Pickle juice: why do athletes take it?

Mayur Ranchordas – a professor of sports nutrition and exercise at Sheffield Hallam University – believes there is still a misconception that pickle juice can be used to prevent muscle cramps.

There is no evidence to suggest that drinking the juice before a sports event would have any benefit.

Instead, athletes should be taking it at the onset of cramp – but not drink it.

“Rather than drinking it, you need to rinse it in your mouth for 20 to 30 seconds. That’s when the vinegar and salt start to act, then you can spit it out”, Ranchordas told BBC Sport.

The mistake that some athletes make is to rinse their mouth out with water, to get rid of the taste.

Removing that sensation – of taking pickle juice and wanting to scrunch up your mouth in response – stops the mechanisms firing which ease the cramp.

Ranchordas, who is also the head of nutrition at Aston Villa football club, says that adding chilli to the jar of pickles, and letting the chilli infuse, can make the pickle juice even more effective.

“The more horrible the taste, the more effective it is.”