Can pickle juice reduce muscle cramps?

I used to be afraid of swimming as I there was once when I witnessed my sister shouting for help from the pool. “Cramp! Cramp!” she yelled as one of her hands were gripping on one leg. Thankfully, she was near the side of the pool and could reach it to lift her head above water. The lifeguard on duty then brought her out of the pool and her leg was straightened, calf stretched, in order to relieve the pain on her leg. What she had experienced is known as exercise-associated muscle cramps (EAMC).

EAMC are painful, sudden, involuntary contractions of skeletal muscle occurring during or after exercise and are recognized by visible bulging or knotting of the whole, or part of, a muscle. The cause of EAMC is still not clear while many scientists hypothesize that it could be due to electrolyte imbalance, dehydration. Without a clear cause, it would be even harder to establish treatment and prevention strategies.

As many as 25% of athletic trainers administer pickle juice (PJ) to treat EAMC¹. What is pickle juice? Yes, it is that brackish liquid left over in the jar after you eat all the pickles. And to be specific, it is not even “juice”, it is brine – a salt solution meant to preserve food, but we will still use the term PJ in this article. In one landmark study, Miller KC demonstrated the effectiveness of PJ in reducing muscle cramps² (more about this study later). The PJ used by Miller in other similar PJ studies^3-7 were strained from sliced/whole dill pickles (Vlasic Pickles by Pinnacle Foods Group LLC, Cherry Hill, NJ).

 Photo taken from product website

Now, about the study, Miller and researchers induced muscle cramps on the sole of the foot (flexor hallucis brevis) of hypohydrated male subjects (approximately 3% body weight loss). It was found that ingestion of 1ml/kg of PJ (If you weigh 57kg, ingest 57mLs) reduced cramp duration by 37% when compared to ingestion of water. In this and other Miller PJ studies, the ingestion of PJ did not affect plasma sodium concentration, plasma potassium concentration, plasma osmolality, exercise performance nor thermoregulatory measures.

It is strange that Miller did only one efficacy study on PJ, but it is probably okay to try since ingestion does not affect plasma (blood) electrolyte constituents.

If you'd like to make your own, here's a common recipe:

1 cup of purified water

1 cup of white vinegar/ apple cider vinegar (5% acetic acid)

2 tablespoon of kosher salt

1 tablespoon of pickling spice (optional)

Is this adequate or do you need to add whole/sliced dills?

REFERENCES

1. Plasma and electrolyte changes in exercising humans after ingestion of multiple boluses of pickle juice. McKenney MA1, Miller KC, Deal JE, Garden-Robinson JA, Rhee YS. J Athl Train. 2015 Feb;50(2):141-6.
2. Reflex inhibition of electrically induced muscle cramps in hypohydrated humans. Miller KC, Mack GW, Knight KL, Hopkins JT, Draper DO, Fields PJ, Hunter I. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2010 May;42(5):953-61.
3. Electrolyte and plasma responses after pickle juice, mustard, and deionized water ingestion in dehydrated humans. Miller KC. J Athl Train. 2014 May-Jun;49(3):360-7.
4. Pre-exercise ingestion of pickle juice, hypertonic saline, or water and aerobic performance and thermoregulation. Peikert J, Miller KC, Albrecht J, Tucker J, Deal J. J Athl Train. 2014 Mar-Apr;49(2):204-9.
5. Ad libitum fluid intake and plasma responses after pickle juice, hypertonic saline, or deionized water ingestion. Allen S, Miller KC, Albrecht J, Garden-Robinson J, Blodgett-Salafia E. J Athl Train. 2013 Nov-Dec;48(6):734-40.
6. Gastric emptying after pickle-juice ingestion in rested, euhydrated humans. Miller KC, Mack GW, Knight KL. J Athl Train. 2010 Nov-Dec;45(6):601-8.
7. Electrolyte and plasma changes after ingestion of pickle juice, water, and a common carbohydrate-electrolyte solution. Miller KC, Mack G, Knight KL. J Athl Train. 2009 Sep-Oct;44(5):454-61.