Living Rawesome Leg Cramps on My Low Sugar High Raw Lifestyle
September 19, 2009
I am up at 6 am. I have been suffering from Leg Cramps, since 3 am. I fell asleep on my couch around 10 pm, which I often do. I woke up a few hours later and felt that I had been kicked in my right calf causing it to cramp. I was so exhausted from my studying and working and my “normal” routines of life that I ignored it and went to bed. My mouth was also extremely dry. I didn’t bother getting water either until 3:30am when I finally decided I needed to get up and get water. I tried to stretch and bam they hit. I know how leg cramps work, I’ve had them many times. When I was pregnant I got them on many nights, also it seems EVERY SINGLE TIME I STOP EATING BANANAS! So I did the normal routine, walk around my room, put my hands on the wall and tried to stretch my calf but when I did that cramps started in my foot. I tried to walk, or hobble and made it to the kitchen to get water. In the back of my mind, I really just wanted to reach for a whole tree of bananas and just start eating them up! I drank about 32 ounces of water and tried to lay down again to bed. I managed to get comfortable by resting my feet against blankets so my feet wouldn’t point (that helps sometimes) and I just prayed. I drifted off to sleep for about 40 minutes and they started again. I woke up again with cramps that were worse than the first time. I didn’t want to wake Jason, he normally rubs my legs if I have cramps. He has been so exhausted that I didn’t want to disturb him. But he must have heard me, because he asked me if I had leg cramps again. Yep, I said. I was very frustrated because I feel so good eating this way, but I must be missing something. I don’t think it’s withdrawals from cereal, bananas, or high sugar desserts. Humans were not meant to eat that stuff, maybe bananas, but not the high sugar hybridized fruit we eat today. They are high in sugar, but oh so yummy. Well, I got some more water and he rubbed my legs so I fell asleep, but again I woke up at 6 am. I was tired and frustrated so I decided to get on the internet and search around. I googled “leg cramps on a low sugar diet”.
No surprise to me, I found many blogs and complaints about low sugar diets and leg cramps. Many people say that leg cramps may be caused from magnesium deficiency, dehydration, potassium deficiency, and over working your legs from exercise. The more I searched the more my heart tells me it is potassium. Humans need 4.7 grams of potassium a day (that is 4700/day milligrams). That is more than we need of magnesium (420 milligrams/day for males and 320 milligrams/day). When I started eating low carb/low sugar I decided to look up foods that are high in potassium, I found most of them to be fruit and meat. Fruit is something I am trying to ignore for now, especially bananas, I do have an addiction. I like to refrain from eating meat. I don’t want to consume meat for more than one reason. I found some great websites that display foods that are high potassium (which I need) and low potassium foods (for people that are needing a low potassium diet for medical reasons for example medications they are taking).
http://www.essortment.com/all/potassiumfoodh_rkyn.htm
http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/food/potassium-foods.htm
After viewing these sights I decided to figure out how much potassium was in the regular vegetables I eat. Tomatoes seemed to be an excellent source of potassium. I loved this website about calories and all nutritional information called Calorie Count. I am very passionate about what is actually in the food, hence my decision to do dietetics! The website is AWESOME! You type in what food you want and you can see what is in it according to the RDA. I know RDA isn’t GOD, but I do believe there is validity in it. After viewing the internet I am going to keep in mind that I do need more potassium. There are so many options when it comes to potassium choices that are relatively low in sugar that will not cause a blood sugar spike.
1 raw cup each:
Tomatoes 400 mg
Kale 299 mg
Broccoli 278 mg
Spinach 167 mg
Sprouted Lentils 248 mg
Sprounted Mung beans 155 mg
These are just a few of my staples.
I am hoping to improve on my low sugar diet. I love my raw journey that I’m on. I really believe that if I keep listening to my body it will guide me to where I need to be. I am going to get a mineral test done soon. If the leg cramps don’t go away it may be a mineral difficiency, but I only started doing this 7 days ago and I’m already feeling the effects from it. Weight loss, better energy (happier thoughts, stamina and positive well being) and stable blood sugar. The leg cramps are the only real downer. I am going to see how it goes with eating more potassium rich foods and increase my water intake.
“Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins.”
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