Food To Prevent Muscle Cramps
Muscle Cramps
Muscle cramps are irritating especially when you can’t step out to get help. It can happen due to overuse, unaccustomed usage, dehydration, or prolonged standing positions. Leg cramps are due to stretching or inadequate blood supply.
Foods to prevent muscle cramp
If you’re suffering from muscle cramps, we have a list of foods that can help relieve your pain. You should eat these foods after a workout as they help in muscle building and growth. If you are a beginner or have just started exercising after a gap of a few weeks, then you may experience mild or severe muscle cramps in your body. This usually happens due to a condition known as oxygen debt where your body is not able to supply oxygen to the muscles when they are exerted more than usual, which leads to the formation of lactic acid and cramps.
Banana
Bananas are rich in potassium, calcium, and magnesium – all of which are the three most important minerals to ease muscle cramps. Bananas work great as post-exercise meals and are recommended by experts to be eaten after a hardcore workout to ensure that your muscles do not cramp.
Sweet Potatoes rich foods to Prevent muscle cramps
They are easily available in abundance and they work wonders as a post-workout cramp relief food.
Just like bananas, sweet potatoes are also rich in potassium, magnesium, and calcium but they are slightly ahead as they have six times more calcium than bananas. Also, sweet potatoes contain a high amount of water which helps in keeping your body hydrated.
Melons
Another fruit that is loaded with water content and nutrients is melon.
There are different types of melons and you may choose between watermelon, muskmelon, or sun melon which will help you relieve muscle cramps after a workout. They are high sources of sodium, magnesium, and calcium. Melon helps keep the muscle cramps away by striking a balance between sodium and water loss.
Leafy Greens
A proper meal is absolutely incomplete without the nutrition and taste of the leafy greens. Green veggies are one of the best nutrition-packed foods to eat post workout in order to avoid muscle cramps that may arise due to exertion.
You can include spinach, broccoli, kale, and any other green vegetable in your salad which will make you ready to sweat it out again, the next day.
Beans and lentils rich foods to Prevent muscle cramps
These are rich source of fibre which is said to relieve cramps as well as control blood sugar and bad cholesterol.
Try having basic beans and lentils which are full of proteins and magnesium for a post-workout dinner or snack.
Calcium
Food sources containing calcium like dairy, canned fish with edible bones (sardines, anchovies, pink salmon), dark, leafy greens, nuts and seeds, and fortified tofu are all implicated in preventing cramps.
Magnesium rich foods to Prevent muscle cramps
Foods containing magnesium include legumes and soybeans, mackerel, avocado, nuts and seeds.
Dark, leafy greens, bananas, whole grains (brown rice, cereal), raw cocoa, dark chocolate, dried fruit and natural yoghurt are also magnesium rich foods that helps in preventing leg cramps.
Potassium
Potassium is the major electrolyte found inside all body cells and is essential for the nervous system and muscular function.
Deficiency of electrolytes like potassium and sodium can predispose to frequent muscle cramps in legs.
Read More