Although the research nutrihion Injury recovery nutrition tips, Reckvery would keep an open mind Recovery nutrition for tennis players this topic. DePhillipo NN, Reccovery ZS, Kennedy MI, Begley Nutriton, Moatshe G, LaPrade Benefits of a good breakfast. Be sure to include lots of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and many micronutrients in your diet to help fuel your body during the healing process. Recovery is a process that benefits from having some additional calories. Antioxidant-rich fruits like goji berries, blueberries, tart cherries, elderberries and pineapple can also help control inflammation, and speed up healing. Unionville, CT: Karger Publishers. Thomas, D.

Injury recovery nutrition tips -

Add to Favorites. You are what you eat - so, when the body is recovering from an injury, what nutrients does it need to be healthy again? National Nutrition Month® is a campaign created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, focusing on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.

Whether it be wound care, post-injury healing or everyday soreness from exercise, here are some evidence-based perspectives to help you guide your athletes, your patients or yourself through the landscape of nutritional choices throughout the healing process.

While you might not view wound care as an energy-draining process, the body actually demands an increased amount of energy so the wound can heal correctly. While the nutritional needs of patients will vary based on age, comorbidities, body weight, activity level, stage of the healing process and the severity, size and number of wounds, experts recommend caloric intake start at kcal per kg of body weight.

These experts also recommend focusing on the correct micro and macronutrients that are critical to maintain appropriate levels of energy to support the entire healing process. Carbohydrates: In the proliferative phase of wound healing, carbohydrates stimulate insulin production, which is helpful in the anabolic processes.

Fats: Substantial fat consumption supplies additional energy to the wound healing process, as well as structural functions during tissue growth. One key role of protein is the maintenance of oncotic pressure, particularly in venous insufficiency wounds, where excess extraluminal pressure due to peripheral edema will exacerbate wound formation and slow wound healing.

Fluids: Fluid maintains skin turgor and promotes tissue perfusion and oxygenation during the wound healing process. The goal for fluid intake in patients with wounds is approximately 1 ml per kcal each day.

Arginine: The amino acid arginine plays a diverse role in wound healing. Arginine supplementation was observed to increase collagen deposition in wounds. Glutamine: Glutamine, another amino acid, decreases infectious complications and protects against inflammatory injury by inducing the expression of heat shock proteins.

Additionally, glutamine appears to have a role in leukocyte apoptosis, superoxide production, antigen processing, and phagocytosis, all with implications on the inflammatory phase of wound healing. Vitamine A: Vitamin A assists in wound closure. Topically-applied vitamin A has been used to stimulate epithelial growth, fibroblasts, and ground substance.

Vitamin C: Vitamin C is believed to influence collagen formation, immunomodulation and antioxidant functions during wound healing. Vitamin D: Vitamin D induces the antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin to promote healing. Zinc: More than zinc-containing enzymes, including superoxide dismutase, are involved in wound healing.

However, excess zinc supplementation can interfere with the absorption of other cations, specifically iron and copper. Therefore, supplementation should be avoided unless deficiency is present. After suffering a musculoskeletal injury, the proper nutritional support can help the body regain optimal fuel for rehabilitation.

Here are some of her top tips Delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, may not be as serious of an ailment or require a long recovery like wounds or musculoskeletal injuries. Nutrition is vital during the post-injury and rehabilitation period. The right diet, in concert with proper therapy and an appropriate retraining regimen, can get you back in the game stronger and faster.

The emphasis in this phase should be on getting enough energy and protein, as well as healthy fats and plenty of vegetables and fruits. Food can assist athletes in healing faster, but it also can interfere with healing optimally.

Especially during the post-injury healing and rehabilitation period, athletes should avoid:. Remember, the right nutrition helps to hasten post-injury recovery to get athletes back into the game sooner and healthier. See your sport dietitian to help you recover better.

Posted In Basketball , Healthy Living , Nutrition , Sports Medicine. Written by SHN Staff. November 9, It is quite rare to find an athlete who has not been injured.

Healing processes Three healing processes occur after an injury: Inflammation occurs immediately and continues up to five days post-injury. Proliferation occurs at five days through three weeks post-injury. During this phase, there is a tissue rebuilding and repairing process.

Maturation occurs from three weeks to two years post-injury depending on severity of injury. During this phase of recovery, considerable remodeling occurs to build a stronger tissue structure.

