Why do carbonated drinks cause me to cramp during exercise?

JohnA

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On the last Danny Roddy / @haidut podcast, Haidut mentioned drinking more carbonated water in place of normal still water.

I drank two small cans of San Pellegrino about 2 hours before playing tennis. Both of my calves cramped up during the match. I play sports pretty regularly, and I haven't had cramping like this in years. In fact, I went through my memory and the last time my calves cramped up during sports was when I was trying a similar experiment a few years back and drank Sprite while playing flag football.

Any ideas on what mechanisms might be causing this? Is it a temporary thing that my body needs to get used to more carbon dioxide in the system, or should I avoid carbonated drinks close to exercise?
 

Razvan

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On the last Danny Roddy / @haidut podcast, Haidut mentioned drinking more carbonated water in place of normal still water.

I drank two small cans of San Pellegrino about 2 hours before playing tennis. Both of my calves cramped up during the match. I play sports pretty regularly, and I haven't had cramping like this in years. In fact, I went through my memory and the last time my calves cramped up during sports was when I was trying a similar experiment a few years back and drank Sprite while playing flag football.

Any ideas on what mechanisms might be causing this? Is it a temporary thing that my body needs to get used to more carbon dioxide in the system, or should I avoid carbonated drinks close to exercise?
Utilization of magnesium since it's required by B1 to produce CO2.
Studies been showing that B1 without magnesium causes bad effects and also increasing serotonin.
Take some B1 and/or magnesium with your carbonated drink and you will notice better breathing,stamina and stopped cramping.
 

Gustav3Y

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For me carbonated drinks cause sleepiness often, not that I am the healthiest of persons, but worth noting.
Usually when I test my CO2 in blood is at the max of the range.

Doesn't CO2 lower potassium?

 
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JohnA

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Utilization of magnesium since it's required by B1 to produce CO2.
Studies been showing that B1 without magnesium causes bad effects and also increasing serotonin.
Take some B1 and/or magnesium with your carbonated drink and you will notice better breathing,stamina and stopped cramping.
Thanks! I'll try taking some additional magnesium.
 

Jem Oz

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Could be as simple as more salt needed? In my boxing days I used to cramp something fierce when I drank too much water without enough salt
 
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For me carbonated drinks cause sleepiness often, not that I am the healthiest of persons, but worth noting.
Usually when I test my CO2 in blood is at the max of the range.

Doesn't CO2 lower potassium?

CO2 seems to put potassium inside cells where it should be, lowering plasma potassium. I guess eating more foods which are rich in this mineral when drinking carbonated water.
 

yerrag

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I can find no other reason for cramping except for having low potassium. Playing sports, you sweat a lot.

I your case, a lot of potassium is being excreted through sweat probably because the carbon dioxide intake has increased your bicarbonate and your ecf is already alkaline, and the bicarbonate needed to be excreted. So the bicarbonate anion has to be accompanied by a cation in the excretion of sweat, and potassium was used for it. It may be you're also low on salt such that salt is being spared and potassium is being wasted, by sweat excretion.

But potassium from the fell has to be released to replenish the potassium being sweated out.

Since your potassium stores are low, this cannot be done without impairing the cellular membrane integrity in regulating calcium influx into the cell. So the ideal ratio of intracellular potassium to extracellular potassium at 35:1 cannot. be maintained, and this results also in disrupting the ideal extracellular: intracellular ratio of calcium at 12000:1.

Since the ionic gradient caused by the contestant influx and efflux of calcium is what makes muscles contract and expand, this is not happening anymore as smoothly anymore. Hence the cramps.

To test your acid-base balance you need to measure your. breath rate, your urine pH, and your saliva pH. You can find info on this on the blog at www.biomedix.com.

If you're alkaline, then I may be right.

You can find out first why your ecf is alkaline and then fix it.

Then go a therapeutic program on increasing both your salt and potassium stores. As well as magnesium stores, as you can't build your potassium stores if your magnesium stores are low.
 
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JohnA

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Thanks for the feedback, everyone. So my legs are definitely still a little more twitchy than usual, but I haven't cramped up again during tennis or soccer over the last week.

Other new development: I've been taking 800-1000 Mg spread out over the day for the last few months. Usually by the end of the day, my stools start to get looser. My stools have remained firm over the last week. Only difference in my diet / supplementation is the carbonated water. Can't believe something as simple as carbonated water is having physiological effects!
 

yerrag

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When you say you take magnesium, you have to be mindful of the fact that you don't just take a cation, you also are taking an anion. The kind of anion that goes with it makes a big difference.
 

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