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Sweet or sour on the pickle juice cure for cramps

Posted by Tom Held of the Journal Sentinel on April 1, 2011

training, fitness

As a runner who suffered a couple bad bouts with cramps last year, this story on a local tennis player who found a pickle juice cure caught my eye.

Jack Larsen, from Whitefish Bay High School, swears by the stuff; a magic elixir to the problem that thwarted his attempts to reach state in 2010.

Quoted by Dave Boehler, Larsen explained: "Depending on where I cramp, I try to stretch it out. Usually, I go straight to the pickle juice and try to chug the whole thing."

The pickle juice cure isn't new. The Philadelphia Eagles reportedly drank it to stave off cramps in a game in 100-degree weather against the Dallas Cowboys.

It's also not supported, entirely, by science.

In theory, the sodium in pickle juice would replace the electrolytes lost during strenuous exercise. That assumes that electrolyte depletion is what causes cramps. The research has been mixed on both.

This piece from The New York Times makes a good case that pickle juice works, based on an experiment conducted at Brigham Young University. But that also carries an asterisk.

"The pickle juice did not have time” to leave the men’s stomachs during the experiment, Dr. Kevin Miller points out. So the liquid itself could not have been replenishing lost fluids and salt in the affected muscles. Instead some other mechanism must have initiated the cramps and been stymied by the pickle juice.

This series in the Science of Sport also raises some good questions about the causes and cures of cramps.

It's entirely possible that pickle juice works as something of a placebo. With the mixed messages from the research, and the frustration that cramps cause, there's a strong motivation to find a simple solution and stick with it.

I'm still looking.

7 Comments for "Sweet or sour on the pickle juice cure for cramps"

  1. My son is a cross country runner and competitive swimmer and swears by pickle juice. He drinks a pint the night before a race and hasn't had cramps since he started doing so.

    Sundown Kid Apr 01, 2011 1:19 PM

  2. Most endurance athletes would just take an electrolyte capsule, though pickles and olives (or chips) are sometimes served at events - I have never seen pickle juice. There are several good electrolyte cap brands with different formulations - some require taking several every hour some one every 1-2 hours.

    Runner Girl Apr 01, 2011 1:45 PM

  3. Not sure I could stomach drinking straight pickle juice... especially while working out. I think I'll stick to Gatorade.

    Alison Sherwood Apr 01, 2011 2:15 PM

  4. Sounds like a recipe for kidney stones.

    JOill Apr 01, 2011 2:39 PM

  5. Runner Girl - check out that series from the Science of Sport. It doesn't give me much confidence in electrolyte capsules or sports drinks. If I remember it right, you're still diluting the ratio of electrolytes in your system quite severely during an endurance event.

    T. Held Apr 01, 2011 4:09 PM

  6. I've known about pickle juice for a while but have never come across it in any retail stores. Anybody know where you can get it around Milwaukee.

    http://www.goldenpicklejuice.com/

    On a side note there is a lot to be said for cherry juice as well.

    bca02 Apr 02, 2011 5:11 PM

  7. My calves were cramping today after mile 8 of a 12 mile run. It didn't help that I drank 12 beers last night but I think the cause is a combination of dehydration and muscle fatigue because I don't often run that far.

    JTBA Apr 03, 2011 12:34 AM

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