Dehydration creates added stress on the body including increased internal temperature, heart rate, sweat rate, early fatigue and loss of balance and mental focus. To help prevent dehydration you should practice drinking fluids before, during and after your exercise session.

Be sure to drink water throughout your day not just around physical activity! Water, fruit juice, smoothies and milk all count towards your fluid intake. Preventing stress fractures are critical in preventing other exercise-related injuries.

Getting adequate amounts of calcium and vitamin D every day helps develop and maintain strong bones. Studies have shown that athletes who consume diets low in calcium tend to have lower bone mineral density BMD and increased risk for stress fractures.

Great dietary sources of calcium and vitamin D are dairy products and fortified foods such as orange juice. Dietary fats provide essential fatty acids that the body cannot make on its own. Essential fatty acids like omega-3 fatty acids are needed to make and repair cell membrane, and are good for the heart, a source of energy, lubricating joints and tissues and reducing inflammation in the body.

Cold water fish salmon, mackerel, and sardines , ground flaxseed and walnuts are a few good dietary sources to include in your daily training diet.

Vitamin C plays a role in tissue repair and formation of collagen. Collagen provides strength and flexibility for ligaments, tendons and is necessary to hold bone together. Vitamin E helps protect tissues and organs from damage caused by free radicals.

The combination of these vitamins is thought to minimize damage from exercise and therefore help with recovery from your workout or training session. Think of deep and vibrant colors when choosing which fruits and vegetables you consume.

Citrus fruits, strawberries, kiwi, tomatoes and peppers contain tissue repairing vitamins. Vitamin E can be found in almonds, almond butter, sunflower seeds, wheat germ and avocado. In general, the basic dietary approach to reducing your risk for sport related injury is to provide a wide variety of nutrient-dense whole foods that support bones, joints, muscles, tendons, and other connective tissues.

Following this phase, minimizing excessive inflammation via dietary interventions may help accelerate the recovery process and get athletes back on the playing field more quickly. Treating and Preventing Soft Tissue Injuries Soft tissue injuries can be acute or chronic overuse and may include damage to muscle, ligament, and tendon.

However, it should be noted that these studies have limitations, given there are obvious structural differences between a muscle tear and exercise-induced muscle damage.

Changes in energy requirements and nutrients to help with muscle repair also must be considered. There are several potential nutrition strategies that may help treat—or possibly prevent—soft tissue injuries by reducing inflammation, promoting healing, or decreasing the loss of lean tissue.

However, in the absence of a dietary deficiency, some of the following nutrition interventions have limited research to support a benefit. RDs must gain a better understanding of changes in energy demands. For example, while recovering from injury, some athletes may want to decrease energy intake, given that energy expenditure is lower.

However, adequate energy availability is needed to support healing. Increased protein may not prevent muscle injury, but higher protein intakes 1. An emphasis on equal protein distribution throughout the day will help attenuate muscle mass loss.

RDs should emphasize a diet rich in high-quality protein from whole food sources, but a protein supplement can be an easy and effective way to meet protein needs during the recovery period.

For example, whey protein contains the highest amount of leucine 2. If an athlete chooses a plant-based protein supplement, about 40 g of soy or pea protein—the highest quality of the plant-based options—is needed to match the 2.

Carbohydrates provide energy for healing during injury recovery. Omega-3 fatty acids, such as olive oil, fish, flaxseeds, nuts, and avocado, may decrease the extent of prolonged inflammation after the initial inflammatory phase , which can be counterproductive to recovery.

However, this is based on studies examining inflammation and function after exercise-induced muscle damage. Given the potential risk of mercury contamination in fish oil supplements, the quality of fish oil should be taken into consideration.

Creatine has been shown to be one of the most effective supplements for increasing lean body mass when combined with exercise.

Diets rich in fruits and vegetables provide polyphenols and micronutrients, each of which can help speed the recovery process. For example, polyphenols may help decrease muscle damage caused by inflammation.

While these strategies provide more benefits for the muscle, vitamin C and gelatin have been suggested to stimulate greater collagen synthesis following a tendon or ligament injury.

Active individuals should focus on a food-first approach before supplementation. Keep in mind that for many of these findings, more research is needed to examine the benefits of the role of macro- and micronutrients in the prevention of or recovery from muscle injuries.

Bone Injury Treatment and Prevention Bone strength is determined earlier in life, yet bone loss occurs as a natural part of the aging process.

