Cramps, lack of salt?

[Pvapour]

recently I have been getting allot of cramps which is completely out of character, temp here has sored over the last 3 or 4 weeks and is over 30 degrees for most of the time, am sweating most of the time and I think I may need to adjust my diet slightly to compensate with adding a little more salt?

I dont really ingest that much, & with sweating allot think I maybe loosing too much resulting in (what I heard) cramps in various muscles

eating allot less because of the heat as well (loosing weight) which means I'm taking in even less salt than when it was cooler, not good IF it is linked with the cramps.

my questions are:

1) do you think the cramps are linked to my salt intake compared to the hotter climes?

2) if yes, then what is a good low cal / fat way of getting salt back into my system? nuts etc are a bit high in cal dep, walnuts I already eat for esential fats, but they dont do salted.

any ideas??

[grumbledoak]

From my memories of childhood biology classes, your nervous system runs on Sodium and Chlorine, the Na and Cl in salt. So,

1) Yes, certainly possible
2) Just add some salt! Sea salt and rock salt are much better than the processed 'table' salt, as they contain other trace minerals.

[Fourmotion]

Take a look at Nuun tablets. They're virtually calorie free, and give you all the necessary salts you need. They taste quite refreshing as well, just dropped in water. They're around £5-6 for 12 tablets, but you should only need one on days you're actually exercising and sweating more than normal.

I find them much better than other electrolyte drinks, as they're not sweet and heavy like some can be.

[Pvapour]

thx chaps

read some more that supports the theory, have ordered some of the Nuun tablets, will see how it works, got it in three of my abs whilst doing crunches last night, so bad I almost passed out

cheers!

[elster]

Just eat a bannana, that is what I do.

On a climb in China I got the worst cramp ever. You should of seen my thigh, it hurt!

[whitechief]

Bananas are great as they contain lots of Potassium, a lack of which might be causing your cramp.

[elster]

whitechief said:

Bananas are great as they contain lots of Potassium, a lack of which might be causing your cramp.

Is it a lack of potassium, magnesium and calcium that causes it?

[whitechief]

I'm no medic...

Wikipedia has this

Causes

There are a number of causes of cramping:[1] hyperflexion; hypoxia; exposure to large changes in temperature; dehydration; low blood salt; or low blood calcium. Muscle cramps may also be a symptom or complication of pregnancy, kidney disease, thyroid disease, hypokalemia or hypocalcemia (as conditions), restless legs syndrome, varicose veins,[2] and multiple sclerosis.[3]
Electrolyte disturbance may cause cramping and tetany of muscles, particularly hypokalaemia (a low level of potassium) and hypocalcaemia (a low level of calcium). This disturbance arises as the body loses large amounts of interstitial fluid through sweat. This interstitial fluid is composed mostly of water and table salt (sodium chloride). The loss of osmotically active particles outside muscle cells leads to a disturbance of the osmotic balance and swelling of muscle cells as these contain more osmotically active particles. This causes the calcium pump between the muscle lumen and sarcoplasmic reticulum to short circuit and the calcium ions remain bound to the troponin and the muscle contraction is continued. This may occur when the lactic acid is high in the cells.
As early as 1965 it was observed that leg cramps and restless legs syndrome can be a result of excess insulin, sometimes called hyperinsulinemia.[4] Hypoglycemia & reactive hypoglycemia are also known to be associated with excess insulin [or insufficient glucagon] and avoidance of low blood glucose concentration may help avoid cramps.