By WIN Provider: Dr. Conner Overstrom, Chiropractor
Nutrition for injury recovery is an important aspect of care. This article will help review how you can utilize nutrition to help with recovery.
Participation in sport is common among the human race. It is projected that everyday about 20% of the population engages in exercise or sport.
Although the benefits of exercise and sport greatly outweigh the risks, it is common for injuries to occur through sport and is estimated that athletes will incur at least one injury throughout their careers.
In the process of recovering from injury there are many pillars that contribute to a successful return.
An important part of the recovery process that often gets overlooked is the nutritional aspect of recovery.
Nutrition In Muscle Injuries
-Protein
- Increasing protein intake during recovery should be one of the first strategies to reduced muscle loss and accelerate the healing process while recovering from a muscle injury
- Increased protein in take is important to reduce muscle loss
- Increasing protein intake to 2.3 g/kg/day has been shown to reduce muscle loss (ex. If you weigh 45kg, 45kgx2.3g=103 grams of protein per day
- The ingestion of protein should be well balanced throughout the day with a moderate amount at breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner
-Creatine
- Creatine is well documented to improve strength, increase lean muscle mass, help muscle recover quicker during exercise, and can help maintain muscle size during a period without movement after injury
-Omega-3
- Promising research shows that omega 3 can play a role in preventing muscle loss
Nutrition in Joint, Connective Tissue, and Tendon Injuries
-Collagen
- Collagen is the primary component of tendons and ligaments
- Can help increase collagen formation and improve the ligament and tendon structure
-Gelatin
- Large body of evidence showing that gelatin stimulates collagen formation
-Vitamin C
- A combination of vitamin C with collagen improves collagen formation
- Vitamin C is a pivotal player in formation of collagen
The nutrition advice listed above is a very valuable adjunct to treatment and rehabilitation with a WIN Health Provider.
Healing has very different components to it, and nutrition is often a very important one that gets overlooked.
If you have any questions about how nutrition helps in injury recovery, talk with your WIN Health Provider.
For more information about the recommendations in this article, visit with Dr. Conner Overstrom at WIN Health in Niagara Falls. Contact us or book online for your visit!