I saw an interview from the Australian Cricket Team last week and their medical staff talking about pickle juice and it's miraculous cramp curing properties. We've been supplementing magnesium which seems to do the trick as a preventative measure most of the time. We do however have quite a few cases of cramping due to the normally hot climate and our unusually warm pool.
Apparently pickle juice doesn't work by being absorbed through the stomach (which could take a while), there is a neuro-receptor that is triggered in the throat that switches of the spasm in the muscle, and therefore almost instantly (35-50 seconds) cures the cramp. Obviously if magnesium levels are low, other performance factors may be effected, but not as debilitatingly as the cramp...we might try it!!!
http://www.nola.com/healthy-eating/2015/03/pickle_juice_for_muscle_cramps.html
http://www.active.com/nutrition/articles/why-every-athlete-should-have-pickle-juice
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19997012
