Looking for added muscle recovery, a solution to muscle cramping, and support? Introducing QuikPlus Muscle Matrix, a brand new product and part of the QuikPlus atom-sized mineral line.

I formulated this product for myself, to be perfectly honest! As you may know, I have a bunch of horses so I’m often doing hard labour for 4-6 hours at a stretch. GREAT for staying healthy and vibrant, but, I would often wake up with leg cramps – not so great.

This threw me into a ton of research, because magnesium alone didn’t work well enough for this level/intensity of muscle cramp. And it turns out there’s a fair amount of research showing that electrolytes or single minerals are not very effective with muscle cramps. There’s more research to support the theory that muscle cramps originate with over excited alpha motor neurons – the nerves that project from the spinal cord to skeletal muscle fibers.

Substances that Calm Motor Neurons – Stop Muscle Cramping

When these motor neurons get hyperactive, they fire off commands for all the connected muscle cells to contract, resulting in a cramp. Fatigue (known to be a risk factor for muscle cramps and muscle twitches) also switches on alpha motor neuron activity to promote excessive muscle contraction. So how do we get these motor neurons to calm down? By activating TRP channels.

In order to make use of the TRP pathway, the supplement needs to be consumed like food so that it makes contact with the mouth/tongue, throat, and esophagus to interact with the receptors there. Aside from minerals like zinc, magnesium and calcium directly activating TRP channels, there are certain food substances that also do an excellent job.

Known TRPA1 and/or TRPV1 agonists:

  • Capsaicin from red peppers
  • Gingerol from ginger
  • Allyl isothiocyanate from mustard, radish, horseradish, or wasabi
  • Allicin from garlic
  • Ajoene from garlic
  • Pickle juice and olive juice
  • Cinnamaldehyde from cinnamon
  • Mustard oil

I’ll get a little more technical in a bit, but the cool part I want to share with you is how I solved my own muscle cramp problem!

Combine Muscle Matrix with Ginger

After researching the minerals involved, I formulated Muscle Matrix in atom-sized (nano) form – so by swishing around the mouth and swallowing, the formula is interacting with all the TRP receptors in the mouth, tongue, and esophagus and is absorbed through the mucosal tissue. Many days, this was enough. But on particularly intense labour days (muscle fatigue), I combined Muscle Matrix with Ginger Chews! Because – see the list above – the gingerol in ginger is a powerful TRPA1/TRPV1 agonist and it actually tastes good!

If you can handle chewing a piece of fresh ginger – go for it! Just remember to hold the juice in your mouth and swish it around, swallow a bit at a time to really stimulate all those TRP receptors. You can have Muscle Matrix in your mouth at the same time, or before/after, whichever feels good to you. Candied ginger (I like Chimes Ginger Chews) also works equally well.

I made various attempts to have gingerol in the Muscle Matrix formula, but let me tell you, there’s a reason ginger is used in every vegetable fermentation recipe! Nothing cultivates bacteria faster and there was just no way to seal it in a bottle (without using chemical preservatives) without it starting to ferment.

If you don’t often get muscle cramps, or they’re not severe, then you likely won’t need the ginger, and Muscle Matrix alone will do the job. But for severe, repetitive cramping, combine the two together and prepare to be amazed!

Vitamin E for Muscle Cramps & Restless Legs

Another factor to look at, is whether you’re getting enough natural vitamin E – if it says DL (eg. dl-alpha-tocopheryl) then it is NOT natural vitamin E, it is synthetic.

Natural vitamin E is listed with only the D in front of the form (eg. d-alpha-tocopheryl). It is much more expensive but it is the only form of vitamin E that I ingest, or include in my formulations, or give to my animals!

If you’re taking my multinutrient blend, MultiAbsorb, then you’re already getting 400 IU natural vitamin E per day. For severe cases, take 800 IU per day. Some find it works best to take Muscle Matrix, 400-800 IU vitamin E and ginger shortly before bed. Others find it works better with food. Listen to your body!

Vitamin B-Complex 86% Success with Leg Cramps!