Based on these healing processes, we can divide nutrition recommendations into two phases: Injury and immobilization, or inflammation and proliferation of healing.

Most of the muscle loss occurs during this phase. Rehabilitation, or maturation of healing. Exercise is re-introduced in the form of therapy, and athletes are advanced to full practice when they are cleared by trained medical staff.

When using crutches, energy expenditure can be two to three times higher compared to normal walking. The first temptation a lot of athletes have when they get injured is to cut calories significantly.

Often you feel as though because you cannot make progress in other areas, shifting that focus towards fat loss can be another outlet for progress. While I understand where this thought process comes from, I would argue that most of the recovery process should be spent consuming enough calories to maintain your weight.

Recovery is a process that benefits from having some additional calories. Being on low calories can slow down the healing process. Since you are not able to train certain areas effectively, the combination of low calories and a lack of training stimulus can speed up muscle loss.

Staying at maintenance calories provides a balance between minimising both fat gain and muscle loss. Another aspect to consider is that you will likely be undertaking a rehab protocol that involves you aiming to get stronger and build muscle in certain areas.

It is more difficult to build muscle and strength in a calorie deficit. Having more calories can directly speed up injury recovery while also helping you indirectly by fuelling muscle growth. Directly after the injury when the risk of muscle loss is the greatest, it can make sense to stick near maintenance calories at the start.

This is to try to reduce the amount of muscle that is lost. Then as the pain is decreasing and the rehab process is ramping up, you might want to consider a calorie surplus.

For example, if you need to gain a certain amount of quad or calf size or strength, this will be a lot easier and quicker to do in a calorie surplus. At the end of the process though, you want to be near your peak body composition for your sport, if possible. Since body fat will likely have increased a bit with this approach due to a combination of the reduced training stimulus and the calorie surplus phase, it likely makes sense to have a phase in a calorie deficit.

As mentioned previously, you do not want to spend much of the rehab process in a deficit. But the overall goal is to return to sport as effectively as we can, and that likely requires a certain body composition.

One is that your calorie expenditure is likely lower due to being less active. This means that maintenance calories will be a bit lower than they previously were.

In most cases, the decrease in calories required to achieve maintenance calories is less than expected. But it is still a factor worth considering. Another aspect is that you might now be at home more often and have more time and access to food than you previously did.

The combination of these things can make it difficult to avoid accidentally overconsuming calories. One tool I would consider using to manage this if it is an issue is volume eating.

This concept involves eating a larger volume of lower-calorie food. Basically, it might make it easier to consume an appropriate amount of calories since you get to eat more food for the same amount of calories.

When an athlete who trains hard takes a break from training, it typically takes ~3 weeks before muscle loss is measurable. This is reassuring if you have got an injury where you are still able to move the affected area a bit.

Since getting the quads strong and balanced between sides is an important rehab outcome, any steps that can be taken to minimise that muscle loss in that phase is crucial. The current recommendation for protein intake during injury recovery is 1.

The upper end of this range is particularly relevant when the risk of muscle loss is at its highest, such as during immobilisation. The average athlete who is injured does not get anywhere near this level.

You could significantly improve your recovery outcomes by doing this thing. The best approach to overcoming the first challenge is to add liquid protein sources in addition to regular protein-rich meals.

For the second challenge, you want to prioritise protein sources that are high in protein and relatively low in fat and carbohydrates where possible. While I would not aim to get a large percentage of your intake from supplements, adding some protein supplements can help with both of those problems.

Creatine helps with building muscle and strength. It has obvious applications for longer rehab protocols. There is also research indicating that during immobilisation creatine can help with lean mass retention and reduces loss of strength. There is not a lot of research on this topic, but it looks promising.

Another study on strength gains weeks after ACL surgery found that creatine significantly outperformed placebo. It is worth highlighting that not ALL the research has shown positive outcomes.

One study measuring strength after 30 days after knee surgery found that creatine did not improve outcomes. While the evidence is not overwhelmingly positive, it is enough that I think it is worth taking creatine.

Particularly because there is minimal downside to doing so. Dosage and how to take: 20g per day for 5 days, followed by 5g per day ongoing. This is a simplified protocol. If you want more details, check out our post on the topic.

There are proposed mechanisms for how omega-3s can help due to enhancing anabolic sensitivity to amino acids as well as help from an anti-inflammatory perspective.

There is minimal research looking at fish oil and immobilisation. The research we do have is surprisingly promising.

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