When I was playing soccer back in high school, I’d sometimes wake up with really bad leg cramps during the night, most likely thanks to a rigorous training schedule that included two-hour practices each day after class and a bike ride home because I didn’t have a car. Upon asking around, I was surprised to find out just how many of my friends (both athletes and non-athletes) had also experienced these nighttime leg cramps at some point in their lives.
Everyone wanted to give advice, which ranged from the commonplace: Drink Gatorade to replace electrolytes. Eat extra bananas for potassium… to the really weird: Sleep with a bar of soap at the bottom of the bed. I adopted the peanut butter and banana sandwich as my new favorite lunch and made different flavors of banana milkshakes each night.
The leg cramps did go away, but I’m not sure if I can thank all the extra bananas…
It might have been the soap! 🙂
This cookies & cream Oreo milkshake is full of potassium, as well as calcium, Vitamin C, and fiber. It’s also easy to make. (I figured it’d be good to post an easy recipe after the complicated ice cream recipe of a few days ago.)
Healthy Oreo Milkshake
- 2/3 cup milk of choice
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 to 3 Oreos or Healthy Oreos
- 1 medium frozen banana (140g) (See instructions below for a banana-free version)
- optional: sweetener of choice, to taste
- optional: 1 scoop protein powder
Blend all ingredients, except cookies, until completely smooth. Add the cookies, and pulse quickly until broken up. Pour into a glass, top with Vegan Cool Whip if desired, and serve. (Banana-free version: omit banana and use 1/2 cup Mori-Nu tofu or Thai coconut meat. Also add 1/8 tsp salt and 1-2 tbsp sweetener of choice. Increase vanilla to 1/2 tsp.)
View Oreo Milkshake Nutrition Facts
Question of the Day: Have you ever gotten nighttime leg cramps?
Do you have any tricks on how to get rid of them? If you ever do get them, you really should try the soap thing. I swear, it works! Another thing that works is standing on a cold floor until the pain goes away. And banana milkshakes… milkshakes make everything better.
Link of the Day: Starbucks-Inspired Cookie Dough Lattes
YES! I get leg cramps – and the ones in the middle of the night are the absolute WORST. Charley horses(?) that are sore and tender for days after. I have to be careful and potassium is always the answer for me. When I feel my calves tighten up, I take some potassium and it goes right away. I’ve never heard of the soap method though. 🙂 It’s fun to hear stories like that – if it doesn’t help with the cramps at least you’d have nice smelling feet right?
I had leg cramps all the time especially when I was pregnant. They are extremely painful. Sometimes, they are even caused by dehydration. It is possible to stop them if you can feel them coming on. You have to point your toes upward toward your nose. I know it sounds funny but it works! They even sell a special boot to help hold your foot in this position! Just remember, “toes toward nose!”
I usually have cramps because of a magnesium deficit (my body doesn’t absorb it well) which also causes chocolate cravings 🙂
I take supplements and eat a high-magnesium diet, so that I eat about four times the amount of magnesium that people usually need… ^^
What foods have that in them?
YUM! I LOVE cookies ‘n cream! Can’t wait to try this version out!
As for the leg cramps… I got them ALL the time when I was pregnant. I also noticed I used to get them when I wasn’t getting enough potassium and/or drinking enough water.
This shake looks like something you’d get at a retro malt stand!
Leg cramps are my deadliest enemy. I’m a dancer, and I get cramps sometimes. My tricks…? Don’t really have one, except for rubbing peppermint ointment on my legs. 😛 Not that it worked all the time…
The milkshake looks great! I’ll be going the tofu way tomorrow, since I’m not a big fan of banana-flavored drinks. But I do like to eat them whole. Maybe I’m just bothered by the texture of liquid banana.
I’ve never had leg cramps (fortunately!) but my husband does. To prevent them, he actually eats a ton of baked potatoes . . . Apparently they are a great source of potassium!!! But maybe instead of a cheesy, meaty potato I can convert him to this healthy great instead . . . 😉
I was so excited when I saw that it’s a milkshake recipe 🙂 ! My boyfriend loves milkshakes so I’ll be sure to make this for him. Your cookie recipes are so tasty – i’m addicted to them!
Ahhh, leg cramps! During pregnancy I got them all the time. My midwife suggested taking a calcium suppliment before bedtime and that did the trick – for all five pregnancies. If you were making your nighttime shakes with a milk which contained calcium (not sure if you were dairy-free back then) that may have been what solved it for you, too.
Your shakes look so creamy and delish – can’t wait to have one for breakfast 🙂
I don’t get leg cramps as much as I used to – maybe because I eat many more bananas than I used to! But I need to push it against a hard surface (like a wall or the floor). Most of the time that doesn’t help because the leg cramps up again, so I have to walk around for a few minutes.
Drinking water also helps.
I’ve never heard of the soap thing!! I don’t think hubby would approve though…
Yes!! I used to get leg cramps all the time in the middle of the night. For me it was always related to a potassium deficiency. They were so painful!! So I went right for the Swiss chard (much more potassium than a banana!).