Night-time cramps

Ever get cramps in the night? The kind that forces you to jump out of bed to deal with them? I do.  

Mine first started about 20 years ago. Particularly memorable was a night when Dottie and I were visiting her step-mother in Grand Island, NY. In the middle of the night, my feet cramped up.

They were the kind of cramp that points the toes upward and the foot downward.

In both my feet, the cramps were painful and demanded immediate attention. I jumped out of bed and stood up to break the cramps. But they didn’t break.

Don’t ever try to stand on your tippy toes when you’re half asleep. You can’t do it.

Well, I just toppled backward, landed on my behind and crashed into the bedroom wall.

Now, Dottie is a light sleeper, but this would have awakened the dead. She bolted upright from her sleep, completely befuddled. I scrambled to my feet determined to try again.

You know, when cramps are really hard, it takes a bit of time to loosen them. The little time I had to balance on my tippy toes was not enough and I again landed on my bottom and crashed into the wall.

Obviously alarmed, Dottie was shouting, “Earl, what’s going on??!!” Of course, my focus was on those cramps, not having a night-time conversation with my wife.

After two failures, I learned that leaning on the bed while putting weight on my feet was the solution. I’ve used that approach successfully many times since then.

The next morning, Dottie’s step-mother confided that she was grateful we were there because of strange noises she heard during the night.

Over the years since then, I’ve learned a better way to deal with cramps.

Cramps are almost always caused by dehydration or a mineral deficiency, or both.

Now, when I get a middle-of-the-night cramp, I take some water along with one or two capsules of Microhydrin. Microhydrin is rich in minerals and helps the body absorb water. Within 1-2 minutes the cramp is gone and I can complete my night’s sleep without any more cramps. And Dottie can sleep in peace.

Cravings are signs of a nutritional deficiency

Cravings are signs of a nutritional deficiency.

One of the most common cravings is for foods that contain sugar or are high glycemic—chocolate, chips, desserts, or fruits.

These cravings may be brought on by low blood sugar levels, but most of the time, they are signs of a deficiency of functional polysaccharides.

Functional polysaccharides are sugars that are used by the body for roles other than a source of energy. Mannose, commonly found in the aloe vera plant, is one of them. Aloe vera is highly regarded for its healing properties, and mannose is key to aloe’s healing abilities.

One of the vital roles of functional polysaccharides is facilitating effective cell-to-cell communication which is critical to an effective immune system. Symptoms of a malfunctioning immune system are allergies, frequent and lingering infections, and auto immune disorders like diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, COPD, fibromyalgia, and many more.

So a craving for sweets may be a sign of a deficiency of functional polysaccharides. If you also have symptoms of a malfunctioning immune system, you almost assuredly are deficient in functional polysaccharides.

Where can you get functional polysaccharides? In nature, they are found in fruits and vegetables which have been vine-ripened. The polysaccharides develop in the last few days of ripening on the vine. Vine-ripening is critical. Unfortunately, most of the fruits and vegetables in our grocery stores have been picked before the polysaccharides develop so the produce does not spoil during shipment. As a result, our food supply is woefully deficient in functional polysaccharides!

What are the consequences of long-term deficiencies of functional polysaccharides? How about an increase in allergies, viral and bacterial infections, and auto-immune disorders? And, of course, an increase in cravings for sweet snacks and high glycemic foods like chips and desserts.

So if you can’t get the polysaccharides from foods, what options are available? The best single option in my opinion is a nutritional supplement called VitAloe® from RBC Life. It’s a mild-tasting powder that delivers a broad spectrum of the functional polysaccharides to deal with all potential polysaccharide deficiencies.