When games go into overtime, it's best to expect the unexpected. From superstitions, to intermission strategies to energize and recoup, every trick in the book comes out that adds even a mustard seed of hope to a team's physical or mental well being.
Perhaps it's why the appearance of a dozen packages of yellow mustard taped to the glass at the end of the Ottawa Charge's bench during overtime surprised few. It was during the longest game in PWHL history, and it quickly became part of the team and league's overtime folklore, with the game being dubbed the "Mustard Marathon" by Ottawa media. But what was the reason for the appearance of packages of mustard, and containers of pickle juice, on the Ottawa bench?
What is the science behind mustard and sport?
Mustard (and pickle juice) has long been considered a home remedy for muscle cramps, and in a marathon game like the Ottawa Charge experienced, playing nearly seven periods of hockey, muscle cramps are a realistic concern. Some also believe pickle juice and mustard can aid in rehydration. But what's the actual science behind using mustard with athletes?
In one study in the Journal of Athletic Training from 2014, titled Electrolyte and Plasma Responses After Pickle Juice, Mustard, and Deionized Water Ingestion in Dehydrated Humans, it was found that "Ingesting small volumes of [pickle juice] or mustard may be ineffective in alleviating exercise-associated muscle cramps by replenishing electrolytes if the cramps are due to N+, K+, or fluid imbalances."
Exercise associated muscle cramps were defined in the Exercise Sport Science Review (2013) as “… a sudden, involuntary, painful contraction of a muscle or part of it, self extinguishing within seconds to minutes and …often accompanied by a palpable knotting of the muscle.”
In unscientific terms, it's a painful condition caused by exercise, that is detrimental to athletic performance. Not something you want to experience in a quadruple overtime hockey game.
But it's not all about electrolytes. Some researchers assert that the main purpose behind ingesting mustard or pickle juice among athletes is for a concentrated source of acetic acid.
As researchers found, "pH and enzymatic assay or spectroscopic analyses revealed that yellow mustard, sweet relish, all pickle juices, and the pickle juice products were composed of moderate amounts of acetic acid." (Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, Quantitative Analysis of the Acetic Acid Content in Substances Used by Athletes for the Possible Prevention and Alleviation of Exercise-Associated Muscle Cramps).
The same study found that that for exercise associated muscle cramp relief, "yellow mustard... and all pickle juices would be the most practical and palatable sources of acetic acid for strength and conditioning professionals to recommend that athletes consume for the possible prevention or alleviation of muscle cramps."
How much? According to those same researches, members of the Ottawa Charge would have needed to consume "1.5–3 packets of yellow mustard" or "an average of 2.5 ounces (∼74 ml) of pickle juice," which would be "capable of providing adequate amounts of acetic acid that could play a potential role in lessening muscle cramps."
It remains a "could." And most studies state that any such intake needs to be coupled with substantial water intake, or other forms of isotonic or hypotonic fluids to counterbalance the added sodium intake.
Does it actually work?
Perhaps the most significant issue in combatting exercise associated muscle cramps for professional athletes, is the lack of understanding for their exact cause. The theories include the impact of dehydration, electrolyte loss, and alternatively a neuromuscular mechanism.
It's perhaps in this third theory, that the pickle juice and mustard believers gain their following.
But it's not actually for the contents. While some focus on the sodium and potassium content, proven to be insufficient to replenish electrolytes, and on the value of acetic acid itself, other researchers have found that the sour taste of these substances was believed to be the key, triggering a physiological response when injested.
As Miller et al. stated in the journal of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, they believe that following the injestion of pickle juice and similarly high in acetic acid substances, the"rapid inhibition of the electrically induced cramps reflects a neurally mediated reflex that originates in the oropharyngeal region and acts to inhibit the firing of alpha motor neurons of the cramping muscle."
There's other research that suggests the sour taste sparks a reflex that stimulates "the pharyngolaryngeal region of the mouth, in turn possibly increasing certain neurological sensory inputs"...at least in rats.
While it's uncommon to see a dozen packets of mustard taped to the glass beside a professional hockey bench, the use of mustard to relieve muscle cramps has been a practice of athletes for many years. Does it actually work? The verdict remains mixed. Had the Ottawa Charge managed to win their quadruple overtime game, we may have seen mustard packets and bottles of pickle juice become a mainstay of more benches in the PWHL and other leagues, even if was only for the placebo effect.
For now, it will remain a visual attached to the longest game in PWHL history, otherwise known as the Mustard Marathon, until another game can top the prolonged outcome of game two between the PWHL's Ottawa Charge and Montreal Victoire.