stops my chronic leg cramps almost instantly

India
October 31, 2008 11:53am CST
I suffer from chronic leg cramps and restless leg syndrome. One afternoon when my legs were being particularly painful, a friend brought me abasket of big perfect strawberries. After eating two (BIG) berries, I noticed my legs started tingling a bit in a good way, like when they get massaged and are relaxing. Within another 10 or 15 minutes, the pain had abated and they were not cramping any more. Since then, I have used strawberries to relieve my legs several more times and they worked although not as dramatically. What vitamin, nutrient or other molecule do they contain that could be so immediately helpful in such a way?
1 response
@adihindu (1922)
• India
31 Oct 08
Leg cramps are often caused by a shortage in potassium. If the strawberries are working then a banana will work even better. A serving of strawberries has 233 mg of potassium. One banana has 422 mg of potassium. A strawberry is a superstar when it comes to anti-oxidant power, says Dr. Barry Sears in his book The Top 100 Zone Foods. In addition, 1 cup of strawberries gives you a whopping 140 percent of your recommended daily allowance of vitamin C. Strawberries are also packed with flavonoids, two in particular, called quercetin and kaempferol. Research shows that these two flavonoids help keep “bad” (LDL) cholesterol from oxidizing and damaging artery walls. Strawberries also contain ellargic acid — also found in raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, grapes, cherries, walnuts, pecans and Brazil nuts — which acts as a scavenger to “bind” cancer-causing chemicals, making them inactive. It inhibits the ability of other chemicals to cause mutations in bacteria. In addition, it prevents binding of carcinogens to DNA and reduces the incidence of cancer in cultured human cells exposed to carcinogens.
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