I was a little unsure when my mate suggested my recent shoulder pain and now calf muscle pain could be related to a lack of salt in my diet. Now that I think of it i pretty much never have salt on my food, unless its already in it. Could he be onto something here?
Also how can I speed up recovery of a sore/cramping calf muscle, I have a surf competition this week and need to get back to 100% soon!
Chosen Answer:
It could. Salt prevents your body from dehydration. Dehydration causes cramps. Eat a bag of beef jerky and see if it helps. On occasion, I take long-distance bicycle rides; I mean 100′s of miles on a given weekend. To prevent, leg cramps I’d drink lots of water, usually a gallon, and eat bags of beef jerky. It does actually help prevent cramps. By the way, salt and sodium are one and the same.
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on: 11th December 10
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Absolutely. Your body needs a certain amount of sodium. A common relief from muscle pain and cramping is pickle juice, which has quite a bit of salt. Stretching your muscles properly will also help by increasing the blood flow which will also help prevent cramping.
It isn’t the salt, it is the sodium you may be missing. However having said that, unless you have an absorption problem, you should be getting more than enough. People do NOT need to add any salt to their diet, as there is already more sodium in the average persons diet, thanks to preprocessed foods. If you are someone who never, ever eats preprocessed foods (including fast foods) and only eat fresh food you prepare yourself, you should not have an issue here.
Something else that can cause muscle pain and cramping is lack of potassium. This IS something you can be lacking in your diet, no matter which diet you follow (fresh or preprocessed) Eat banana’s. However be careful as too much potassium can be just as bad as not enough.
If this issue continues, seek medical advice. A simple blood test can determine which vitamins or minerals you may be low in.
As for the calf pain. Rest it, with alternating cold an warm compresses.
Donna
I highly doubt that your problem is lack of salt. The typical North American eats twice as much salt as is recommended daily, just from the processed foods that are in the average meal. Sodium and potassium are both needed for proper muscle function, so If you’re cramping up, it is more likely that there is a lack of potassium and/or water in your diet. This however is reflected by cramping and sometimes spasming, rather than simple muscle pain. Calves, I find, are especially prone to spasming from dehydration/potassium depletion.
Due to the type of pain, however, I believe it is not necessarily your diet. If you’re running a lot recently or working out more, it could be simply that your muscles are overworked. Let them rest for 2 – 3 days if this is the case, and see what happens. You may just need some stretching as well.
Sounds like low potassium to me. Eat more foods that contain potassium.
These foods would be beneficial to athletes or to others who incur heavy fluid loss. Patients on potassium-restricted diets should avoid them, or eat them sparingly, as advised by their nutritionist.
All meats, poultry and fish are high in potassium.
Apricots (fresh more so than canned)
Avocado
Banana
Cantaloupe
Honeydew
Kiwi
Lima beans
Milk
Oranges and orange juice
Potatoes (can be reduced to moderate by soaking peeled, sliced potatoes overnight before cooking)
Prunes
Spinach
Tomatoes
Vegetable juice
Winter squash
MODERATE (125 – 225 mg per serving)
These foods can be a large part of most people’s balanced nutrition plan. Persons restricting their potassium might be cautioned to include no more than one or two servings from this list per day, depending on their medical restrictions.
Apple juice
Asparagus
Beets
Blackberries
Broccoli
Carrots
Cherries
Corn
Eggplant
Grapefruit
Green peas
Loose-leaf lettuce
Mushrooms, fresh
Onions
Peach
Pears
Pineapple
Raisins
Raspberries
Strawberries
Summer squash, including zucchini
Tangerines
Watermelon
It could. Salt prevents your body from dehydration. Dehydration causes cramps. Eat a bag of beef jerky and see if it helps. On occasion, I take long-distance bicycle rides; I mean 100′s of miles on a given weekend. To prevent, leg cramps I’d drink lots of water, usually a gallon, and eat bags of beef jerky. It does actually help prevent cramps. By the way, salt and sodium are one and the same.
I don’t know, but I do know lack of attention to ones penis does cause fatigue. Cheers!