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.

An example of this involved lower limb immobilisation for 2 weeks. The fish oil group maintained significantly more muscle than the placebo group.

Although the research looks promising, I would keep an open mind on this topic. I would not be surprised if more research came out showing it does not matter. I also heard the main author of that study on a podcast say an interesting line.

A nuanced approach could involve taking fish oil leading up to and post-surgery if you have a serious injury and a surgery date planned though. Collagen and gelatin supplementation have emerging research indicating they can help with recovery from musculoskeletal injuries.

The mechanism that I propose involves the collagen peptides breaking down into amino acids, as mentioned. But either way, collagen protein has a very different amino acid profile to other protein sources.

It is a lot higher in proline, glycine, lysine and arginine than most other protein sources. We have evidence that these amino acids peak in the blood ~ minutes after consumption. Theoretically, we can target the injured area by getting blood flow to the area with training.

Even without that, some of the research looks promising anyway. There is also evidence of an increase in collagen synthesis in the body following supplementation and a targeted exercise protocol too.

In terms of the evidence, while the evidence is mixed, all the research fitting the following criteria has shown positive outcomes:. There also is not a lot of quality research on the topic.

At the moment, my interpretation of the research is that it helps. But I am watching the space closely to see if anything comes along to change my mind. One of the most promising studies, in particular, involved a patellar tendinopathy case study.

The MRI footage showed complete healing of the patellar tendon, which is exceptionally rare. Often with tendinopathy that severe, MRI footage still shows a damaged area long after the pain has gone. Dosage and How to Take: g of collagen or gelatin, minutes prior to training. If you have not consumed any vitamin C for the day, it makes sense to add that too.

Vitamin C is required for collagen synthesis. At a population level, supplementing those things, without further context e. dietary intake and blood levels leads to increased bone mineral density. Supplementing with calcium and vitamin D has evidence of improving fracture recovery.

It is not a large benefit, but it is worth being aware of. Adding some nuance, those who have low calcium intakes or low blood vitamin D levels would benefit significantly more from this. A study identified that 3 months post ACL surgery, low vitamin D status was linked with lower levels of strength in comparison to those with higher vitamin D.

Vitamin D can also be relevant from an inflammation standpoint. Obviously, you could aim for a food-first approach. This would involve getting ~mg of calcium per day through food and minutes of sunlight per day. Some people might need a bit more sun than that if they have darker skin.

From a supplemental perspective, if taking both, a supplement containing around mg calcium and IU vitamin D is often the gold standard. Since calcium absorption is a bit limited in a single sitting, it is even more beneficial to split the dosage and have at both morning and night.

If just supplementing vitamin D, IU is the most commonly recommended dosage. But if you have low blood levels, you could go a bit higher than that and address it quicker.

I sometimes recommend as high as 10,IU per day for short periods of time, for those who are deficient. We know that other nutrients like magnesium, antioxidants, vitamin K and zinc all play a role in injury recovery.

But they are not things I personally would overly focus on individually. Having an overall good quality diet will help you get enough of them though. Nutrition can play a role in injury recovery. Nailing your nutrition could shave some time off the recovery process and improve the odds of an effective recovery.

Integrating turmeric supplements into your diet can also have an anti-inflammatory effect. Protein contains essential amino acids that are important to preventing muscle atrophy and sustaining your energy levels.

Luckily, there are plenty of foods that offer an abundance of protein to help you fuel your recovery:. Combining lean protein, fresh fruits and vegetables, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats will properly fuel a healing body. Lean protein assists in rebuilding muscle, is more beneficial for your heart, and gives you the energy you need to heal.

First, smoothies are an optimal option for alleviating constipation and nausea that often follow surgery. Additionally, they can serve as a nutritional powerhouse, making it easy to pack the prebiotics and probiotics you may need.

Some other great smoothie ingredients for injury recovery include:. Mix in as many healthy ingredients as possible for a meal replacement to help you recover. You must consume protein and amino acids to maintain your muscle mass and avoid atrophy. If you underwent surgery due to your injury, you might be dealing with side effects from the procedure.

Common side effects include nausea, constipation, and a loss of healthy gut bacteria from post-surgical antibiotics. Talk to your doctor about adopting a liquid diet for prebiotics or probiotics.

However, some organic products that should be purchased when possible include strawberries, apples, nectarines, grapes, celery, spinach, and tomatoes. These items are often grown using the most pesticides, which can easily be absorbed through the thin skins of these products.

Organic farms typically use fewer pesticides, so purchasing these items will reduce your risk of putting harmful materials into your body when trying to heal.

When you eat sugar, your body must borrow vital nutrients from healthy cells to break down the food. Calcium, sodium, potassium, and magnesium are taken from various parts of the body to make use of sugar.

