Written by Brian Clista, MD | Reviewed by Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH
Published on February 22, 2024
Key takeaways:
It’s not clear why people develop leg cramps. Theories include dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, and muscle fatigue.
Some drinks can stop leg cramps when they start. These drinks include electrolyte drinks, coconut water, and pickle juice.
There’s evidence that electrolyte drinks can prevent leg cramps, too, but there isn’t a best electrolyte drink for leg cramps.
Table of contents
Gatorade
Powerade
Pedialyte
Coconut water
Drinks to avoid
Bottom line
References
playb/E+ via Getty Images
If you’ve ever experienced painful leg cramps during or after a workout, you might be wondering why your legs are having spasms and what you can do to stop it.
Muscle cramps are sudden, painful muscle contractions or spasms. Normally, your muscles contract in unison when you need to move. A cramp or spasm occurs when your muscles contract when they shouldn’t.
Sometimes, one muscle has a spasm, but often, it’s a muscle group, like the muscles in your lower leg. Cramps can last for a few seconds or a few minutes.
It’s not clear what causes leg cramps, but researchers believe some things can trigger cramps, such as:
Dehydration
Electrolyte imbalances
Muscle fatigue
It’s possible that drinks that contain electrolytes can help stop or even prevent leg cramps. Afterall, if both dehydration and electrolyte imbalances trigger leg cramps, then electrolyte-containing drinks might address two major triggers of leg cramps.
Advertisement
Advertisement
If you’re prone to leg cramps, here are four drinks to keep on hand the next time you’re working out.
Gatorade
Gatorade is a sports drink that contains electrolytes your muscles need to function. These electrolytes include:
Sodium
Potassium chloride
Magnesium
Calcium
You can lose all of these electrolytes when you sweat, especially sodium. In theory, Gatorade can be good for leg cramps because when you drink Gatorade, you replace the electrolytes you lost from sweating. This might help ease your leg cramps since you’re giving your muscles the electrolytes they need to work properly.
One small study of college-aged men found people who drank sports drinks with electrolytes before working out could exercise longer before developing leg cramps. But 69% of participants developed leg cramps, even if they drank drinks with electrolytes.
Gatorade probably won’t prevent you from getting leg cramps. But it may help you work out longer before you start feeling pain. This might give you enough time to reach your fitness goals for the day before you have to stop to recover from cramps.
Certain medications can worsen leg cramps. See if your medication made the list.
Can Epsom salt baths help with leg cramps? Sometimes. Here’s what the research shows about the benefits of Epsom salt baths.
Can you make your own electrolyte drinks at home? Yes! Here’s how to make your own post-workout drinks, which can save you money and lower your sugar intake.
Powerade
Powerade is another electrolyte-containing sports drink similar to Gatorade. Like Gatorade, it can help replace electrolytes you’ve lost from sweat during exercise. It’s important to keep in mind that there’s no research showing whether Powerade or Gatorade is better for preventing or getting rid of leg cramps.
Often, the decision between Powerade or Gatorade comes down to personal preferences around the taste of these drinks and whether one is more easily available to you.
It’s also important to know that most electrolyte sports drinks have added sugars. Added sugar can provide a quick burst of energy during or after workouts. But some people prefer to avoid these sugars for a variety of health reasons. Both Powerade and Gatorade offer low-sugar or no-sugar options. If you’re trying to avoid artificial sweeteners, make sure to check if the low-sugar options contain artificial sweeteners before purchasing your drink.
Pedialyte
Pedialyte is a brand of oral rehydration solutions (ORS) that’s widely available in grocery stores and retail pharmacies. Most people think of Pedialyte as a drink to help kids with dehydration. But as a complete oral rehydration solution, Pedialyte contains electrolytes that can replace electrolytes that you lose during exercise.
In fact, Pedialyte Sport contains more electrolytes than other commercial sports drinks, like Gatorade and Powerade. It also contains about half the sugar compared with regular Gatorade and Powerade and doesn’t contain artificial sweeteners.
One small study found that people who drank a standard oral rehydration solution before exercising reported fewer leg cramps. So next time you’re at your local pharmacy, stop by the children’s aisle. You might find that Pedialyte is your new favorite electrolyte drink.
Coconut water
Coconut water is a natural electrolyte-rich drink. Coconut water contains more potassium than commercial sports drinks. Since low potassium is associated with leg cramps, coconut water may help prevent leg cramps caused by exercise and sweating.
Researchers believe that drinking coconut water can give your muscles extra potassium before you start working out. So when you drink coconut water, you’re preventing electrolyte loss rather than replacing electrolyte loss. This can keep cramps from starting in the first place.
But talk with your healthcare professional if you have kidney disease or take medicines that affect your potassium levels. Coconut water might not be the safest option for you.
What drinks don’t help with leg cramps?
The research around electrolyte drinks and leg cramps isn’t perfect. Oral rehydration solution, sports drinks, and coconut water might help ease your leg cramps, but there’s no guarantee that they definitely will work for you.
But, there’s research that some drinks definitely won’t help you avoid leg cramps. For example:
Tonic water: Tonic water contains small amounts of quinine, which some people think might ease leg cramps. But there’s no evidence that quinine helps stop or prevent leg cramps even at prescription doses, which are much higher than what’s found in tonic water. While drinking a few ounces of tonic water won’t hurt you, it won’t help your leg cramps either.
Pickle juice: At the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, people saw eventual winner Carlos Alcaraz sipping pickle juice during the match to help him avoid leg cramps. But does drinking pickle juice really help leg cramps? It might help people with liver cirrhosis ease their leg cramps. But there’s no evidence that drinking pickle juice before exercise can prevent leg cramps. If you’re going to try pickle juice, keep in mind that pickle juice works by turning off a muscle reflex in the back of the throat that leads to cramps. So you only need a sip of pickle juice to reap the rewards, and drinking too much may actually worsen dehydration.
The bottom line
Researchers don’t know why people develop leg cramps. But dehydration, electrolyte losses, and overstimulation of tired muscles may all play a role. Electrolyte-containing drinks may help with leg cramps, but there’s no proof that they work for everyone. There’s no best electrolyte drink for leg cramps. But sports drinks, oral rehydration solutions like Pedialyte, and coconut water may all help ease leg cramps by replacing electrolytes lost from sweat.
References
Bergeron, M. F. (2008). Muscle cramps during exercise-is it fatigue or electrolyte deficit? Current Sports Medicine Reports.
Bordoni, B., et al. (2023). Muscle cramps. StatPearls.
View All References (12)
expand_more
GoodRx Health has strict sourcing policies and relies on primary sources such as medical organizations, governmental agencies, academic institutions, and peer-reviewed scientific journals. Learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate, thorough, and unbiased by reading our editorial guidelines.
Leave a Reply