Cramp

Having arrived back from holiday in Guernsey both my husband and I started to develop cramp. My husband occasionally suffers but it isn’t something that I usually have a problem with so this seemed strange.

In the end I decided it must have something to do with the way we ate whilst away on holiday. Normally we wouldn’t spend 10 days in a hotel but we both really needed a break and I didn’t want to have to think about meals.

Unfortunately when you eat out whether in hotels, restaurants or cafes there are never sufficient vegetables and an excess of protein. I would happily pick vegetarian meals but these are usually gluten and dairy laden so less of an option. Breakfasts for me consisted of fresh fruit followed by eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes. I did manage one full English breakfast but it’s not something that appeals on a daily basis. My husband did his best to do it justice.

Lunch was taken out and about. The local pub did a very good salad but again higher on protein and lower on salad than I would like. Trying to be gluten and dairy free limited the options and so some days we shared a main course meal.

Evening meals in pubs, restaurants and hotels were again protein heavy even though we always asked and payed for extra vegetables. We rarely ate puddings, I had no alcohol and we didn’t snack mid meal as we were always full. In other words we ate as well as possible whilst staying away but it did make me realise that our meals at home centre very much round vegetables with protein, fruit and carbohydrates used to add taste, contrast and balance.

Protein is very acidic and leaves the body in a more acidic state than vegetables, which create alkalinity in the body and I could only put the incidence of cramp down to this acidity.

When I was in practice as a Nutritional Therapist I remember a lady coming to see me who suffered from whole body cramps. It must have been horrendous for her. Not really knowing how to treat cramp I did what I’d been taught to do and put her on a detox diet. I remember also putting in supplements to work on her liver so something in her case history must have pointed me to her liver. Much to her delight the cramps ceased over a period of time.

Once we returned home we quickly changed back to our high vegetable regime plus I added a few juices to help us detox. The cramps abated and we soon felt fine but I found it interesting and as usual confirming, that what we eat has such an important part to play in our health. Next time we holiday it’s back to self-catering with some meals out to give me a break.