Why Blake Coleman and Frances Tiafoe drink pickle juice, a natural, low-calorie alternative to sugary sports drinks
- Pickle juice is rich in sodium and potassium and helps replace electrolytes
- Researchers have found that it may also help stop muscles from cramping
When you finish that jar of pickles this holiday season, you may want to think twice about pouring the extra liquid down the sink. Runners at marathon finish lines are frequently being greeted with packets of pickle juice. So are US high school football players coming out of a game, to help them prepare to go back in.
What’s so special about the pungent green liquid?
Long touted as a natural, low-calorie alternative to sugary sports drinks, pickle juice has received recent endorsements from athletes such as US professional hockey player Blake Coleman of the New Jersey Devils, and American tennis player Frances Tiafoe, creating a buzz with claims that it stops muscles from cramping.
Michael Kahn, a financial adviser and marathon runner from the US state of Florida, drinks a pouch of pickle juice before he sets out on his daily run. “This is such a high concentration of sodium that it gives me what I need for the next few hours of running,” he said.
The dill-flavoured liquid that most pickle lovers toss out contains sodium and potassium, and people drink it to replace electrolytes lost when sweating.