Leg cramps cramping your style? New guide aims to help

This week Diet Doctor launched a new in-depth guide: Six ways to kick legs cramps to the curb.
Many people experience painful, sleep-disrupting night time leg cramps on the low-carb ketogenic. Solving the issue can take a little sleuthing and experimentation, often going beyond the usual advice to up your intake of magnesium.
Researching and writing the guide was a personal quest for me. I wanted to not only help our Diet Doctor readers, but I needed to solve my own leg-cramp issues. Painful leg cramps have been the bane of my night-time existence, my Achilles heel. (Well, make that a few inches higher: my Achilles calf muscle.)
I have had other times in my life when leg cramps were a problem, most notably during athletic competitions as a teen and during my two pregnancies (a common time for increased cramping for many women.) When I started low-carb, ketogenic eating four years ago, however, they came back with a vengeance. Earlier this year they were happening with agonizing frequency almost every night, inflicting at times extraordinary pain and regularly robbing me of a good night’s sleep.
I thought, however, that my regular cramps were simply a painful nuisance, a disruptive bother that hurt my sleep more than anything else.
That is until a trip to Sweden this past summer. Staying in the Diet Doctor apartment on my last night there, I simultaneously got two monster cramps in both my lower legs, from toes to knees. My legs contracted in a rigid, agonizing frog-kick.
While trying to stand up to walk them off, I lost my balance. I put out my right hand to try to cushion my fall and broke my arm. I was in a splint for six weeks! So much for thinking leg cramps were a mere bother. For me they had become downright hazardous.
Since then I’ve been determined to not only solve my own leg cramp issue — for good — but to help other low-carb sufferers out there, too.
Victory: no cramps for me
So I am happy to report that researching and writing the new guide — and following its advice — has reduced the frequency of my leg cramps from an almost nightly occurrence to a very rare event.
Magnesium supplementation was key, but for me it was finding the right formulation. Over the last four years, I had tried at least half a dozen different ways to supplement magnesium, but none of them had worked on their own, and all of the oral supplements had upset my stomach.
Recently, the magnesium supplementation that has worked best for me is Dr. Eric Westman’s protocol of taking daily one-third of the dose of milk of magnesia. That combined with daily drinking of magnesium-rich mineral water and upping my salt consumption has been the biggest help. I love coffee but I have come to the conclusion that my muscles may be sensitive to too much caffeine, so I limited myself to max two cups a day. Red wine, even just a single glass, is a trigger for me, too, so I avoid it. I also avoid sitting for long periods and I now stretch regularly.
Paying attention to all these factors has worked. As I write this, I have now been five weeks without a cramp. A new victory. On a recent, second trip to Stockholm to visit the Diet Doctor team, which included extended sitting on long international flights and a disrupted daily routine — typical triggers for me — I did not experience a single night-time contraction.
And here’s an added bonus, which I believe is related to improving my magnesium levels overall: the general quality of my sleep seems to have improved, too. I have not just been eliminating the disruptive cramps but I am sleeping more soundly, my muscles feel generally more relaxed, and I’m experiencing less night-time waking.
So try our tips and let us know how they work for you. We hope the guide helps you to kick your leg cramps to the curb, too.


Six ways to kick nasty leg cramps to the curb
Guide Among low-carb and keto-eaters, while there are no hard estimates to the number afflicted, increased frequency of leg cramps are known to be a common side effect of the diet. Here are the six key things to know to kick your leg cramps to the curb:
59 comments
I also applicate the liquid after the shower. It's cheap and effective.
Thanks for your advice.
Where might I find the Magnesium Chloride hexahydrate?
I am desperate my lower leg is locking up in weird contortions.
I am Healthy Keto for 5 months. No matter the Magnesium chloride and trace minerals I can’t make those nocturnal cramps go away. I also take potassium citrate 2000-3000 mg a day.
Thanks for any thoughts you might have😊🤔
I've since discovered that this is linked to electrolyte levels in some way after getting dehydrated.
