Leg Cramps: Some Simple Remedies

Last weekend I took my wife to the airport in Phoenix, Arizona to catch a plane to Hawaii where she's teaching a health workshop. On the way we stopped for a couple of days in Benson, AZ to spend time with her brother and sister-in-law. While we were there, the subject of health came up.

Both brother and sister-in-law are in pretty good physical shape, one of the ways they stay that way is by walking and hiking a lot. My brother-in-law told me if he went for a long hike and then sat down to rest, when he got back up he would get leg cramps and charlie horses. He had been suffering from leg cramps for some time and had been searching for a remedy besides pain pills or some prescription drug. He reads my articles and, after taking a test that I'd published, he came to the conclusion that he was too alkaline.

With that information in mind, he began to try various things to help acidify his system. One of them was vinegar. He came to that conclusion from an article about a woman who found that if she drank pickle juice, her leg cramps would disappear. He tried it and it worked. He figured it had to be one of two things, either the salt or the vinegar. Salt was the easiest but didn't work. Now, his nightly cocktail consists of a tablespoon of vinegar in a small glass of wine, drunk a few minutes before going to bed. He says he hasn't had a leg cramp or charlie horse since beginning the regimen.

If you have a high acid base, vinegar may not be good for you. If you suffer from leg cramps or restless legs syndrome (RLS), there are some exercises and herbal treatments that may help that don't involve vinegar, other fermented items or salt. If you suffer from candida albicans, a yeast overgrowth that can cause systemic problems, you may find vinegar and other fermented products cause an outbreak of symptoms.