Due to bone-related consequences ie, reduced calcium absorption and bone mineral density associated with a higher incidence of relative energy deficiency in sport syndrome, stress fractures are more common in active females.

Although there are many nutrients that play a role in bone health, the following nutrition factors may help support bone health and aid in the recovery and healing from bone injuries. Many female athlete triad and relative energy deficiency in sport studies have found that reductions in energy availability, especially if chronic, have been shown to reduce hormones estrogen, testosterone that are vital to bone formation and resorption.

Protein plays a role in the production of hormones that affect bone health and provide structure for the bone matrix.

Adequate protein intake ~1. Contrary to previous beliefs, protein intakes higher than the recommended daily intake have no negative impact on bone health if calcium intake is adequate.

In fact, although more research is needed, higher protein intakes have been shown to have a small, beneficial impact on bone. Therefore, inadequate calcium intake can impair bone healing. Furthermore, one study found that consuming a calcium-rich meal or supplement ~1, to 1, mg before exercise can offset sweat calcium losses in endurance athletes.

Calcium-rich foods include milk, fortified orange juice, kale, tofu, yogurt, and sardines. Athletes can boost calcium intake by consuming milk dairy or soy and yogurt. It has been suggested that active individuals who are vitamin D deficient are at greater risk of bone fracture. Depending on vitamin D levels, supplementation may be needed especially during the winter months to ensure levels are adequate.

Of course, sunlight is the best source of vitamin D, but dietary sources include fatty fish, sun-exposed mushrooms, sardines, and milk. In addition, magnesium and vitamin K play an important role in bone health. Vitamin K deficiency has been associated with increased fracture risk; magnesium deficiency may contribute to poor bone health.

If intakes are below the dietary reference intake, supplementation may be needed. Considering that reversing low bone mineral density later in life is difficult, good nutrition habits that promote bone health and support the demands of sport should be emphasized during adolescence.

Finally, more research is needed to examine the long-term effects of dietary patterns on bone health in athletes. Final Thoughts Nutrition can play a vital role in the injury recovery and repair processes.

Before taking a supplement, active individuals with an injury should consult with a sports dietitian to determine whether the supplement is safe, effective, and necessary.

TEAM USA nutrition provides nutrition fact sheets for active individuals with a soft tissue or bone injury. As a board-certified specialist in sports dietetics, she has consulted with elite and collegiate athletes as well as with active individuals.

Shop By Function. Gear and Accessories. Refer a Friend. Get Started. The Gnarly System. Our Story. Our Athletes. Media Reviews. Find local retailer. Gnarly Clinics. Applies To injury prevention longevity in sport nutrition As athletes, we are continually pushing our limits, which leads to increased injury risk.

As we increase our workload, we need to find that sweet spot that will lead to optimal performance. Sometimes we do too much too soon or take extended time off, and that can easily lead to injury.

Even when we are at our optimal performance level, there are other factors at play that can still lead to injury: High stress levels Poor sleep Poor nutrition How we fuel is important for how we build and repair muscles, how we produce energy for peak performance, and how we maintain that energy.

The Basics: Nutrition Adequate Daily Energy: We need calories! Macronutrients: These are major nutrients in our diets we need in large amounts. Typically we are referring to carbs, proteins, and fats. In athletes, macros are vital to support your metabolism, brain health, immunity, muscle growth, hormone balance, and bone health.

Micronutrients: These are vitamins and minerals: what we need in smaller amounts for proper body functioning and metabolic processes. THE TRIANGLE OF NUTRITION For overall health and nutrition, we should start with a strong foundation of energy from calories, macronutrients, and micronutrients.

Importance of Nutrition for Athletes Performance, health, and injury prevention and rehab all rely on nutrition. Often, nutrition takes a back seat but it really is the foundation of injury prevention and rehab.

Injury Prevention: Injury rehab: Incremental training load - introduce more training overtime and build up from there. Stretching - both before and after a workout Sleep - important for recovery and repair Rest days - also important for recovery and repair See a physical therapist or other specialist Slow reintroduction to training Plenty of sleep Ample rest days Nutritional Strategies to Prevent Injuries 1.

add variety It is important to mix up your diet so you can ensure you're getting all of your necessary micronutrients. make a plan This doesn't necessarily mean meal planning as that can cause food fatigue, but a good idea is to make a master list of meals and then pull from that list for groceries each week.

