To avoid muscle cramps, you need an electrolyte solution, not plain water, new study shows.
If you are an athlete or just like to exercise regularly, and you drink pure water, you might want to spike it with some electrolytes to avoid muscle cramps.
The new study, led by Prof Ken Nosaka from Edith Cowan University (ECU), shows that athletes who drink water rich in electrolytes during and after exercise are less likely to experience muscle cramps, compared with those who drink pure water.
Muscle cramps affect as many as 39% of marathon runners and 60% of cyclists. Yet, the common knowledge is that pure water is the best concoction during and after an extensive session of exercise. However, pure water may end up altering the concentration of critical electrolytes.
Why electrolytes?
Electrolytes are minerals that carry an electric charge when they are dissolved in a liquid, such as blood. In the human body, some common blood electrolytes are sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium and chloride, which regulate nerve and muscle function as well as maintain acid-base balance and water balance.
To test whether electrolytes affected muscle cramping, researchers recruited 10 men who were asked to run on a downhill treadmill in a hot (35ºC) room for 40 to 60 minutes. Participants drank either pure water or an electrolyte solution during and after the exercise session.
After the exercise session, all men received an electrical stimulation on their calve (as shown on the video) to induce cramping. Those participants who required lower frequency of electrical stimulation to cramp were determined to be more prone to muscle cramp under normal circumstances.
“We found that the electrical frequency required to induce cramp increased when people drank the electrolyte water, but decreased when they consumed plain water,” said Prof Nosaka in a press release.
“This indicates that muscles become more prone to cramp by drinking plain water, but more immune to muscle cramp by drinking the electrolyte water,” he added.
According to Prof Nosaka, the most likely reason behind the findings is that pure water dilutes the electrolyte concentration in our blood and does not replace the electrolytes we lose when sweating.
Drink the right drink
However, before switching to any popular electrolyte drink, you should be aware of the electrolyte concentrations on these drinks. Popular sports drinks contains about 150-160 mg of sodium and 35-45 mg of potassium per serving of 600 mL. But the electrolyte solution used in this study contained about 690 mg of sodium and 468 mg of potassium in a 600 mL serving.
Luckily, hydrations solutions with similar electrolyte concentrations as those used in this study are readily available from your local chemist, Prof Nosaka said.
“People should consider drinking oral rehydration fluids instead of plain water during moderate to intense exercise, when it’s very hot or when you are sick from diarrhoea or vomiting,” he said in the press release.
Now, Prof Nosaka plans to test other solutions for their effectiveness in reducing cramps. “We are going to investigate whether “salt water” or “sugar water” can prevent or reduce muscle cramping in exercise and sports,” he said. He also plans to test if his electrolyte solution can help reducing cramping that occurs at night or during pregnancy.