In this video, I'll uncover why you're getting those nasty leg cramps and what you can do
to make them go away.
Have you ever woke up in the middle of the night to just having nasty leg cramps? Or
maybe you're just sitting in the chair, minding your own business and all of a sudden your
foot just seizes up. And, of course, it's incredibly painful. A lot of people are having
this issue and they don't know what to do about it. So that's why in this video we're
going to talk about leg cramps, five causes and five cures. And this is something that
a lot of people are facing and they don't have an answer to. So that's why we're going
to give you the answers today. Stick around to the end of this video.
But before we get started, I'm Dr. Zyrowski and welcome to the channel. If you're new
to the channel, it's a pleasure to have you here. Be sure to subscribe, hit that bell
notification, and join our notification community. That way I can help you excel your health
and your life. I also want to mention in the description below, I have the five keys to
weight loss. This is a complimentary download of the top things that I have found clinically
that really help people lose some of that way. So, go ahead and download that for free
right here in the description below.
Let's go ahead and talk about leg cramps because, like I said, this is something that a lot
of people are having an issue with. So, the first question is, what is happening here?
Why is this happening? So, when we look at leg cramps, essentially what they are is an
involuntary muscle contraction. You're sitting there minding your own business. All of a
sudden, your foot is just an agonizing pain, a sharp pain that you can hardly tolerate.
And this is something, like I said, many people are facing. It's very, very painful. And if
you have experienced this, you know what I'm talking about.
Now, when we look at cramping, it's happening for a reason. That's important to understand
because there's a lot of resources out there that tell you, well, if you're having cramping
that's just the new way of life. That's what you have to live with. And the truth is, is
this happening for a reason? We have to figure out first of all why, because it can be very
detrimental to your health as to why it's happening, but also it could be a very simple
fix and if it's a very simple fix, why live life dealing with that issue? And so, we have
to figure out why it's happening and find a solution for it, which we're going to talk
about the solutions today.
And then when we look at the cramping to it commonly occurs in the calves and the feet.
Now the calves are going to be one of the major areas. This happens all the time when
it's happening in the legs, but it also happened in the feet quite often. A lot of times when
you're having some of these different imbalances in the body that's causing the cramping, it's
happening and attacking those small muscle groups first. And we look at the foot, lots
of little tiny muscles in there that are going to be affected first. Next year is a lot of
times you're going to find that it's happening at night. I remember back when my wife was
pregnant, she would have just awful muscle cramps at night. When I was playing sports
at a high level, I'd have awful muscle cramps at night. And so, it happens at night for
a lot of people.
Let's go ahead and talk about one of the first reasons, and we're going to go through this
in order of most likely to least likely as to why leg cramps are happening for you. So,
first reason is going to be dehydration. This is something that happens to a lot of people.
if you're like me, you're going, you're working throughout the day, you're running from point
A to point B and sometimes you just forget to drink water. A lot of times when I'm the
clinic and I'm going from room to room and I just have a packed schedule for like six
hours straight, I will literally go like that whole span of time without drinking water,
being very physically active and all of a sudden it hits me really hard. Typically,
I know I have a big problem and that I messed up when I wake up the next morning with a
massive dehydration headache because I didn't drink enough water the night before and the
day before. Now when it comes to the water, a lot of people ask, well how much water should
I drink on a daily basis? The rule of thumb is going to be 40 to 60% of your body weight
in ounces. So, let's say this, let's say that you weigh 140 pounds, you're going to drink
70 ounces of water a day. Now, I have a sliding scale of 40 to 60% and the reason for it,
because it all depends on you. Are you physically active? Do you have a desk job? Do you have
a job that's manual labor? Are you exercising throughout the day? There's a lot of variables
in there, so we want to make sure that we take these variables into account so we're
getting a proper water because a lot of times you're finding this fixed number as in this
is what you need to drink every single day and that's not the case. Everybody's living
a different life.
Now, a couple of signs I want to mention here of dehydration. First there's going to be
headaches like I tell you that I get when I get dehydrated. Constipation's also an issue,
brain fatigue, dry mouth - and this is one of the early signs that you can tell right
away. I always look for this sign. If I have a really dry mouth that means, hey, I better
get some water flow in here. Otherwise I'm going to have some issues. Bright yellow urine
- and that's not from like taking vitamins and then you had bright yellow urine. It's
simply like you didn't have any vitamins or anything and your urine is bright yellow as
a result of dehydration. And then muscle cramping, which this whole presentation is about. So,
if you're getting that, that's what you have to really understand. Those are the signs
of dehydration. Make sure you increase your water intake, but sometimes water isn't enough.