When recovering from injury, you need these vital minerals and nutrients to expedite the healing process and shorten your recovery, rather than wasting them on digesting unhealthy foods. Nutrition and injury recovery go hand in hand.

Your body uses everything you put into it — for good or bad. Next time you eat, think about how your body will use it as fuel and its impact on you. Keeping this in mind will help you make healthier choices, and it will help you to recover from illness or injury as quickly as possible. With the proper diet and recovery plan, you can get back to your life and reclaim your health.

In addition to diet, you can benefit from physical therapy to help you regain movement and combat muscle loss. To learn more or make an appointment, give us a call to find a location near you. Schedule an appointment with one of our expert physical therapists today. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email.

Zinc is also found in whole grain breads and cereals, legumes dried beans and peas , and nuts. It is better to get zinc from foods than supplements. High-dose zinc supplements can cause nausea and vomiting. Calcium and vitamin D are nutrients associated with healthy bones, so if you have a bone fracture or a stress fracture, make sure to get plenty of these 2 nutrients to strength your bones.

The best sources of calcium and vitamin D are low-fat dairy foods. Yogurt, a good source of calcium, is not always fortified with vitamin D, so check the nutrition label of your favorite yogurt to make sure you are getting vitamin D.

It may sound odd to mention fiber with healing foods, but the pain medications that are commonly prescribed after injury or surgery cause constipation. Prunes or prune juice along with drinking plenty of water have a natural laxative effect that can alleviate constipation while on pain medications.

Sports, high-intensity training, hiking, and other types of exercise can be good for your health, but they can also cause traumas that have long-lasting repercussions.

Working with a qualified physician at Orthopedic Physician Associates is a great way to accelerate your recovery, but there are also other elements that will determine how long it takes to heal. Besides giving us energy, the food we eat also affects every body function, including how fast we recover from injuries.

There are many different factors that affect your recovery time and your diet is one of the most important ones.

The food we eat gives us the building blocks that we use for all biological processes. Certain ingredients can affect responses like inflammation, promote tissue regeneration, and reduce muscular atrophy, among other things. These healing foods can help you make a faster recovery, but you also need to work with a qualified orthopedic specialist to identify the best approach for your specific injury.

All athletes are different, so you need to ensure that the meal plan you choose will address the specific trauma you suffered. Although you should definitely work with a qualified physician, you can always start by learning about the properties that each ingredient has.

Muscle and soft tissue injuries can range from sprains to torn ligaments and ruptured tendons. These soft, connective tissues are made up of collagen , elastin , and other organic components.

Eating the right foods can promote the production of these natural compounds, which in turn can affect regeneration time. Any athlete researching nutrition for injury and recovery will come across protein-rich foods.

Proteins are a type of nutrient that your body uses to build soft tissue, but they also help control inflammation response. Because injured parts are usually immobilized, having a protein-rich diet can help reduce muscle loss and give you the nutrients you need to repair the damage.

Essential fatty acids play a key role in the regulation of inflammation. Keep in mind that swelling is normal because it helps our body identify the area that needs to be repaired.

That said, prolonged inflammation can also slow down your recovery. Find a SCAN RD at www. Tipton KD. Nutrition for Acute Exercise-Induced Injuries. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism. Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group, Rosenbloom C, Coleman E.

Sports Nutrition: A Practice Manual for Professionals , 5 th edition. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Rauh, MJ, Nichols JF and Barrack MT.

Relationship Among Injury and Disordered Eating, Menstrual Dysfunction, and Low Bone Mineral Density in High School Athletes: A Prospective Study. Journal of Athletic training. Cowell BS, Rosenbloom CA, Skinner R, Sumers SH.

Policies on screening female athletes for iron deficiency in NCAA Division I-A institutions. Int J Sports NutrExercMetab. Chen, Yin-Ting, Tenforde, Adam and Fredericson, Michael. Update on Stress Fractures in Female Athletes: Epidemiology, Treatment, and Prevention.

Curr Rev Musculoslel Med Dietary strategies to attenuate muscle loss during recovery from injury. Nestle NutrInst Workshop Ser.

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. An example of this involved lower limb immobilisation for 2 weeks.

The fish oil group maintained significantly more muscle than the placebo group. Although the research looks promising, I would keep an open mind on this topic. I would not be surprised if more research came out showing it does not matter.

I also heard the main author of that study on a podcast say an interesting line. A nuanced approach could involve taking fish oil leading up to and post-surgery if you have a serious injury and a surgery date planned though. Collagen and gelatin supplementation have emerging research indicating they can help with recovery from musculoskeletal injuries.

