Injuries happen. The question is: after they happen, how can you help the body heal?
For most people, the idea that nutrition can play a powerful role in injury recovery makes perfect sense. Yet when injury strikes, very few know exactly how to choose foods to accelerate healing.
There are three phases of musculoskeletal injury or surgery recovery and your body responds differently to the food you eat in all three phases.
Phase 1: Inflammation – Symptoms include swelling, redness, heat. This is the body’s mechanism for organising the healing chemicals at the site of the injury. The bests foods to eat during this phase are anti-inflammatory foods to contain the response such as healthy oils like olive and flaxseed oil and those oils commonly found in avocado, oily fish such as salmon and nuts. You need to stay away from alcohol, processed foods and those containing trans fats and saturated fats as they amplify the inflammatory response. During this phase, your body may also respond well to curcumin, garlic, pineapple, cocoa, tea and berries which have known anti-inflammatory properties.
Phase 2: Proliferation – Damaged tissues are removed, a new supply of blood and temporary tissue including scar tissue is built. The bests foods to eat during this phase are Those that contribute to regeneration and growth. Protein is a major player in this phase. You should aim to eat a wide variety of minimally processed meats, legumes, eggs, and plant based protein. Balancing your fat intake is also important, making sure only a third of your fat intake is saturated fats. It is also critically important to eat carbs in this phase to sustain the energy requirements of rebuilding. Try to keep to your complex carbs like oats, brown rice, multi-grain bread and quinoa.
Phase 3: Re-modelling – Stronger more permanent tissue replaces temporary tissue. You should aim to continue the eating patterns from Phase 2, maintaining a focus on protein intake and eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Research also supports supplements such as Vitamin A, Copper, Vitamin C and Zinc during this time if your diet is not providing optimum levels of these nutrients
