CRAMPS!

[bigbird]

Does anyone know why as soon as I start to eat clean I get Cramps, I realise it has to do with sodium but not sure exactly what.

When I was cutting for a comp I cramped all the time and had to take about 1000mg Magnesium morning and night just to reduce it.

Since then I have had a quite a few weeks off and stupidly tried to eat clean thru the week and eat what I want in the weekends, perhaps that has something to do with it. But prior to my competition I had eaten clean for 6months without cheating, so why the cramps in the cutting stage?

Is there a way I can stop these cramps either by diet or supplements.

[kernzzi]

no idea mate

[fudoc5]

hope this helps

http://www.medicinenet.com/muscle_cramps/page2.htm

[rose]

As per Fudoc's link, possibly low levels of tissue calcium and magnesium, which is why the magnesium helps. Common symptoms are muscle tightness and muscle cramps.

"Cramps are seen in any circumstance that decreases the availability of calcium or magnesium in body fluids, such as from diuretics, hyperventilation (overbreathing), excessive vomiting, inadequate calcium and/or magnesium in the diet, inadequate calcium absorption due to vitamin D deficiency, poor function of the parathyroid gland (a tiny gland in the neck that regulates calcium balance), and other conditions."

Re magnesium and calcium, (generally ) citrates are better absorbed forms. They are also more gentle on the stomach and don't require stomach acid to break down.

With magnesium, (generally ) the more you take at once, the less is absorbed so it's better to take smaller doses more frequently.

Caveat: Yes this is just some poxy advice from a random nobody on the innuhnet. I'm sure someone will now post a study that contradicts me. Just bear in mind that this reply is qualitative, and reflects what I have experienced/read. In other words, I could be wrong, or made to look like I'm wrong. I don't care :grin:

[rose]

This may or may not be of interest to the original poster.

"Taurine has been implicated in calcium homeostasis... In the cell, taurine keeps potassium and magnesium inside the cell while keeping excessive sodium out. In this sense, it works like a diuretic. Because it aids the movement of potassium, sodium, and calcium in and out of the cell, taurine has been used as a supplementation [for epileptics as well as] for people who have uncontrollable facial twitches."

So my point is, if there's an electrolyte imbalance caused by inadequate dietary intake of calcium/magnesium, increased sodium intake, 'exercise induced stress' or diuretic use in the pre-comp phase, supplemental taurine (in addition to calcium and magnesium supplementation if dietary intake is inadequate) might help regulate calcium/magnesium levels, thus helping the cramps.

I've read that supplemental taurine should be taken on it's own, between meals, 2-3g total per day divided into smaller doses.

[Beef]

This may or may not be of interest to the original poster.

"In the cell, taurine keeps potassium and magnesium inside the cell while keeping excessive sodium out. In this sense, it works like a diuretic. Because it aids the movement of potassium, sodium, and calcium in and out of the cell, taurine has been used as a supplementation [for epileptics as well as] for people who have uncontrollable facial twitches."

So my point is, if there's an electrolyte imbalance caused by inadequate dietary intake of calcium/magnesium, increased sodium intake, 'exercise induced stress' or diuretic use in the pre-comp phase, supplemental taurine (in addition to calcium and magnesium supplementation if dietary intake is inadequate) might help regulate calcium/magnesium levels, thus helping the cramps.

I've read that supplemental taurine should be taken on it's own, between meals, 2-3g total per day divided into smaller doses.

that makes sense, i've read that as well