And here’s yet another reason to supplement with MultiAbsorb – taking the B-complex of vitamins resulted in complete remission of leg cramps in 86% of the people in the trial:

“After 3 months, 86% of the patients taking vitamin B had prominent remission of leg cramps, whereas those taking placebo had no significant difference from baseline. Treatment with vitamin B complex significantly reduced the frequency, intensity, and duration of nocturnal leg cramps.”

MultiAbsorb contains the full complex of B vitamins (in the most bioavailable forms) and at therapeutic levels (much higher than RDA).

The Health Bounce for Restless Legs or Cramps

Renowned Australian medicine woman (and ND) Barbara O’Neill recommends also using a rebounder or mini-trampoline to stimulate circulation in the legs – and the entire lymphatic system. Especially important for people who don’t get regular exercise. Click that link for a quick 60 second demo of the health bounce.

Put your mini-trampoline wherever it’s easy for you to do a minute or two of health bouncing. That might be in your bedroom, or near your desk, or wherever you watch TV or Netflix.

But let’s get back to Muscle Matrix and some of the data on why these particular minerals work so well in synergy…

Mineral Synergy to Alleviate Muscle Cramping

Muscle Matrix Minerals: Magnesium and potassium are two minerals that work in tandem to relax muscle tissue. Calcium and zinc work in synergy with magnesium and potassium to balance muscle contraction and relaxation.

Certain metal ions (like zinc and magnesium) directly activate TRP channels; I suspect that’s why they have been shown to help muscle cramps in some studies.

Calcium sensitizes and directly activates TRPA1. Calcium also appears to mediate the relationship between TRPA1 and TRPV1 when activated by an agonist (in this study, capsaicin). Also found in this study, calcium is the main ion conducted through TRPA1 and TRPV1 when they’re activated, and when calcium levels are lowered in the extracellular fluid, the effect of the agonist (capsaicin) on TRPA1 and TRPV1 is pretty much obliterated.

This may explain why calcium helps reduce muscle cramps, despite being a magnesium antagonist—proper levels are critical for these motor neurons to properly function, as well as for TRPA1 and TRPV1 agonists to successfully bind with TRPA1 and TRPV1 receptors and create a biological response. Magnesium can permeate TRPA1 (albeit to a lesser degree than calcium), and this may factor into magnesium’s benefit on muscle cramps.

I hope that helps you understand more of the theory behind the Muscle Matrix formulation. I can tell you that it works way better than just magnesium on its own. I used to bolt awake from a dead sleep with off-the-charts painful cramps from my foot all the way up my calf. Sometimes even my quads got involved. But if I take Muscle Matrix before bed (on a particularly hardworking or stressful day I’ll also add an extra shot of QuikPlus Magnesium), I sleep without any issues. On arduous labour days I also chew/swish a ginger chew or piece of candied ginger – even half a ginger chew is often all that’s needed – and I take 800 IU of vitamin E as well.

Gentle on the bowel: Remember, QuikPlus Muscle Matrix atom-sized mineral blend and QuikPlus Magnesium do not require digestion as their nano/angstrom size (less than 250 picometers) means they can be absorbed directly into your cells.

I have no idea why my body needs so much support to not suffer restless legs or muscle cramping at night, but I suspect it’s tied into stress (which also depletes magnesium). I also don’t eat a lot of potatoes or bananas (top sources of potassium) and I have always had low blood pressure. So I suspect this combination means I have to give my body full support around this issue.

Have You Had a Bowel Movement?

One last thing I want to mention about restless legs in particular, is that you can do all the therapies listed above, but if you haven’t had a bowel movement that day, that may be a primary cause of restless legs.

I’ve seen no research on this, but just by dialing into my own body, I’ve noticed that some kind of nerve gets triggered when stool is sitting in my descending colon and I lie down to sleep; resulting in restless legs.

This is where colonic massage is really helpful to stimulate that bowel movement, or use in combination with my other effective remedies for constipation, to ensure you’re having at least one bowel movement per day.

If you have any questions, leave them in the Comments section below 🙂