During my education, I learned first about food, and then about injuries – there wasn’t much crossover between the two. In my practice, I’ve spent a lot of time focusing on how combining nutrition with rehabilitation can kick someones recovery.

Depending on who you ask, injuries can be classified as having numerous different stages of healing. The three stages that most people are familiar with are inflammation, proliferation and remodelling. I prefer to break it down a little further to the following 6 stages:

1) Inflammation Stage

  • 0-72 hours post injury / surgery
  • characterized by pain, redness, heat, and swelling
  • the goal of this stage is to bring fresh new blood and healing agents to the area
  • this stage is crucial – inflammation must occur to trigger healing but needs to be guided and controlled

2) Demolition Stage

  • In this stage, waste product is removed from the area in preparation for rebuilding to start.
  • If healing is not guided correctly and new material is laid down before the waste is removed scar tissue can develop.

3,4,5) Healing stage (Early, Mid, Late)

  • Now that the waste has been removed, we begin to teach the tissue how it is meant to function (as a muscle, tendon, or ligament)
  • Stress laying down of the right tissue, with the correct properties
  • Begin to gear the demands for return to sport or activities in a controlled environment
  • Begin stressing the muscle isometrically (fancy word for activating a muscle ‘without’ moving it, for example: wall sits), progressing to eccentric loads (another facing expression for loading up the lowering phase of any movement, for example: stepping off a raised platform into a squat position).

 

6) Remodelling / “Return to Play” stage

  • Stress the tissue exactly for the sport or activity
  • Ensure full plyometric strength (plyometrics are dynamic exercises like sprint and jumping)

As you can see, each of these stages have a fairly specific goal. For athletes returning to play there is obviously a lot on the line. If we don’t ensure that the tissue is laid down correctly at the beginning, they may never regain full range of motion to be able to do the things they were able to do prior to the injury.

Those of you who may not be returning to play are most likely returning to work. Many of us are part of a recreational league or a team. While you may not necessarily need plyometric strength to return to your job, you absolutely need to ensure that your injury has recovered fully.

This is science – if you have a good therapist, you do your exercises faithfully, and you follow these stages of rehabilitation your injury will get better and you will return to your sport or activity. But we like to be better than that in the Sandbox – and we want to show you ways that you can fuel your own recovery with nutrition:

  • Inflammation / Demolition Stages
  • Avoid foods high in sugar
  • Avoid gluten
  • Avoid processed foods
  • Eat anti inflammatory foods like olive oil, nuts and seeds, avocados and garlic
  • think about adding a fish oil supplement to your diet

Consider supplementing some of these vitamins and minerals:

Vitamin A – Promotes cell growth and repair, boosts immune function (sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach)

Zinc – Promotes wound healing (nuts, seeds, eggs)

Vitamin C – Encourages collagen formation, increased immune function (broccoli, red peppers, strawberries, oranges)

Healing / Remodelling Stages

During all three healing stages as well as the remodelling stage, you will be increasing your energy demands. If your injury had required you to rest, you will now begin getting back on your feet and increasing your activity levels. If you’re returning to your sport, you will have both strength and cardiovascular goals to keep in mind in order to ensure your safe return.

During these stages, we encourage whole foods that provide nutrients. While it is still important to avoid foods that can send you back into inflammation, the focus is on providing your body with the energy it needs to sustain your activities. This will become more important as you move towards the late healing and remodelling stages.

We’ve all heard about how we should be eating the right amount of carbs, proteins and fats – but what does that actually mean? How do these things actually help us? Most importantly, how do they relate to your injury?

Fats are important!

There are two different components of body fat:

Essential fat forms part of your cell membranes, bone marrow, brain tissue, nerve sheaths and the fat surrounding your organs. It provides insulation and protection against physical damage.

Storage fat is an energy reserve in the form of fat cells under the skin and around the organs – it is used during any aerobic activity (including sleeping).

How does this relate to your injury? Fats provide additional protection for your injury, but most importantly, they give you energy as you start to increase your energy demands.

Are you psychologically ready to return to your sport? Fats contribute to brain functioning as well.

Protein

Amino acids from proteins are what form the building blocks for new tissues, they also contribute to the repair of body cells. While they are not the main fuel source during activity, exercise causes oxidation of amino acids in the muscle providing us with fuel.

When you begin stressing your tissues again, protein will play a crucial role in recovery. Try to choose a lean source of protein like chicken or turkey, eggs, or legumes, nuts.

Carbohydrates

No, they are not the devil. In fact, carbohydrates are stored as glycogen and used to fuel physical activity. This isn’t mind blowing information, I know. Unlike proteins and fats, carbohydrates do not have anything to do with the direct repair of tissues. But studies have shown that muscle glycogen deficiency is related to injuries. Additionally, your energy demands increase during injury repair – your BMR (resting caloric expenditure) will increase around 15-20% due to a minor surgery or a sports injury (compared to when you’re sedentary and uninjured).

Be sure you’re choosing good, quality carbs. Consider consulting the Glycemic Index to see how the carbs you’re eating are affecting your blood sugar levels.

The body has an incredible ability to heal itself but there are always things that we can do to facilitate recovery. If you have an injury that needs treatment, or if you have questions about your recovery connect with one of our personal trainers at Sandbox Fitness here!

 

Ashley