Muscle Stiffness

[Kasper]

I was wondering, what causes muscle stiffness? And what is the best way to get rid of it?

Have people here cured muscle stiffness by raising the metabolism?

I feel like that since I take taurine, my muscles are getting much more relaxed. In my family, there are lot of people that have extremely stiff muscles. I'm just interested if anyone could explain to me more about this. Or where I should search for more info about this.

 

[Heidi]

I had chronically tense muscles due to an extreme lack of carbon dioxide. The muscle tension completely went away after I changed my breathing and slightly decreased hyperventilation. I've been shocked by how fast lifelong chronic tension disappeared.

Magnesium is supposed to be good for muscle stiffness and there are good threads on magnesium supplementation.

 

[sele]

I had chronically tense muscles due to an extreme lack of carbon dioxide. The muscle tension completely went away after I changed my breathing and slightly decreased hyperventilation. I've been shocked by how fast lifelong chronic tension disappeared.

Magnesium is supposed to be good for muscle stiffness and there are good threads on magnesium supplementation.

Heidi, did you ever get stiff neck muscles after drinking milk or taking any calcium supps?

 

[Heidi]

Heidi, did you ever get stiff neck muscles after drinking milk or taking any calcium supps?

Sometimes I drink a small amount of milk in tea and I only occasionally supplement with calcium. So I don't take enough to notice neck stiffness from them.

 

[Parsifal]

Topical baking soda helps me but I still have a stiff diaphragm from times to times (I guess I'm still having too much fluids or endotoxins).

 

[tara]

I was wondering, what causes muscle stiffness?

It takes energy for muscles to relax (complete lack of energy -> rigor mortis). Muscles need several things to be able to relax well, including at least Mg, CO2, O2, T3, fuel. I imagine any other deficiency that is messing with energy production could contribute.
I think mine have improved a little, but I don't think I can pin down a single thing. Eating more and breathing less and increasing Ca and Mg intake and reducing PUFA intake may all have helped somewhat.

 

[moss]

It takes energy for muscles to relax (complete lack of energy -> rigor mortis).

Something came to mind as I read this. I know of a friend who went to a funeral of another friend recently. The undertakers mentioned it was only the second time ever they had seen a corpse with no rigor mortis. Apparently the person was a buddhist and I wonder if perhaps she was doing some kind of a 'breathing practice' before she died? I've not heard anything like this before.
Back to stiff muscles, upping my protein in the form of powder gelatin, bone broths and seafood seems to really help.

 

[DrJ]

Magnesium is supposed to be good for muscle stiffness and there are good threads on magnesium supplementation.

I think this is on the right track. As others are talking about, energy is important, but after you have adequate energy, you still need minerals and vitamins proportional to your metabolic rate.

I have been experimenting with consuming a lot of calcium, ~1600mg/day, but have been noticing cramps in my calf muscles and even a few times in my neck. I have been reading quite a bit about how calcium and digestion interplay, and several sources have said that you need to consume magnesium in proportion to calcium or you can get cramps and also digestive problems. These sources say you need a magnesium/calcium ratio of about 0.8-1.0. I can't recall Peat having said anything regarding this, but if someone knows of such, please let me know!

Anyway, I have upped my magnesium intake to 1200mg/day (3x 400mg throughout the day). That alone puts me at a 0.75 mag/calc ratio, so close to that lower bound. I have not had any cramps since, and digestion seems to be working better also. I am not counting magnesium from other sources like coffee and OJ, but that should put me over the 0.8 ratio. You might check your calcium intake and adjust your magnesium intake accordingly.

 

[Giraffe]

These sources say you need a magnesium/calcium ratio of about 0.8-1.0. I can't recall Peat having said anything regarding this, but if someone knows of such, please let me know!

If you tried to get that ratio from food, I think you would end up with a high phosphorus diet, and this is no good.

 

[DrJ]

If you tried to get that ratio from food, I think you would end up with a high phosphorus diet, and this is no good.

Good point! I was also worried about this, thus the supplements. But shellfish are not horrible in their magnesium/phosphate ratio, and by adding cheese you can still get a good calcium/phosphorous ratio (about [1.5-2]:1), which I think is the key with regards to phosphorous more than absolute phosphorous intake since Ray says to aim for 1:1, but correct me if I'm wrong. Some mineral waters like Gerolsteiner also have very strong magnesium content and no reported phosphorous, so that can be a good magnesium source without supplements.

