Working out can be a lot of fun, except when you get cramps. It’s something that almost anyone that does some type of workout has to deal with, but why does it happen? For years we’ve been told that it’s dehydration, starved electrolytes, or tears in micro-fibers and cell membranes, which can be alleviated simply by drinking water and electrolytes. But now it seems that more people are alleviating their cramps with spicy food.
Nobel Prize winning scientist, Rod MacKinnon studies molecular neurobiology and biophysics at Rockefeller University and he too suffers from cramps. He decided to look into it and found that a shot of spicy liquid, such as wasabi or hot peppers may be a far more effective treatment than an energy drink or a banana.
Nobel Prize-winning molecular neurobiologist and biophysicist Rod MacKinnon, left, and Harvard neurobiologist Bruce Bean, invented a spicy drink to neutralize the nervous system’s excessive firing of motor neurons, which causes muscle cramps. PHOTO: WENDY MAEDA/GETTY IMAGES
“The primary origin of the cramp is the nerve, not the muscle,” said Rod MacKinnon, to The Wall Street Journal. Dr. MacKinnon’s hands and arms became cramped up when he was kayaking with colleague Brice Bean, a neurobiologist at Harvard Medical School.
