If you’ve ever been stopped dead in your tracks during exercise by a muscle cramp, you know you’ll try almost anything to make it stop. There have been countless theories and remedies put forward to explain and treat a dreaded muscle cramp, but science still has a bit of catching up to do. But there is one particular treatment that has been gaining traction by athletes as a secret weapon to treat cramps. And it is one that sounds more like a pregnancy craving than a sports supplement: it is pickle juice. Is this just another passing fad, or is there actual science behind downing a shot of pickle brine to uncramp a muscle? In this podcast episode, I’ll cut through the noise to look at the evidence and the surprising mechanism of how it may work and spoiler alert: it has nothing to do with electrolytes.

Links referred to in the podcast

• Pickle juice ingestion in electrically induced muscle cramps https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19997012
• AIS fact sheet on pickle juice https://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition/supplements/group_b/tastants/transient-receptor-potential-channel-agonists

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Athletes are always on the lookout for a new sports supplement that could give them an edge. And there certainly are some sports supplements that deliver on their promises: creatine and caffeine are two clear examples. But a new supplement is starting to gain traction for its performance benefits: and that’s the humble mushroom. There's now emerging science suggesting that certain functional mushrooms, particularly the varieties of Cordyceps and reishi (also known as Ganoderma lucidum), may offer genuine benefits for endurance, recovery and immune function in athletes. In this podcast, I unpack the research behind these fungal supplements to see what's real, what's hype and whether these mushrooms deserve a spot in your supplement arsenal.

Links referred to in the podcast

• Review of the effect of mushroom supplementation on performance in athletes https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2025.1670416/full

Episode transcript
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If hearing that athletes are downing shots of beetroot juice to improve their performance makes you exclaim: “What sorcery is this?”, you’re not alone. But this isn’t just another passing fad - there’s some solid science showing that the nitrates found in beetroot juice can boost sports performance. From improving blood flow to enhancing muscle efficiency, beetroot juice has gained traction among endurance athletes and sprinters alike. In this podcast episode, I take a dive into what the research says about this vibrant supplement, its likely benefits, and what it might mean for your performance goals.

Links referred to in the podcast

• IOC consensus statement on dietary supplements and the high-performance athlete https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/52/7/439
• Review of beetroot juice and physical performance https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40573069
• Sports Dietitians Australia www.sportsdietitians.com.au

Episode transcript
To access the full episode transcript, go to the following link and select the individual podcast episode and then click on the ‘Transcript’ tab https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com

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X CroweTim