Athletes are students of their trades, and will look for any competitive advantage – legal, or sometimes illegal – to gain an edge over their competition. Some will find unique and unorthodox ways to combat the poundings their bodies will receive over the course of a professional sports game and season.
That can be delivered in the form of Gatorade, which are the most common sport drinks that replenishes the body and provides it with electrolytes. It's a a staple on the bench, in the dressing room or over in the penalty box. Others may prefer a banana, while some like Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara and Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin elect for a more sugary product like coca-cola.
Devils forward Blake Coleman prefers his own secret rejuvenator: pickle juice. Coleman took a two-minute minor for slashing in a game versus the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, and was spotted on camera receiving a special drink from Brian Gibbons over in the sin bin. What was in the jar? No, it wasn’t a new green Gatorade colour. It’s that aforementioned pickle juice, which by the way, is perfectly okay to drink.
The logic behind taking pickle juice is that it restores the body with sodium that is lost during sweating from engaging in excessive exercise. Pickle juice is high in sodium, and it essentially replaces your body with the electrolytes lost from perspiring. Without electrolytes, the body is susceptible to cramps.
“It’s my secret recipe,” Coleman explained to NJ.com’s Chris Ryan. "I drink it because of cramp problems. It helps prevent cramps," Coleman said. "I really tried everything to figure out my cramps, but that's just the one thing that really works."
If you’re ever in a pickle that involves severe cramping during a strenuous workout, reach into your fridge and throw back some pickle juice that’s been sitting in a jar waiting for you to guzzle. Be cautious, though, as too much sodium can lead to high blood pressure, so unless you’re a high performance athlete, be cautious how much you actually consume. If you think it's gross, just dill with it, as the Devils said in their tweet.
(h/t NJ.com)
