Help with Running Cramps

Running cramps, particularly running calf cramps, afflict everyone from the person going out for a morning jog, to elite athletes. And it's not just runners that get cramps they can be a factor in any sport - tennis, swimming, golf, cycling and triathlon. This site is dedicated to sharing ideas and information between sports people, athletes, health practitioners, anyone who enjoys training - for the best ways to prevent, avoid and treat muscle cramp.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Running and Leg Cramps -Patrick Bird PhD from the University of Florida

Running and Leg Cramps - A Good, But Not 100% Correct Article from the University of Florida

Dr Patrick Bird is recognized as a world expert in Sports Science, however I believe he’s got it wrong in being too quick to re out the role of electrolyte minerals.

To say that you should get enough of these electrolyte minerals from food is fine, however there are several assumptions here:
• that you are consuming enough of the required foods
• that you are consuming them in the right proportions – for example, it’s desirable to have a 2:1 calcium to magnesium ratio in your intake
• that you can consume enough of these foods to replace what you’re sweating out – and that means you should know how much you’re sweating out every hour
• that there are actually enough minerals in the food you at to replace what you’re losing and keep pace with the body’s requirements.

If you ask me, there are enough studies to prove that our soils and food crops are declining in the major minerals from between 30% to 70% - so even if you do eat the right foods, how do you know you a getting enough of the minerals.

Athletes and sports people sweat more than the average couch potato and while I agree we all try hard to consume 7 to 9 servings of fruit and vegetables per day, you have to ask yourself, “am I really getting enough”.

The answer in most cases is no. And when you consider that as we hit 40, our ability to absorb this nutrition from food declines substantially with our drop in production of stomach acid.

Overall, Id say it is a pretty good bet that electrolytes, while they are not the only source of cramping, are still likely to be a contributing factor – and this will depend on how much you sweat and how good you are at replacing it.

As a final note, it’s worth considering that the more deficient you get in these minerals, the more you open the door to a range of deficiency diseases such as arthritis, osteoporosis, weakened immune system, cardiovascular disease, just to name a few.

For me, I like the idea of taking supplements as insurance for my sporting future and my long term health and after all, there are plenty of athletes and people suffering cramps who have had significant changes and a reduction in their cramps from taking a multi-nutrient supplement high in the major minerals and antioxidant vitamins.

It’s cheap insurance if you value your lifestyle.

You can find out more about nutrition and it’s role in cramps by checking out the Running Cramp Relief website and more about nutritional information and products at Global Longevity.

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