Yellow Mustard for Nocturnal Leg Cramps: A Case Report with Hypothesis of TRP Channel Involvement

Hanna Saadah, MD, FACP — Professor Emeritus of Internal Medicine, specializing in Infectious Diseases and Geriatrics

I learned about the Therapeutic Potential Receptors in the throat in one of our Geriatrics conferences. Taking a teaspoon of Yellow Home Mustard and not washing it off with water inhibits muscle tone and suppresses cramps.

An 85-year-old veteran came to my clinic, accompanied by his son, complaining of nocturnal leg cramps that often wake him up from sleep. I asked him to swallow one teaspoon of Yellow Home Mustard to abort cramps. I also asked him to try one teaspoon of Yellow Home Mustard daily at bedtime to prevent nocturnal leg cramps.

His son expressed skepticism, affirming that his father had tried many medications with no results. When the veteran and his son returned for follow-up in one month, the veteran expressed with astonishment that taking one teaspoon of yellow mustard did abort his cramps. When he started taking one teaspoon daily at bedtime, his nocturnal leg cramps stopped waking him up from sleep.

The veteran’s son added that, like his father, he also suffered from nocturnal leg cramps. When he realized that the Yellow Home Mustard helped his father’s cramps, he began using it. His cramps did respond to Yellow Home Mustard, and taking a teaspoon daily at bedtime has stopped his nocturnal leg cramps.

I have followed the veteran and his son for a year now, and they are still cramp-free.

The neurological mechanisms are speculative and not well understood. Yellow Home Mustard, hypothesized to be working via the Therapeutic Potential Receptors in the throat, might suppress neuronal muscle tone stimulation, might enhance neuronal muscle tone inhibition, or might do both.

Clinical experience does show that Yellow Home Mustard aborts and prevents nocturnal muscle cramps and has no serious adverse effects. A clinical therapeutic trial is indicated in nocturnal cramp sufferers.