Pain and discomfort from an injury is something we all want
to avoid and due to being a participant in the game of life you are bound to
have your share of bumps and bruises along the way. That said, when we do get hurt we want quick relief so
we resort to strategies such as ice/heat, massage, muscle activation/light
stretching and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory such as ibuprofen. Over the past few weeks I covered all
of these strategies and when and if they should be applied. [1][2]
When we do suffer an injury inflammation is our body’s
natural response to initiate the healing/recovery process. The initial inflammatory response helps
to drive the “groceries” in and drive the “garbage” out. However chronic and out of control
inflammation could stall the recovery process and also damage non-injured
tissues surrounding the site of trauma.
So we need to make sure we mange the delicate inflammation balance. Think of inflammation like a wood
burning stove if the light is just flickering that’s not enough and if the fire
is out of control it’s very dangerous.
What we need from the fire or inflammation process in this case is a
nice balance that provides just the right amount of heat and light.
Does the food we eat play a role in how we mange the
inflammation in our bodies? If you consume a lot of processed foods your body
is more prone to inflammation and if you throw an injury on top of that you
could skew that delicate inflammatory balance toward the out of control range. And there are many foods that can help
control excessive inflammation and restore that delicate balance. Food also
provides the building blocks for the tissues and bones in our bodies. So when tissues are damaged and in need
of repair and regeneration the food we consume provide the raw materials
required to rebuild our bodies.
The answer to the above question then is a definitive yes! Nutrition
can be a big player in your ability to recover from an injury.
Step one in using nutrition to improve injury recovery is to
eat more “good” fats while reducing fats from highly processed foods. Eat more olive oil, avocado, ground
flax seeds or flax seed oil, chia seeds, nuts such as pecans, almonds and
walnuts. Processed vegetable oils
like corn, canola, safflower, cottonseed and soybean should also be greatly
reduced. Egg yolks from pastured
raised hens and fatty wild-caught fish such as salmon also provide
recovery-boosting fats.
Even though these “good” fats create an anti-inflammatory
response in the body, this response doesn’t interfere with repair; rather, it
only helps with injury healing and tissue regeneration.
The following foods are also rich in natural
inflammation-modulating agents:
Curry powder/turmeric
Garlic
Pineapple
Cocoa (unprocessed powder or dark chocolate)
Green Tea
Blueberries
Energy needs increase
during acute injury repair
Cutting down drastically on the amount of food you eat after you are
injured is another sure-fire way to stall your recovery. You may not need as much food as when
active but providing your body with enough fuel to carryout the recovery
process is crucial. Consider the
following example of a young male athlete. He’s 14 years old, 5’6″
and 140 lb.
Basal Metabolic Rate
- 1611 kcal/day (the rate at which energy is used by an organism at complete
rest)
Energy needs when
sedentary - 1933 kcal/day (activity factor of 1.2)
Energy needs with
daily training/competition - 2739 kcal/day (activity factor of 1.7)
Energy needs during
recovery - 2319 kcal/day (activity factor of 1.2 and a 20% increase in
metabolism due to injury)
As coaches and parents we need to monitor our young athletes
to ensure they are eating enough while injured. Young athletes may be concerned about gaining weight while
sedentary and they also likely will have less of an appetite because they
aren’t as active.
Injury repair
requires more protein
To ensure a quick recovery, make sure to get higher protein
intake consistently. Protein digests into amino acids that are needed to repair
damaged tissues.
Vitamins and minerals are nutrients required in small
amounts for metabolic reactions that occur during the recovery process. You can
ensure adequate vitamin and mineral intake by consuming a “rainbow” of colorful
fruits and vegetables. This will
go along way toward preventing any deficiencies. Fruits and veggies also contain powerful antioxidants that
help control excessive inflammation.
According to Dr. John Berardi (PH.D. Nutrition)
While it is important
to prevent any vitamin and mineral deficiencies there are a few vitamins and
minerals that may require additional supplementation. Here’s a brief list of
the vitamin and mineral supplements that help with acute injury recovery:
Vitamin A – 10,000
IU/day for 2-4 weeks post-injury
Vitamin C – 1000-2000
mg/day for 2-4 weeks post-injury
Copper – 2-4 mg/day
for 2-4 weeks post-injury
Zinc – 15-30 mg/day
for 2-4 weeks post-injury
Calcium and iron
deficiencies are, like zinc deficiencies, quite common. Because they’re
important for bone health, athletes who are deficient in calcium and iron are
more likely to suffer stress fractures.
Thus, while these two
minerals may not play direct roles in injury healing, they play a large role in
prevention. Get enough calcium and iron, preferably from whole foods rather
than supplements.
Ensure that injured athletes eat enough calories and
protein, by using some simple strategies:
FREQUENCY
Eat every 3-4 hours.
PROTEIN
Each meal/snack should contain complete protein including fish,
lean meats, grass fed and organic dairy, eggs.
VEGETABLES AND FRUIT
Each meal/snack should contain 1-2 servings veggies and/or
fruit (1/2 – 1 1/2 cups or 1-2 pieces) with a greater focus on veggies.
STARCHES
Additional carbohydrates should come from whole grain,
minimally processed sources like whole oats, yams/sweet potatoes, beans and
legumes, whole grain rice, quinoa, etc. The athlete should eat fewer starches
when not training (such as during injury recovery), and more when training
(unless they want to lose fat).
FATS
Eat at least 2-3 of these healthy fats each day: avocadoes,
olive oil, mixed nuts, fatty fish (such as salmon), flax seeds, and flax oil,
whole eggs.
Waiting until you are hurt to start eating nutrient dense
foods is not the recipe for a quick recovery. The best strategy of course is prevention and by consuming a
variety of whole foods consistently it will ensure that if you are injured you
have the raw materials on hand to fuel the recovery process efficiently.
Reference:
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