I run into this problem a lot with people. What does this mean? Well, the thing is, is
that if you're drinking good purified water like I do, and like I promote for everybody
to do, what happens? Guess what? All the electrolytes, all the minerals get stripped from it. And
we're not just talking about distilled water, we're talking about pretty much any really
good quality purification process that's taking out very small chemicals. The small size chemicals
like fluoride or arsenic, they're very difficult to get out of water. So, when you have a purification
system that's capable of getting them out, they're taking everything out. So, the thing
is that we have to understand is that sometimes it's not just about drinking more water, it's
about making sure you're getting more electrolytes because this electrolyte balance as you're
going to see is going to cause a lot of problems. I use an electrolyte powder daily. I'll put
a link in the description to the one that I'm using in order to help me stop with the
muscle cramps. Because here's the thing, a lot of people have electrolyte deficiencies
and they're eating low carbs, they're eating keto, they're doing the best they can with
their diet. They're putting in solid effort, but it's causing electrolyte deficiencies
for a whole different reason and we have to be aware of that.
Let's talk about electrolytes. One of the major, major reasons that you're going to
get cramping. It's kind of connected with the dehydration issue, but also the electrolytes
play an enormous role in your overall health. And if you're having an electrolyte imbalance
or even a depletion of them, which many people do in modern society, like I said, even following
a good healthy diet like the keto diet, low carb, it's going to cause electrolyte depletion
in many ways. Now, another reason a lot of people have electrolyte depletion because
of the stressful lifestyles that we live. When you have cortisol has risen up in the
body, when we have adrenal dysfunction, then it's going to cause electrolyte imbalances.
Here's some of the foods you can get some great electrolytes from. Now of course, these
are the top electrolytes too that most people run into having an issue with. Sodium right
here is a major one. We can simply get this from sea salt. We can get this from pink salt.
We can also get it from beets, spinach chards, and also artichokes. Those are some good food
sources. Of course, they are more, but here's some good options here. I'm going to give
you a few good options for all of them.
Potassium is a major one a lot of people are struggling with as well. Like I said, it's
due to this stressful lifestyle and because of the keto and low carb diets. This is why
a lot of people are having potassium issues and it's incredibly important for your overall
health. Avocados are an incredible source for this. Bananas, potatoes, both white potatoes
and sweet potatoes, spinach, and then white beans are a great source as well.
Calcium is another major issue and I prefer people get calcium from their food source
simply because in modern science a lot of times when we look at taking calcium and supplementing
with them, it's kind of hard to know where that calcium's going. Is it being laid down
in arteries? Is it going to the bones? Is it going to support the muscle function? It's
hard to tell, so getting calcium from foods is going to be important instead of taking
some high dose calcium supplement. Seeds are a great source - chia seeds, that kind of
thing. Grass fed dairy like yogurt and cheese and then sardines as well. The truth is when
it comes to sardines, many people don't like them, but hate to tell you that they're a
really great source of collagen and many other very beneficial nutrients that your body needs
in order to survive and function well. So, sardines are great. And then beans and lentils
as well.
Now magnesium is another major area that a lot of people are having an issue with. This
particular mineral is something that so many people are depleted in. Nuts are a great source.
Let's think of almonds, cashews, dark chocolate is an incredible source. I know that you are
totally hooked on boosting up your magnesium levels after this because you can just start
eating a whole bunch of dark chocolate, bananas, leafy greens, and avocados. And then when
you see this theme here, a lot of times we're looking at leafy greens being a great source.
We're thinking kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, avocados, beans and lentils. Those are both
great sources as well. So, you're going to find a lot of these same foods are going to
be mineral rich.
So, make sure that you're getting proper electrolytes. I can't stress this enough. This is a major
issue as to why people are having this problem. I recently had a patient and she was saying,
you know what, it runs in my family. My mom has this issue and I have this issue and I've
had it for years. And I said, yeah, just try this electrolyte powder. I'm pretty sure it's
going to solve your issues. And she thought it was a miracle worker, but truthfully, it's
just she had an electrolyte balance and apparently she's had one for many years and so it's a
solved now, but just make sure that like if you're suffering from an electrolyte imbalance,
you are working to solve it.
