Written by Ella Douglas
Pickle juice is more beneficial than sports drinks.
This has been proven numerous times, but is still not talked about as much as it should be. 86% of people around the world enjoy eating pickles, and many of them throw the juice away without knowing the advantages of drinking it. Drinking pickle juice helps with many health concerns like hydration, cramps, weight loss, blood sugar and gut health without the downsides that sugary sports drinks hold.
I have seen many athletes instinctively grab a gatorade, or another energy drink to help them stay hydrated and improve their performance before games. Little do they know that the drink isn’t helping as much as they think.
Some popular sports drinks are Gatorade, Powerade and Body Armor. All three drinks have around 30 grams of sugar, which is more than the amount of sugar in two average scoops of vanilla ice cream. This becomes a problem when the sugar ends up causing cramps, fatigue, and nausea, which is something no one wants to experience– especially during a workout.
The American Heart Association (AHA) provides science supported guidelines from healthcare professionals to help determine how much sugar should be obtained by the body per day.
“Men should consume no more than [nine] teaspoons (36 grams or 150 calories) of added sugar per day. For women, the number is lower: [six] teaspoons (25 grams or 100 calories) per day,” researchers at the AHA said. Meaning that drinking only one of these sports drinks is the allotment of sugar recommended per day.
Another study from The University of Maryland Medical System explains the effect on the body when energy drinks are consumed regularly, without also incorporating at least 5 days of exercise a week.
“[Energy drinks] set you up for weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure or other medical issues when consumed excessively or without the calorie burn or sweating to offset it.”
Now there are sugar-free options to sports drinks, but most have added food dyes and many contain a sweetener called sucralose, as a substitute to sugar, which can be harmful. Students at the Ramazzini institute in Italy have proven that sucralose can cause Leukemia, which is a cancer in the blood cells.
The best substitute to a harmful sports drink is pickle juice. It’s recommended to athletes that they drink a ⅓ cup of pickle juice before games or competitions because the juice sets off a reaction in your nervous system that stops cramps. Even people who aren’t athletes reap the benefits. Struggles with diabetes or gut health can be relieved with the use of pickle juice.
“Pickle juice contains probiotics, sources of bacteria that can help promote a healthy gut,” the Ohio State University health department said. “The pickle juice with probiotics comes from cucumbers packed in a solution of salt water, also referred to as brine, and allowed to set until bacteria grow and consume most of the carbohydrates in the cucumber.”
Take it from senior and varsity football player Wayne Topp who was recommended by head coach Ryan Oshnock to drink pickle juice because of the cramping he experienced during a game against West Ottawa.
“I drank it because it contains lots of sodium, which is an electrolyte that holds water in the muscles,” Topp said. “Pickle juice combined with water on game day helped me never get cramps.”
Even professional athletes are using pickle juice. Former Coach Andy Reid of the Philadelphia Eagles, a National Football League (NFL) team, knows how important it is for players to take care of the body while performing in high contact sports, proving again that pickle juice is ideal for fueling athletic performance.
A news report from the month of September during the year 2000 says, “Nearly 22 years ago, they defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 41-14, in 100-degree heat. Coach Andy Reid had a couple of tricks up his sleeve that game, making each player drink pickle juice to help them cope with dehydration and muscle cramps.”
Whether you’re an athlete or struggling with health concerns, I believe it will be life changing to look into what pickle juice can do for you because of the many benefits it holds.
Great article! Very informative.