How to Prevent Night Leg Cramps?

Image courtesy of num_skyman at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

According to studies, almost 60 percent of adults have occasional night leg cramps. They frequently affect calves, but can appear in tights or feet. Even though there is no straight answer to question what causes night leg cramps, there are certain conditions that can increase or diminish their appearance. One of the reasons, according to fitness experts, is dehydration. Because of that experts suggest drinking plenty of water whenever we can, especially during a workout. They also recommend drinking sports drinks to replenish electrolytes we lose during exercise. Strenuous exercise can be one of the causes that trigger muscle cramps. If we put too much pressure on one group of muscles, we can end up with injuries and muscle cramps. To avoid that we need to increase the workout intensity gradually and listen to our bodies. We get a lot of signals that tell us when the body reach its limits. Another set of reasons can come from our diet. Poor diet usually affects our performance and can lead to muscle cramps. To prevent night leg cramps, experts suggest enriching our diet with foods that contain a lot of magnesium and potassium. The article “How Can You Prevent Muscle Cramps?” provides us with the lists of these foods.

POTASSIUM:

Sweet Potatoes (much of the mineral content is in the skin)
Potatoes (much of the mineral content is in the skin)
Bananas
Carrots
Many kinds of fish
Beets & Beet Greens
Squashes
Many sports drinks have potassium

MAGNESIUM:

Pumpkin
Nuts
Halibut, Pollock, Yellowfin Tuna
Quinoa
Oat Bran
Buckwheat
Beans
Many sports drinks have magnesium

Although we can see the benefits in alleviating night leg cramps by balancing our diet, we can benefit even more if we decrease or remove some foods or drinks from our menu. Namely, decreasing caffeine and alcohol can show beneficial effects for just a few days. These substances are diuretics and cause the body to lose its fluids faster. Apart from foods and drinks that influence the muscles, there is one more factor that significantly affects our health and can be responsible for leg cramps. Experts think that a sedentary lifestyle can greatly contribute to problems in our muscles. That is why walking for only 30 minutes a day can help us feel better and rarely experience this uncomfortable phenomenon.