Next is going to be overexertion. So, in most cases, if you overexerted yourself, you had
a big long run, you need a heavy workout, you're getting incredible muscle cramping.
Well first thing we can do is stretch. A lot of people forget to stretch. Because a lot
of people, they go in, they do the workout and they're like, well, I'm getting great
results when I'm working out, but who's got time for that stretching stuff? Well, let
me tell you, if you're not stretching, first of all, you are going to cause yourself to
not get as good of results. You're going to really mess up your workouts and then you're
going to have more risk of injury, which you're not going to be working out at all if that's
the case. And so, we gotta make sure we're stretching. Heat and ice are both great. I
like just using simple, infrared heat. Heat is one of the most powerful healing heats
out there. Ice is great to taking an ice bath. We used to do this in hockey all the time.
We'd fill the tub at the hotel full of ice cubes and fill it with water, jump in. And
that's how we would be able to go and do double headers. So, ice baths, ice showers, ice packs,
that kind of thing. All very good. And then Epson salt soaks as well. I have patients
do this all the time. If they're coming in, they have really bad muscle spasms and just
musculoskeletal issues in general, it's great to take an Epsom salt bath. You just go to
a local pharmacy, local grocery store, get a big old bag of salt, put about two cups
into a bath, soak in warm water, and most people don't complain because they love that
anyway, and when they get that high dose of magnesium, it's very healing towards the entire
body, the nervous system, the musculoskeletal system. It'll stop a lot of the spasms as
well. So, a great solution there.
Next is medications. Now, here's the deal. If you are someone who has started some sort
of medication, all of a sudden you notice you're having a ton of muscle cramps. You've
got to go to your doctor and let them know. Because what happens is a lot of these different
medications, they'll mess with your pH, they'll mess with your physiology, your electrolyte
balances, and they will cause you to have muscle cramps. Here's a couple of the common
ones that we see a lot. Birth control pills, diuretics, Naproxen, statins, and albuterol.
These are all very common ones. Now there's many more as well. I'm not here to teach on
medications, but I'm here to tell you that the thing is about many medications is that
they can cause cramping. So, you just need to talk to your doctor about it and ask him
if it's a reason as to why you're having this issue.
Next is going to be health conditions. There's a lot of different health conditions out there
that are going to cause you to have a lot of different muscle cramps and spasms all
over your body, especially in the legs. So, first of all, nerve compression issues is
a major one. I can't tell you how many times people have come in and they're holding onto
their arm, oh my arm's killing me and I'm getting this really bad spasms and I'm getting
it in my legs and my calf, and it turns out that they have some sort of spinal deterioration,
some disc degeneration. That nerve is compressed. And so, we want to make sure that if you have
a spinal issue and you're getting nerve compression, you are taking the appropriate steps in taking
care of that. Going to a chiropractor, going to somebody who's going to help you with that
is going to be very important.
Liver disorders is a major one. If you have cirrhosis of the liver, if you're someone
who has fatty liver, this can all play a role in electrolyte disorders.
Kidney dysfunction as well. It's a major one.
And then hypothyroidism, deep vein thrombosis. This is more serious because of deep vein
thrombosis is going to essentially go and break off, go to your lungs, go to your heart,
go to your brain, and they can cause major, major health crises for you. So, this is very
serious. If you're getting a lot of uncontrolled cramping, definitely go see your doctor over
that.
Next is adrenal disorders. Essentially when your adrenals are having serious issues and
your cortisol is all over the place, what can happen is you will just dump a lot of
different electrolytes - potassium, sodium in particular - and as a result, you'll get
some serious electrolyte imbalances. And so if you're getting like a blood test and they're
checking your electrolytes, it can be a good indication based on those electrolyte levels
as to whether or not there's some adrenal dysfunction occurring.
Alcoholism is a big one. And then also vitamin deficiencies. Vitamin B deficiencies, vitamin
D deficiencies. Many of these vitamins can play a role as to pH balance, electrolytes
in the body, and the whole deal.
So make sure that you're taking all this into account when you're getting these leg cramps.
Give this video a thumbs up, share it with your friends who are all getting these nasty
leg cramps and put in the comment section below your experience with having leg cramps,
the solutions to them, and what you did about them. And then check out this video over here
that's really going to put you on the fast track to losing belly fat.
Because you know what? When you are someone who is obese, if you're overweight, your risk
of heart disease goes way up…