The mechanism that I propose involves the collagen peptides breaking down into amino acids, as mentioned. But either way, collagen protein has a very different amino acid profile to other protein sources.

It is a lot higher in proline, glycine, lysine and arginine than most other protein sources. We have evidence that these amino acids peak in the blood ~ minutes after consumption. Theoretically, we can target the injured area by getting blood flow to the area with training. Even without that, some of the research looks promising anyway.

There is also evidence of an increase in collagen synthesis in the body following supplementation and a targeted exercise protocol too. In terms of the evidence, while the evidence is mixed, all the research fitting the following criteria has shown positive outcomes:.

There also is not a lot of quality research on the topic. At the moment, my interpretation of the research is that it helps. But I am watching the space closely to see if anything comes along to change my mind.

One of the most promising studies, in particular, involved a patellar tendinopathy case study. The MRI footage showed complete healing of the patellar tendon, which is exceptionally rare.

Often with tendinopathy that severe, MRI footage still shows a damaged area long after the pain has gone. Dosage and How to Take: g of collagen or gelatin, minutes prior to training. If you have not consumed any vitamin C for the day, it makes sense to add that too.

Vitamin C is required for collagen synthesis. At a population level, supplementing those things, without further context e. dietary intake and blood levels leads to increased bone mineral density. Supplementing with calcium and vitamin D has evidence of improving fracture recovery. It is not a large benefit, but it is worth being aware of.

Adding some nuance, those who have low calcium intakes or low blood vitamin D levels would benefit significantly more from this. A study identified that 3 months post ACL surgery, low vitamin D status was linked with lower levels of strength in comparison to those with higher vitamin D.

Vitamin D can also be relevant from an inflammation standpoint. Obviously, you could aim for a food-first approach. This would involve getting ~mg of calcium per day through food and minutes of sunlight per day. Some people might need a bit more sun than that if they have darker skin. From a supplemental perspective, if taking both, a supplement containing around mg calcium and IU vitamin D is often the gold standard.

Since calcium absorption is a bit limited in a single sitting, it is even more beneficial to split the dosage and have at both morning and night. If just supplementing vitamin D, IU is the most commonly recommended dosage. But if you have low blood levels, you could go a bit higher than that and address it quicker.

I sometimes recommend as high as 10,IU per day for short periods of time, for those who are deficient. We know that other nutrients like magnesium, antioxidants, vitamin K and zinc all play a role in injury recovery. But they are not things I personally would overly focus on individually.

Having an overall good quality diet will help you get enough of them though. Nutrition can play a role in injury recovery. Many student-athletes faced with an injury are quick to worry about their body composition.

Fears such as gaining weight or muscle turning to fat are common. To reduce the risk of unwanted weight fat gain and to help the athlete minimize loss of lean mass, special nutritional considerations must be paid to the injured athlete.

Energy intake and distribution will need to be reevaluated to match a decreased volume and intensity or to aid in rehabilitation and recovery. There are a wide range of athletic injuries that can take student-athletes out of the game and the nutritional concerns can vary greatly for each.

Bearing an injury requires making modifications to training so that proper rest and recovery can occur. During rehabilitation and recovery, the specific nutrient needs are similar to those for an athlete desiring muscle growth, with the most important consideration being to avoid malnutrition or nutrient deficiencies.

Here are the specifics on how to eat for optimal recovery and healing while preventing weight gain:. Calories are necessary for the healing process and consuming too few will likely slow the healing process.

However, to prevent weight gain while training is on hold, total daily caloric intake likely needs to decrease. Many athletes are accustomed to consuming additional calories through convenience foods and drinks such as sports drinks, bars, shakes or gels.

These sources of fuel are better left for times of intense training and higher energy needs. Instead, focus on foundation of whole foods that includes lean proteins, fiber-rich whole grains, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, and healthy fats such as nuts and seeds.

These foods tend to be less nutrient-dense as compared to whole food choices. This article was written for the Sport Science Institute by SCAN Registered Dietitians RDs. For advice on customizing an eating plan for injury prevention or after injury, consult an RD who specializes in sports, particularly a Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics CSSD.

Find a SCAN RD at www. Tipton KD. Clinical Trials. Find a Doctor. Search Submit. Pay a bill. Refill a prescription.

Price transparency. Obtain medical records. Order flowers and gifts. Send a greeting card. Make a donation. Find a class or support group. Priority OrthoCare. Casey advocates the following approach: Eat a balanced diet, with an emphasis on fruits and vegetables It may not be sexy, but the dietary habits athletes embrace during training and competition are every bit as beneficial when recovering from injuries.

Hydrate Injured athletes don't sweat as much as athletes in training and they might not think about the importance of maintaining their hydration levels.