29 July 2023 , 17:19
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Next time you experience muscle cramps after a workout and find yourself in a pickle trying to find a quick way to ease the pain, turn to your fridge.
Doctors and medical experts have been sounding off on the benefits of drinking pickle juice, noting that athletes turn to the sour juice for a proper pick me up.
And the phenomenon of drinking pickle juice is even hitting the global stage, with tennis commentators noting that Carlos Alcaraz was seen drinking pickle juice as he endured the grueling match that secured him the Wimbledon win earlier this month.
“It definitely works, and I use it for a lot of my patients, particularly tennis players,” Dr. Jordan Metzl, a sports medicine physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, explained to Today.com. “It’s a good trick to have.”
Carlos Alcaraz was seen drinking pickle juice as he endured the grueling match that secured him the Wimbledon win earlier this month (AFP via Getty Images)Muscle cramps are extremely common, happening particularly during exercise or while people are sleeping or at night. According to the National Library of Medicine, they mostly involve sudden, involuntary and painful muscle contractions that usually affect the abdomen, arms, feets, hands and legs.
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Just weeks before securing his Wimbledon victory, Alcaraz suffered a crushing defeat at the French Open after he "started to cramp (in) every part of my body," he said, ESPN reported at the time.
Experts agree that only a small amount of pickle juice is needed to curb the pain (AFL Photos via Getty Images)Dr. Elliot Tapper, a liver specialist at the University of Michigan Hepatology Program, has been studying the impact of pickle juice as an anti-cramping agent. He's found that taking sips makes them less intense and less severe.
Dr. Tapper first began researching the brine after he noticed cyclists and other athletes drinking it, using people who had liver damage in his study.
His 2022 study, published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, found that 70 per cent of participants found that their cramps stopped after they drank pickle juice once an episode started. This was compared to 40 per cent who drank water.
Dr. Tapper first began researching the brine after he noticed cyclists and other athletes drinking it (Getty Images)Dr. Tapper said that athletes - and anyone working out - are triggering a nerve reflex in their throats when they drink pickle juice. That receptor fires a line of communication that tells the spinal cord where exactly the cramp is occurring.
“When the acid enters the mouth and it splashes the back of the throat, there is a nerve receptor there that is sensitive to acid. When that receptor fires, it communicates down the spinal cord where the cramp is happening,” he shared. “It’s just a nerve firing in a loop. And then that signal says ‘Stop.’”
Pickle juice is also the perfect solution for replenishing electrolytes (NurPhoto via Getty Images)But according to Dr Metzl, pickle juice is also the perfect solution for replenishing electrolytes - especially during grueling hot, humid weather when people are drenched in sweat.
“Getting them to replenish their electrolytes is a big piece of preventing muscle cramping from happening,” he asserted. “Drinking salty water is not always super palatable, but dill pickle juice has been an age-old remedy.”
So how much pickle juice should you drink?
Both medical experts advocate for drinking just a little bit of pickle juice in order to alleviate the pain caused by severe muscle cramping, but Dr. Tapper stressed the importance of always having some close.
“In order to make this work, you’ve got to be near pickle juice,” he said, explaining that only a tablespoon or so was needed to get the job done. “If you’re a person who cramps in the middle of tennis, you have to come up with a way to keep it on your person.”
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Dr Metzl, on the otherhand, was a lot more in favour of taking an entire shot glass full of pickle juice.