Thursday, December 19, 2013

Nutrients That Aid in Recovery From Injury

Are you an active person or athlete suffering from an injury? One may opt out to not consume as many calories as they normal would when they are active because the body will not burning the as many calories while taking time off to recover. Although it is smart to not consume at many calories as normal when your amount of physical activity is lowered it is important that you still consume the nutrients it needs to help your body heal from the injury. The following are some nutrients and food examples that can help aid in recovery from an injury.

Protein
Consuming foods with protein that contain all of the essential amino acids can help aid in recovery from injury. This will help in rebuilding muscle and bones. Eggs, low-fat cheese or cottage cheese, yogurt and chicken noodle soup are all good sources. Protein can help with injuries such as stress fractures and broken bones.

Vitamin C and Zinc
Vitamin C and zinc are two nutrients that are great at helping the body recovery from injury. Vitamin C helps produce a fibrous protein called collagen. Collegen aids in tendon and ligament repair. It can also help heal surgical wounds. Citrus fruits, strawberries, kiwi, baked potatoes, broccoli, and bell peppers are all good sources of Vitamin C.  The mineral Zinc can be found in meat, fish, poultry and dairy foods whole-grain foods, dried beans, legumes, and nuts. 

Vitamin D and Calcium
These two nutrients help promote healthy bones. If you have a stress fracture, or are healing from a broken bone, Calcium and Vitamin D will aid in recovery. These nutrients can be found in low-fat dairy foods and yogurt. Fat-free milk is fortified with Vitamin D which helps aid in calcium absorption. Fat-free milk also contains a bit more calcium than whole milk or low-fat milk. 

Fiber
Fiber may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about foods that can help aid in injury recovery , however, fiber consumption may help aid in relieving constipation that may result from  taking certain pain medications for the injury and/or surgery. Any laxative including prune, prune juice, and even water can help with this.

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