After hospital rehydration, I've not had cramps since so I deem there to be a link.
Any ideas?
I have found that as long as I drink almost 64 oz. of water a day I do not have any cramping at all. If I don't get the water I'm really in trouble with cramps in my feet and legs. Really, really painful.
I’ve found out if they hit hard I can simply shake about a teaspoon of salt in the palm of my hand and lick 👅 it and follow with a drink of water till I’ve used it up. By the time I’ve got it all down the cramps are gone and don’t come back till I forget to drink enough fluids again. I had tried all kinds of remedies over the years and was shocked how easy this was ...
and it works !! :< )
I experienced horrible leg cramps, repeated thrombosis resulting in surgical interventions, cognitive dysfunction, memory loss, emotional issues, cramping in my hands and feet and sudden chills that resulted in severe shivers. I tried everything. I took every pill they gave me and did everything possible to lower my cholesterol and control my cramps (MSM + electrolytes + magnesium). I slept on the couch so that I could leap up from sleep to deal with the cramp, at one point I passed out completely while walking one off. I landed on my face. My wife found me. In 2012 I stopped exercising (Swim 2km, Mountain Bike 40 km etc) after realizing that I was ending up in surgery after exercising and getting cold.
In 2016 I heard about Lipitor and Brain Fog and soon found stories online that sounded like my own and eventually realized that I had statin induced myopathy also know as exercise intolerance. AND statin induced dementia (spacedoc.com) (2005 - IT Manager + GIS / 2008 unable to fill out a form online). I decided that I had had repeated brain trauma due to statin toxicity (80 mg day). This led me to ketogenic treatment of epilepsy for children and to Diet Doctor.
In March 2017 I began using Diet Doctor. My wife and I followed a strict Ketogenic meal plan exactly as offered. I stopped taking statins completely in June 2017. Sometime in August 2017 the leg cramps suddenly stopped, by October I had lost 60 pounds. This year investigations has revealed that I have a problem with dopamine
Doctors do not know about the adverse effects of the medications that they prescribe.
This is unacceptable. Healthcare is not free, nor is it a gift from the government. My wife and I both paid into medical services our entire working lives. I mean to practice the Art of War against a culture of deliberate misinformation and ignorance.
Fast forward to Keto. They re-appeared, much more frequently, but not nearly as severe but were still disturbing my sleep. I had read lots of recommendations for different magnesium supplements and spent quite a bit on ‘natural’ remedies. I decided while taking one powder that I had been recommended, that I would give up my daily intake of ‘pink Himalayan salt’. What a mistake that was. I ended up constipated and still got the cramps. 😳. Once the magnesium was completed, I went back on the salt. My constipation stopped, almost immediately and while I get a cramp once or so a week, they have subsided to the point where I think they would be eliminated if I had a second ‘dose of salt’ in the afternoon. For me, it’s the salt and now upon rising, I take a teaspoon in warm water.
It has a citrus taste albeit a little gritty.
300 ml of coconut water will also give you around 600mg of potassium but watch the carbs.
It was not nearly as bad as cramps in the past, so I do think for me paying attention to the six other main six points helped very much, especially getting the right magnesium. But red wine, alas, is definitely one of my triggers.
No, we would not recommend bananas while eating keto. There are other sources of potassium that are not high carb.
Bananas are not on the LCHF plan and are not mentioned in the original article for that reason.
Salus Magnesium Liquid supports a healthy circulatory system and helps relax the arteries and muscles. It helps the body to metabolize carbohydrates, proteins, and fat for the maintenance of good health.It also helps in the development and maintenance of bones, teeth and proper muscle function.
I appreciate the care in sharing this information and will be following the advice with interest.
Better sleep will be a delightful bonus. You have reminded me again of the connection between magnesium and a good night's sleep.
My neglected bottle of magnesium spray on my bedside table will be dusted off and have attention paid to it again 😆😆😆