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
This looks delectable!! I have a question for you Katie, is the Banana-for-Tofu substitution only for this recipe, or do you think it could work for most of your banana recipes? Basically, I just don’t digest banana at all (it makes me sick, does it happen to anyone else?), so I’m always supersad when I see a recipe with banana.
Like with vegan ice-creams. Do any of you know of any subs for that?
Can’t wait to see another recipe, hope you’re having a good time! 😀
I don’t know where your leg cramps were, but I sometimes get gnarly leg cramps in my calves at night. I just stretch the muscle out or rub it as fast as I can because I don’t know what else to do! The pain goes away pretty quickly but, damn, leg cramps are awful! Luckily I don’t get them very often.
I used to get wicked leg cramps and I always found the best trick was some long stretching before bed. Really helps! I love this milkshake, anything with bananas is a win for me because it creates such a thick shake!
I have a friend who got prescribed milkshakes by his doctor. SO LUCKY 🙂 this looks great!
I have a friend who was prescribed milkshakes by his doctor. SO LUCKY. This looks great, I’ll have to give him the recipe 🙂
I have gotten foot cramps before, like if I bend my foot the wrong way, it starts to put a lot of strain on it.
On another unrelated note, I have something that’s been really disturbing me. It’s when people try to make vegetarians feel bad and stuff, when they say stuff like “There are still animals killed in combines that harvest grains, so don’t think that you’re making a difference in this world”
and then people say stuff like this. This was actually said to me.
“Vegetarians are still contributing to the torture and murder of millions of animals in the egg and dairy industries, so for them to attempt an ethical argument against meat eaters doesn’t make sense. The only ethical way is Vegan. ”
I’m not a vegetarian, but isn’t that just snobby. She’s basically saying that vegetarians aren’t good enough. I disagree that it is the only “ethical way,” if you’re trying to stop animal cruelty, that’s sufficient, even if you’re buying organic, locally raised meat, that’s still something. Something is always better than nothing, and this girl seems to think that vegetarians are cruel beings. They should be commended for at least trying.
I know that this is unrelated, but it has been disturbing me and I need to get it out to someone whom I know will feel what I’m feeling.
Awwww, who would say something like that? I’m vegan, but I don’t look down on vegetarians or meat eaters! As you said, every little bit helps!
I never had leg cramps but growing up my son who is now 6’4″ had them so bad when he was going through major growth spurts!
As usual I love your recipe!
As a dancer in the past and now marathon runner, I wake up with charlie horses allllll the time if, IF I don’t eat at least a few bananas a week. Months ago, I had a horrible twitching muscle in my thigh that twitched relentlessly for 10 days…I couldn’t figure out what was going on until I realized that I hadn’t had a banana in that entire 10 day span. Ate a banana and took a vitamin–the next morning, the twitch was completely gone! I learned my lesson…but bananas are a must in my diet!
Mmm, cookies and cream milkshake. I’ll try this out tomorrow after I bake carob cookies with my almond pulp.
Btw, your last ice cream post was not complicated at all! And it was good =) I’ve been putting nutbutters in my ice cream to help stop them freezing so solid (no sugar), but soaking the nuts sounds easier to digest (and won’t use up my nutbutters so fast!). Like you, I’m making up for lost ice cream, so since I eat it quite regularly (even in winter now), soaking the nuts isn’t too bothersome to think ahead. Thanks for the time spent on the recipe to get it to ‘great’!
The soap method is actually for restless leg syndrome. It probably won’t work for leg cramps. 😉
Potassium can help, but a lot of leg cramping is due to dehydration, so any extra fluid is going to help a LOT!