Why cramps get more common after 60
A muscle cramp is a muscle that tightens and will not let go. For women over 60 it is most often the calf or the arch of the foot, and very often at night, when it wakes you up and you are out of bed trying to stand on it before you are fully awake.
On this episode of The Doctor Is In a listener asked a simple question: why would someone cramp up? Dr. Martin's answer is personal before it is clinical. He gets cramps too, and he knows exactly what sets his off.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 881Well, usually if you get a lot of cramps and I'm one to get cramps, I really do. Like if I don't drink enough water, I cramp up.
He was 70 when he recorded this, and he says he knows his own body well by now, and that it dehydrates very quickly. That is worth sitting with if you are over 60. Many women feel less thirst than they used to, drink coffee and tea in place of water, and cut back on fluids in the evening so they are not up in the night. Every one of those pulls in the same direction.
Water comes first
He has explained dehydration on the show many times, and his instruction here is short. Make sure you are drinking enough. His number for American listeners is 64 ounces of water a day, which he calls the sweet spot.
He is specific that it has to be water. Nothing else, he says, is water. Coffee, juice, soda and tea do not count toward his 64 ounces, however much liquid they add up to.
If you have been waking up with your calf locked in a knot, the first thing he would ask is how much plain water went in yesterday. It is the cheapest thing to fix and, in his experience, the most common reason.
"You need water and you need salt."
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 881Salt is not the bad guy
The second thing on his list surprises most women over 60, who have been told for years to cut back. He points out that your blood is full of salt and that you need it, and that it is not the villain it has been made out to be.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 881Salt is only the bad guy in the presence of a lack of water.
He repeats it, so it lands. Salt will only push your blood pressure up, in his view, if you are not drinking water. Put the two together and the picture changes.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 881That's really important. You need water and you need salt.
He reminds listeners that tears are salty, and that if someone calls you salty you should take it as a compliment. Then he gives his practical habit: a little pinch of salt in your water. The one he names is Himalayan salt, which he says carries 84 trace minerals. If blood pressure is the worry that has kept you away from salt, his wider view is in blood pressure in women over 60.
Magnesium and potassium
Only after water and salt does he turn to supplements, and he is careful to say they are for some people, not everyone.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 881Some of you out there need to take a supplement of magnesium. Some of you might need to take a supplement of potassium if you're cramping up so much
Magnesium and potassium are both minerals your muscles depend on to contract and then let go. When they run short, the letting go is the part that fails, and that is what a cramp is.
He also gives his reason so many people come up short on magnesium.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 881A lot of people are very low in magnesium
His explanation is the soil. He says there is very little magnesium left in it, because it is not put back by fertilizers and because pesticides and herbicides strip minerals out. The food grown in that soil carries less than it used to, so you miss out even when you eat well. More on what this mineral does for a woman over 60, beyond cramps, is in magnesium for women over 60.
Cramps when your body switches fuels
There is one more situation he raises, and it matters for anyone who has recently cut out sugar and bread. When you go into ketosis, your body is switching fuels, from burning sugar to burning fat. Some people cramp during that change.
He is clear that this is not simply a potassium shortage. It is the body changing fuels. His answer in that case is to add more salt, and possibly some more magnesium, while the switch happens.
His closing line to the listener sums up the whole answer.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 881And if you're getting cramping, you gotta look at all of the above.
All of the above means water, salt, magnesium and potassium, and what you have changed in your eating lately. It is not one thing. If cramps keep coming back despite all of it, or come with swelling, redness, numbness or weakness in a leg, that is a reason to see your doctor rather than wait. Leg comfort and blood flow are connected, and he covers that side in how to improve circulation after 60.
Common questions
What causes muscle cramps after 60?
In Dr. Martin's experience the most common cause is not drinking enough water. After that he looks at salt, magnesium and potassium, and at whether your body is switching fuels on a low carbohydrate diet.
How much water does Dr. Martin recommend?
64 ounces a day, which he calls the sweet spot. He means plain water. Nothing else counts as water in his book.
Should I avoid salt if I get cramps?
No, in his view. He says you need water and you need salt, and that salt is only the bad guy when you are not drinking enough water. He likes a pinch of Himalayan salt in your water.
Does magnesium help with leg cramps?
He says some people need a magnesium supplement and some need potassium if they are cramping a lot, and that a lot of people are very low in magnesium.
When water and salt are not enough
He says a lot of people are very low in magnesium, and some need to take a supplement of it if they cramp. Martin Clinic's Magnesium Bisglycinate is the clinic's magnesium.
60-day money-back guarantee. Formulated in clinic.These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult your healthcare practitioner before starting a new supplement, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition.
