Helpful Dietary Supplements In Muscle Cramps

A person, sometimes, feels a sudden twitching pain in one of his/her body muscles during some activity or while resting. What is this called, and why does this happen? This sudden onset of pain is known as a muscle cramp, and it often happens when one of our body muscles fails to contract or relax properly.

Our body depends majorly on calcium and magnesium for the normal movement of muscles, and when the body is not getting these minerals adequately, it starts malfunctioning in the form of improper muscle contraction and relaxation.

Causes of muscle cramps

As we just mentioned that the deficiency of calcium or magnesium can lead to an unwanted situation of restricted muscle movement, ultimately causing a muscle cramp. But apart from this factor, a lesser supply of oxygen to the muscles can also cause muscle cramps in the body. How does this happen? Let’s have a look at this mechanism!

We have often observed, and in some cases experienced as well, that when a person does a high-intensity exercise or goes to the gym but fails to carry this enthusiasm, thus ending with severe muscle pain, or we can say having painful muscle cramps.

The reason behind that is, “when our body works out, it needs calories which it obtains by converting food nutrients into energy. The process, our body goes through for this conversion, requires enough oxygen, whereas in the absence of oxygen our body fails to complete the reaction, and the caloric needs of the body are not fulfilled, as well. This results in lactic acid production which, somehow, stops or restricts muscle movement and thus shifts our body into the cramp phase.

Methods that help prevent muscle cramps

Avoiding the incidents of cramping muscles requires nothing special but just a little care and precautionary measures.

1.    Make sure to add dairy products (cheese, yogurt, milk), seeds (flaxseeds, sesame seeds), and some cruciferous vegetables (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower) into the daily diet to ensure the sufficiency of calcium in the body.

2.    Also, don’t forget to have foods like nuts, whole-grain foods, and green-colored vegetables in the daily diet, as these foods help fulfill the daily requirement of magnesium in the body.

3.    When going to the gym or for some high-intensity workout, always prefer an environment with open space for a better supply of oxygen, and a pre-game meal rich in simple carbs and MCTs (medium-chain triglycerides) to ensure an adequate supply of energy throughout the activity.

4.   And last but not the least, use dietary supplements that are rich in nutrients like, calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D. Therefore, the addition of dietary supplements like Nucal-M or Magnesium, will prove extremely helpful in managing muscle movement and bone health, as well. Especially, the athletes, who do intense activities, require an extra dose of these nutrients, and therefore using these dietary supplements will prove to be highly beneficial in improving and maintaining their physical activity.

5.    Doing high-intensity activities at regular intervals is also a helpful way of avoiding unnecessary muscle cramps.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, highly beneficial in enhancing the absorption of calcium and magnesium in the body, and is also involved in making our immune defense stronger. Thus, having vitamin D in the lifestyle will help improve muscular health and help our immune system fight off harmful diseases.

References:

•    https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/327236

•    https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/vitamin-for-leg-cramps#vitamin-deficiencies

•    https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods-that-help-with-muscle-cramps

•    https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/ss/slideshow-muscle-cramps-foods