My Name is Sally. I Drink Pickle Juice
Maybe you think it’s weird, but I drink pickle juice for leg cramps. Sometimes. Just a little bit. If I increase the amount of exercise I’m getting, I sometimes start to get leg cramps — usually in my calves, and usually when I’m sleeping. Waking up to a crippling charlie horse sucks. If you have never had that happen, just be glad. If you have had it happen, I recommend drinking a little pickle juice.
My friend Dee Dee told me about this trick a couple years back, she’s a hard core cyclist and I would call her an elite-level endurance athlete (aka, masochist, hehe). Her advice seems to really work. For reals. I will usually have a couple nights in a row where I wake up, about to have a charlie horse yelling “NO! NO! NO!” and then it’ll quiet back down again and I’ll go back to sleep. After several nights of this, I will usually get the crippling charlie horse. You know, the one where my muscle is completely seized up and I’m thrashing about in pain yelling obsenities, maybe even punching myself in desperation. So, there is usually a 3-4 day warning flare. Enough time to get me some of that fine, fine pickle juice. I usually just take a couple swigs of it straight out of the jar (I recommend Dill) for a few nights. And that’s it! Cramps…deterred.
At first I thought the whole concept was what I like to refer to as “Dumbo’s Feather” but now there’s a product on the market called Pickle Juice Sport. It’s endorsed by legitimate athletes. Sounds like a novelty/joke item, but I believe in it, and I believe it is for reals (damn, two “for reals” in one post, can I do that? Of course I can, it’s my site). I have not yet tried the official NFL-player sanctioned Pickle Juice Sport, but I will as soon as I get the chance. Mostly, I’m curious to see if they tried to make it sweet. I hope not, the whole point is the saltiness in my opinion.
From the site:
Pickle Juice Sport has approximately 30 times more electrolytes than Powerade and 15 times more than Gatorade.
Pretty cool, I had no idea about the electrolytes. Well, I will still probably just stick with regular pickle juice because it doesn’t take much and it’s probably cheaper but I will keep you posted if I have the chance to try this stuff.
HEY! Stop making fun of me! I’m just trying to help my beloved readers, even if it means revealing the embarrassing details of my private life.
September 8th, 2006 at 6:49 am
No doubt Sal-hole! The pickle juice is 100% legit. I can’t crush the road races like Dee Dee but I usually get nasty nasty cramps towards the end of mountain bike races or several laps into the 18 and 24 hour races. It has stopped happening since I started swigging the PJ. At first, it tastes a little weird, but then you start to crave it!
September 8th, 2006 at 11:06 am
Totally! I’m so glad you said that, I actually have grown to like the Pickle Juice, haha! I guess sometimes we crave what our bodies really need, hu?
September 8th, 2006 at 12:46 pm
thanks for the heads up - I’ll definitely give this stuff a shot if I can find it anywhere - or else I’ll start drinking more pickle juice.
Btw, could they have found a better URL for their website?? Thankfully picklejuicesport.com also works, but #1 in the google is the goldenpicklejuice.com URL…which does not sound appetizing at all!
September 8th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
Whoah! I didn’t know you’re supposed to drink it. I was rubbing the pickle juice on my calves. I was wondering why I was waking up in the middle of the night with my dog licking my legs….(not that I mind that).
September 8th, 2006 at 11:29 pm
@Sally: That’s pretty nifty. Once upon a time I was doing some hard outdoor labor up in Yakima county, WA, and I went through 11 bottles of water and sports drinks in one day. I had salt rings forming on my shirt. I suppose all that salt has to be replenished rather quickly, and pickle juice sounds like the perfect solution.
@Harry: That must make for some weird dreams.
September 10th, 2006 at 4:32 pm
The butch field hockey girls across the hall from me at W&M also recommended pineapple juice for bruises. It works rather well.
And PLEASE tell me we do not need to fly out there and do an intervention…step away from the kitty!
September 13th, 2006 at 12:12 pm
I went to 7-11 to try to find this stuff - no luck. However, I did drink some pickle juice after playing football on Sunday, and I really think it did help - I didn’t get my normal dehydration headache that afternoon.
September 13th, 2006 at 12:40 pm
electrolytes will keep the plants from growing though. just keep that in mind.
September 21st, 2006 at 11:27 am
In Dr. Seuss’ “The 5000 fingers of Doctor T” (live-action movie)they (that’s the bad guys mostly) drink vintage pickle juice. It kicks ass with vodka (try good quality - homemade or Claussens though).
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:09 pm
I’m not sure what to make of that last comment, but I like it. I have no idea what “The 5000 fingers of Doctor T” are. Did Mr. T finally get his PHD?
October 17th, 2006 at 5:38 am
damn, ive been drinkin pickle juice forever. now it’s bottled, wute!
June 24th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Just want to add that pickle juice also works wonders on the monthly
cramps we ladies might sometimes get.
An easy way to get your pickle juice when you are not near the fridge is to buy single prepackaged pickles with the pickle juice in it.
Many convinent stores have them. :o)
July 7th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Pickle juice works! I’m Diane Kearns, a cycling enthusiast from Alexandria, Virginia. I have been drinking pickle juice for 3 years and not one cramp!
August 16th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
I rode my first MS150 last year (2006) and kept this in my arsenal for regeneration. It worked wonders and wished I had it on the “Conquer the Coast” ride (65 Miler-Corpus Christi, TX) the week previous. I found myself reaching for it more than any of the other repelnishment drinks available and had no problems with muscle cramps. I’m getting ready to ride the Hotter ‘n Hell 100 in Wichita Falls (my First) next week and will be using Pickle Juice to help me get through the hundred degree temps.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
God! i love this country. there are experts every where. Pickle juice! just in time to save my life. Thanx yall.
Rick
August 3rd, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Back in summer 2005 I “googled” “sweat” and made a spreadsheet on how much salt and potassium I lost for each pound of sweat. A bottle of GatorAd and a soda pop sized can of V8 juice (for extra potassium) weighs 2#. I lost 4.5# yesterday running 4.5 miles. My 12 years of cramps in various hips, calves, and hams stopped 2 days after I started this routine back in 2005.