Remember the old ad campaigns? 

Got milk?

Cute little chalky white milk mustaches as simple reminders to get another glass of milk?

The recent reminders given to me about certain minerals/electrolytes weren’t so cute.

Nope. 

Imagine an early morning leg and foot stretch that instantaneously morphs into a full blown muscle spasm sending toes in unnatural directions and creating balls of muscle knots in the calf – relieved only by getting out of bed to stand and tenderly walk around in the dark pre-dawn house.

Upon returning to bed my foot had sinister ideas about doing it again. Sigh. And again. Grrr.

I was taking an excellent magnesium supplement, Garden of Life, that was doing wonders for calming before bed – what was out of balance?  

I’ve touched on this topic before, but my application of knowledge was clearly faulty, or I hadn’t learned enough.

Back to the drawing board.

Muscle cramps are related to deficiencies in the following minerals/electrolytes: 

Potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium + water

Most of us know about athletes eating bananas before a big workout or prior to the BIG GAME. But there’s more to the picture than just bananas. 

Using this, Foods That May Help With Muscle Cramps, as a basis, I compiled a chart for your easy reference:      

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Here’s a summary of what I’ve learned:

Abbreviations are Pot = potassium, Sod= Sodium, Cal= Calcium, Mag= magnesium

Bananas Pot Cal Mag

Sweet Potatoes Pot Cal-6x more than bananas Mag Water

Potatoes, pumpkins Pot Cal Mag Water

Avocado Pot- 2x more than sweet potatoes/bananas, 975 mg/whole avocado

Beans/lentils Mag + fiber

Melons Pot some Sod Cal Mag Water

Watermelons Pot Water – 92% by volume

Milk Pot Sod Cal+ protein Water

Pickle Juice Sod Water – may set off a nerve reaction that stops the cramps

Dark leafy greens Cal Mag

Orange Juice Pot, 500 mg/cup Cal Mag Water

Nuts/seeds Cal Mag- sunflower 37 mg/ounce, Almonds 2x more than sunflowers

Salmon Pot- 326 mg/3 oz. Sod- 52 mg/3 oz.

Tomatoes, tomato juice Pot Water

Coconut water Pot Sod Cal Mag Water+ NO sugar

Water Water

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Wouldn’t you know, the next night my evening snack was half of an avocado and there were no cramps in the wee hours.

Since then, I’ve been more diligent in adequate hydration augmented with electrolytes and in having two or three of these items from this list every day. 

We are designed for health. If there’s a problem, I’m always on the lookout for what I am doing wrong.

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In health with no more cramps-

Deidre

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