5 Causes of Leg Cramps and How to Stop Them

Leg cramping is a condition that can truly put a damper on your day. However, you can prevent it in most cases. Before you can prevent it or stop it, you have to know why it occurs. The following are five common reasons that you may get leg cramps and what you can do to stop them:

- Excessive muscle exertion

- Dehydration

- Low carbs

- Medication

- Poor nutritional intake

Overexerting Your Muscles

Exercising is wonderful, especially when you're trying to lose weight. However, many people make the mistake of overexerting themselves. They stretch their muscles far beyond their current capacity without warming up beforehand or giving their muscles time to get stronger. That behavior quickly results in problems such as muscle cramps. To rectify this problem, you should only exercise until you feel the burn and cease from pushing yourself beyond that. You should also make sure that you get the right amount of protein and that you give yourself a day between repetitive exercises so that your muscle can build.

Dehydrating Your Body

One of the most common causes of leg cramps is dehydration. When the body does not get enough water into it, it tends to react in an unfavorable manner. Muscle cramping is just one of those unfavorable reactions. You can, of course, resolve this problem by getting the fluids that the specialists recommend you consume. Many people already ready know that they should consume eight glasses of water per day, but they don't because of taste factors. A little drop of lemon can go a long way there.

Not Eating Enough Carbohydrates

Low amounts of carbohydrates can cause you to get leg cramps because carbs give your body energy. If you lower your carb intake because of a diet, then your body will suck the content that it needs out of your muscles. The result could be muscles that hurt. Make sure that you get the appropriate amount of carbohydrates in your diet even if you are cutting back on other things.

Taking Certain Medications

Some medications cause leg cramps. Diuretic medicines and some psychological medications are well known for it. If your medications cause you to have leg cramps, you will need to make an appointment with a specialist to find out what you should do. Your doctor may switch your medication or tell you of some dietary changes that may be possible for you to make to improve your situation.

Improper Supplemental Intake

Not having enough of the important supplements can cause you to have leg cramps and other issues such as fatigue. Vitamin C is one of the best supplements to make sure that your muscles don't start to deteriorate. You can find it in citrus fruits and broccoli.

Those are just a few reasons that you may develop muscle cramps and a few tips as to how you can eliminate them. Many more tips exist, but you can start with this list and see if you start to feel better over the course of about 30 days.