Nutrient timing Time your meals to boost performance and increase calories to decrease energy deficiencies. Nutrition as a Rehab Tool Sometimes injuries are just unavoidable - here's how to aid the recovery process: Take in enough energy from calories Avoid calorie restriction and energy deficits - DO NOT RESTRICT CALORIES.

When injured nutrition plays a vital role since you actually need more nutrients and calories coming in because your body is scrambling to heal. This requires increased energy metabolism and output. When you reduce calorie intake during an injury, your rate of muscle loss is accelerated because your body is pulling energy from protein.

So lack of exercise and reduction in nutrients coming in will increase muscle loss. Increase protein to 2g per kg of body weight to maintain muscle mass During an injury, your immune system is activated and that causes rapid turnover of those immune cells - many of those are proteins themselves.

To offset that cell turnover and nitrogen loss, you should consume more protein, specifically high-quality protein high in leucine. Leucine is an amino acid which is a top stimulator of muscle protein synthesis Foods containing leucine are: eggs, dairy products, soy products, meat.

Protein supplements can also help, such as Gnarly Whey or Gnarly Vegan. Continue eating consistent, well-balanced meals, and consume your colors! Both of these will ensure you get your micros and macros. Stay hydrated Fueling with water is necessary so your body can deliver those necessary nutrients and immune system components to the site of the injury to decrease inflammation and start to heal and repair.

Staying hydrated will also help flush out lactic acid, and hydrate our tissues so they can function properly. Gnarly Hydrate is a great supplement to add to your diet to help stay hydrated as well. Dangers of Energy Deficits Energy deficits come from restricting calories.

It can easily lead to: Increased risk of injury Slowed recovery process Malnutrition This is because the body will typically choose to pull protein from muscles for energy first, because we need fat for organ and cell protection.

Short term goals: Eat consistently, simply, and with a plan Time your nutrients Specifically carbs and proteins Avoid dehydration Gnarly Hydrate Support recovery Gnarly Collagen Pro Avoid energy deficits Support performance with ergogenic aids if appropriate Gnarly BCAAS Gnarly Pump Gnarly Pre Workout Get adequate sleep and take rest days as needed There isn't any " one size fits all " plan when it comes to nutrition, but when looking for a plan, take into consideration your health, your history, your background, your eating arrangements i.

from a cafeteria, only can access a microwave, etc. For athletes, this is generally not recommended. It narrows down window of consumption, minimizing your chance to get all of the nutrients you need. It also limits when you can train as you won't want to train on an empty stomach.

It can also easily trigger past disordered eating. There is also not a ton of research showing that it helps with performance or recovery.

Complex carbs vs. simple carbs: Typically, it is recommended to fuel with carbs within a hour time frame before a race or competition.

If they cannot be obtained through food intake, they should be obtained through food supplements. Amino acids are also very important, especially leucine, which is one of the nine essential amino acids that the body cannot produce on its own.

We must provide it through food. Leucine contributes to the growth and regeneration of muscle tissue. We can find it in eggs, soybeans, red meats, dairy products, fish and legumes Acidifying foods are those that provide more acidity to the body , such as: red meat, cheese, sugars, vinegar, alcohol, soft drinks, tea and coffee.

Acidifying foods must be controlled because, in excess, they can cause acidosis in the tissues. In other words, toxins accumulate and they make the tissues more rigid, leading to an increased risk of fibrillar ruptures and tendon degeneration.

For this reason, hyperproteic diets are totally discouraged. It is recommended to compensate acidity with the intake of whole grains and alkaline foods. Alkalinizing foods are those that help decrease acidosis in the tissues.

Some of the best alkaline foods are: potatoes, greens and vegetables, ripe bananas, nuts, unrefined vegetable oils, blue fish….

Remember to always maintain a well-balanced and healthy diet and when in doubt, consult a certified nutritionist. facilities facilities. Football fields. Beach soccer fields. Changing rooms. products view products.

sports view sports. Start blog. How does nutrition influence injuries? How can we prevent injuries through food? And when there is already an injury, how can food help us? Other nutrition articles that might interest you Would consuming carbohydrates be counterproductive, by not being able to burn them through sports?

And what about amino acids? What are acidifying foods and alkaline foods and why are they important in preventing sports injuries? Some of the best alkaline foods are: potatoes, greens and vegetables, ripe bananas, nuts, unrefined vegetable oils, blue fish… Remember to always maintain a well-balanced and healthy diet and when in doubt, consult a certified nutritionist.