy tabs does not help, because there is so much salt leaving your body during perspiration. I often drink pickle juice before or after rides (in addition to electrolyte water). For me, it really helps.

    Erik
    Ex-SCM and Felder rep

  9. #9
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    My wife drinks it in the middle of the night if needed. There have been legitimate research studies that show it works for athletes. Not sure if that really correlates with night time cramps. Getting up and walking to the kitchen may be what is really working.
    Bill D.

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3975776/

  10. #10
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    Just asked Dr. Google > pickle juice for cramps

    This led to > https://www.healthline.com/health/pi...ice-for-cramps

    Interesting stuff, will have to give it a try next time a cramp grabs me.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stan Calow View Post
    I thought the cure for leg cramps was potassium. Maybe pickle juice has a lot of potassium.

    Some potassium but more sodium by volume.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  12. #12
    On this same note, V8 Juice (the regular stuff, not low-sodium) is a good pre-ride drink for me. I often have half a can before the ride, then finish can afterward.

    Erik
    Ex-SCM and Felder rep

  13. #13
    Vinegar has a very low PH so beware of the acidic risk.

    This year I grew 3-4'x8' raised boxes of pickling pickles on trellises. I also have 3 yummy canning recipes for Kosher Dill Pickles....you get the picture, I love pickles!
    3mo. ago I went to the Dr. about a nagging lingering cough I continue to put up with, long story short Acid reflux was diagnosed because of my high acidic diet or another way to put it, my low PH diet, guess who cant eat pickles anymore

  14. #14
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    Mar 2014
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    When I get a cramp at night I get up and eat a teaspoon of yellow mustard. Not sure why it works but it does. Supposed to be old home remedy.

  15. #15
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    I wonder if these home remedies for night time cramps are really just get up and walk to the kitchen then walk back to bed. Oh, while in the kitchen eat or drink a small amount of something odd to justify the walk. The walk will do you the good.
    Same idea as most guys would not go on a long walk, wasting valuable time, but they will paly a round of golf and not feel embarrassed to walk in nature while doing something positive. Mark Twain said that golf was a good walk ruined.
    Bill D
    Last edited by Bill Dufour; 07-29-2021 at 10:14 AM.

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