 

[Giraffe]

But shellfish are not horrible in their magnesium/phosphate ratio, and by adding cheese you can still get a good calcium/phosphorous ratio (about [1.5-2]:1), which I think is the key with regards to phosphorous more than absolute phosphorous intake since Ray says to aim for 1:1, but correct me if I'm wrong. Some mineral waters like Gerolsteiner also have very strong magnesium content and no reported phosphorous, so that can be a good magnesium source without supplements.

Mg : Ca : Ph

• shellfish 1 : 1 : 4
  
• milk 1: 10 : 8
• Gerolsteiner 1 : 3 : 0

You say you want approximately 1 : 1 : 1. See that it doesn't sum up?

Fruits would fit, but where do you get your protein from? Go check cronometer, see if you can find a food combinations that works. :)

 

[tara]

Some leaves have Mg > Ca > Ph. Peat has recommended broth from greens as a good food source of Mg.

 

[DrJ]

Mg : Ca : Ph

• shellfish 1 : 1 : 4
  
• milk 1: 10 : 8
• Gerolsteiner 1 : 3 : 0

You say you want approximately 1 : 1 : 1. See that it doesn't sum up?

Fruits would fit, but where do you get your protein from? Go check cronometer, see if you can find a food combinations that works. :)

You don't have to eat shellfish/milk/Gerolsteiner in equal ratios as you seem to be implying. You just consume more parts Gerolsteiner to each part shellfish, and you can get pretty close with Ca being more than Ph, but can't quite get to 0.8Mg/Ca with these 3 foods so add lots of coffee and an Mg supplement :)

 

[Giraffe]

You don't have to eat shellfish/milk/Gerolsteiner in equal ratios as you seem to be implying.

No, I am not implying this at all; it's obvious that you ...

can't quite get to 0.8Mg/Ca with these 3 foods

so add lots of coffee and an Mg supplement

Well, instant coffee powder is approximaterly 6 : 1 : 5 (Mg : Ca : Ph), but you can't add enough coffee powder to offset the calcium from the water.

I guess you could achieve a ratio of 1 : 3 : 1 with careful food planning, but this would still require a lot of magnesium supplementation to get near to 0.8 : 1 : 1, probably more than enough to cause loose stools.

Also see minerals in gerolsteiner and schultz' post on minerals in coffee.

 

[DrJ]

I guess you could achieve a ratio of 1 : 3 : 1 with careful food planning, but this would still require a lot of magnesium supplementation to get near to 0.8 : 1 : 1, probably more than enough to cause loose stools.

Do you happen to know why that is? The authors were saying that too much calcium causes constipation, so to take Mg in proportion to counteract that. I have been trying to understand why but haven't exactly figured it out...

 

[Giraffe]

The authors were saying that too much calcium causes constipation, so to take Mg in proportion to counteract that.

I started to get curious about Ca : Mg ratios of foods after someone who's around the forum for years said that he does best on a 4 : 1 ratio. Mine back then was 6 : 1? No constipation here, though I should keep magnesium intake high for other reasons.

I do not believe that ratios are as important as some claim they were. I think we should get sufficient amounts of all nutrients while avoiding excess iron, tryptophan & co, then the body sorts it out by himself. How much is sufficient however depends on the health status of the individual. Stressed, hypothyroid people probably better aim for a higher magnesium intake than RDI.

 

[Giraffe]

I was wondering, what causes muscle stiffness?

Hypothyroidism.

And what is the best way to get rid of it?

Have people here cured muscle stiffness by raising the metabolism?

I think that it works in both directions. Severe hypothyroidism makes you stiff big time, and the stiffness becomes a stressor on its own right further contributing to hypothyroidism. I think it's best to work on this from all possible angles (raise CO2, meditation, massage, keeping warm, gentle exercise, avoiding stress, good diet, enough daylight ...).

 

[keith]

For whatever it is worth, I also get bad stiff muscles and muscle cramps. I find supplementing magnesium can make things worse for me (small amounts can be good, anything near the RDA for me will make me highly susceptible to muscle cramps). I get plenty of calcium, drinking lots of milk and eating lots of greek yogurt. The calcium/magnesium balance seems to vary quite a bit from person to person. I suspect the cellular energy/ATP levels in the muscles probably play a bigger role as Peat, Tara, and Giraffe have suggested. That may be a harder nut to crack, though, so it may be worth playing around some with the calcium magnesium ratio, while you are working on the other stuff. From my experience, I would recommend that you make changes slowly, and listen to your body instead of any "ideal ratios" suggested by "experts". There are a lot of factors that can play into magnesium and calcium absorption and retention that could make your ideal ratio much different from mine.