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
my husband swears by a spoonful of yellow mustard for leg cramps. he even keeps a little packet on his nightstand. a nurse recommended it to him. i’ve tried it, and it seems to help, but i can’t bear to gulp down a spoonful of mustard in the middle of the night.
I stopped getting leg cramps once I went gluten free. 🙂 So did my son. We started absorbing the vitamins and minerals that are a factor with leg cramps so they went away. It’s been wonderful! This shake looks fantastic, Katie!
Shirley
leg cramps like that are usually caused by dehydration
That looks delicious! For leg craps, I put on a pair of tight knee high socks. This would apply pressure to my legs and they would feel so much better. Now that I am old though, I just take Magnesium before bed. It is great for sleep and leg cramps.
That just looks so delish! I could use one right now! And I can make it vegan!
You had me at 4 ingredients! Now I wish I had my Newman’s Os in the house!
http://www.keenbeauty.com
Danielle, what are Newman’s “Os”?
Oh that looks amazing!
Some great tips for leg cramps are:
epsom salt baths
drinking organic apple cider vinegar with Mother (lots of potassium)
increased B vitamins
calcium/magnesium/zinc supplement before bed
These things work for me. 🙂
I heard a couple different things about leg pain at night. One was that it was lack of calcium, the other was that it was simply growing pains, which made sense since I got plenty if calcium and grew a lot in my teens…
this looks amazing!
Looks so creamy!