Natural Ways to Cure Your Workout Blues
A naturopath shares her secrets to training success and which non-prescription treatments can cure common running ailments.
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Ever reach for the Tylenol after a run and feel guilty? Most of us are used to popping a pill or two for virtually every ailment, from hangover to hangnail. Not only is it expensive and potentially bad for your training, but overdoing the anti-inflammatories can cause leaky gut for athletes.
Lia Sonnenburg, a practicing naturopath in Collingwood, Ontario, is a runner and cyclist herself, with a practice helping athletes naturally find their optimal healthiest selves. She walked us through a few more natural alternative treatments for common athlete ailments that will keep your gut happy, and keep you riding strong.
Related: The Truth About Taking Ibuprofen
Leg Cramps
When legs cramp, it can be a sign that you’re dehydrated, a little low on electrolytes, a bit overtrained, or simply that you went hard and your muscles are in overdrive to recover. Sonnenburg recommends supplementing with the electolyte magnesium on a daily basis if this is a common issue for you.
“Magnesium acts as a muscle relaxant. It also acts upon the limbic system in the brain, decreasing neuronal firing, anxiety, and blood pressure,” she explains. "It’s involved in over 300 processes in the body, and 60 percent of people are suspected to be deficient in it."
Related: How to Prevent Cramping
Chafing
Chafed skin needs to be kept clean, dry, and cool in order to heal. When that isn’t enough, Sonnenburg adds a manuka honey cream to treatment regimens (get it here). These creams are antimicrobial and help heal small wounds.
“I find it excels in those areas where the skin is a bit thin and also tends to sometimes be more moist, and thus harder to heal,” she says.
Headaches
Taking magnesium can also be an effective way to stave off headaches. If you get a lot of them, a magnesium deficiency might be the culprit, Sonnenburg says.
“I find magnesium can be helpful in prevention and making sure that people are replenishing all electrolytes,” she says. But before she recommends that, she warns runners to rule out more benign causes of headache, like food, or caffeine sensitivities, hunger, or dehydration.
Related: Caffeine Might Boost Pain Relievers
Sore Muscles
Exercise, although incredibly good for you, causes damage to muscle tissue. It’s repairing that damage that helps us get stronger, and we need the right nutrition to repair efficiently and with as little soreness as possible.
“You’ve got to make sure you’ve got a robust diet and added antioxidant support if you’re a serious athlete,” says Sonnenburg. ”You’ll burn through resources faster and need to replenish them.”
When you don’t have acute cramping, but find that your legs in general are sore after a ride—even the next day—Sonnenburg says to soak in Epsom salt baths (use a lot, around four cups per soak, for maximum efficiency). She also adds magnesium and potassium supplements, plus anti-inflammatories like boswelia and turmeric, to treatment plans. (Mix them into your post-ride smoothie!)
Constipation
Runners experience a whole host of digestive issues, and for some, constipation can be problematic— especially during big training blocks when you’re eating more simple carbs and skimping on fiber-filled veggies.
Sonnenburg first looks for the source of the problem: Is it life-long or recent? “I always start with making sure water intake is sufficient and coffee isn’t the culprit,” she says. “If that doesn’t work we may look at food triggers. Then, I’ll sometimes add more fiber but usually add demulcents and probiotics first. Demulcents help the bowels move with ease, and repair the lining as well. Think licorice, slippery elm, and aloe.”
While probiotics are fine for anyone, Sonnenburg says to check with an expert before dosing with something like slippery elm, since it can increase blood pressure or worsen symptoms in certain cases.
Related: How to Make Yourself Poop
Colds
Once you catch a cold, there aren’t many ways to get rid of it. But you can keep head colds at bay by adding a good-quality, high-potency Echinacea supplement to your diet. “It enhances the innate immune system,” Sonnenburg says.
She also suggests adding mushrooms to meals, since they’re great for rebuilding an immune system that has been taxed.
Feeling sniffly? Adding ginger, lemon, and arugula to your meals can help keep a cold from worsening.
Hangovers
Okay, so it’s not exactly a running-specific issue, but let’s be honest: After a beer mile—or just a postrun celebration—you might be under the weather the next day. “When you re-tox you need to eventually detox,” Sonnenburg says.
Her cure? Forget Tylenol—opt for hydration instead. But also make sure you have enough zinc, an important cofactor in breaking down alcohol. She also recommends adding more antioxidants—especially glutathione—to your morning meal (whey protein in a blueberry smoothie should do the trick, and you can pick some up in the Runner’s World Store) along with electrolytes to help with rehydration.
The article Natural Ways to Cure Your Workout Blues originally appeared on Bicycling.
Molly writes about cycling, nutrition and training with an emphasis on bringing more women into sport. She's the author of nine books including the Shred Girls series and is the founder of Strong Girl Publishing. She co-hosts The Consummate Athlete Podcast and spends most of her free time biking and running on trails, occasionally joined by her mini-dachshund.
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