Nutrition For Injury Recovery
Food and Supplements to Speed Up Healing
Injured? Want to recover fast? Hack the healing process with these powerful nutrition tips and tricks.
Injury Recovery : How the body works
Tissue Damage - whether from surgery or injury - kicks off a 3-stage recovery process.
1st Stage: Inflammation
Pain, swelling, redness and heat; draws healing chemicals to the injured area.
2nd Stage: Proliferation
Damaged tissues are removed; new blood supply and temporary tissue is built.
3rd Stage: Remodeling
Stronger, more permanent tissue replaces temporary tissue.
Nutrition for Inflammation Stage
Inflammation is critical as it triggers the repair process. Too much, however, can cause additional damage. These strategies help produce the right amount.
Eat more anti-inflammatory fats like:
Olive oil
Avocados
Fish oil
Flax oil or ground Flax
Fish like mackerel, salmon, sardines
Mixed nuts and Seeds
Eat fewer Pro-inflammatory Things Like:
Processed Foods High in Saturated Fats
Vegetable oils like corn, sunflower, safflower, soybean
Foods with Trans fats
Include inflammation managing herbs and spices:
Curcumin from turmeric/curry powder
7 tsp a day of powder or 400-600mg in supplements form
Garlic 2-4 cloves a day or 600-1200mg of aged garlic extract
Bromelain from pineapple 2 cups of pineapple a day or 500-1000mg i supplement form
Cocoa, Tea and Berries
Eat daily or supplement with blueberry or grape extracts, green tea extracts, citrus extracts and bioflavonoid supplements.
Nutrition for Proliferation and Remodeling stages
Energy intake is 1st Priority:
Metabolism can increase from 15-50% so you'll need fewer calories than when training but more than when sedentary. With each meal:
Eat Adequate Protein
Minimally processed meats, legumes, eggs, plant-based proteins, protein supplements.
Balance dietary fat
About 1/3 of fat intake from saturated, 1/3 from monounsaturated, and 1/3 from polyunsaturated
Eat the rainbow
Include a diverse mix of fruits and veggies
Eat enough carbs
You'll need fewer carbs than when training but enough to support recovery; include minimally processed carbs like whole oats, whole grain rice, sprouted grain breads and quinoa.
Useful Supplements
Supplementing with the following for 2-4 wks post-injury may be helpful
Vitamin A - 10,000 IU per day
Copper - 2-4mg a day
Vitamin C - 1g-2g per day
Zinc 15-30mg per day
A few other supplements have shown benefit too, including:
Arginine
HMB
Glutamine
Proteolytic Enzymes
