Diet Recommendations for Optimal Injury Recovery

If you’re reading this and you’ve recently suffered an injury, you’ve come to the right place. Although getting injured can be a scary and confusing time, it can also be an eye opening opportunity to take more control of your health. You may be under treatment and wondering what you can do to improve your recovery results outside of
your doctor’s recommendations, and it all starts with your diet.

As you probably know, there are thousands upon thousands of different diets, but when it comes to injury recovery; the name of the game is anti-inflammation. Inflammation is your body’s response to an irritant. Such irritants could be, but not limited to, viruses, germs, bacteria, a thorn in your finger, or in your case, an injury. Although you may have heard people speak negatively on inflammation, it has a critical role in the first stage
of healing. 

In the first few days after an injury, your body will be in an inflammatory state; which is completely normal. It’s your body’s way of increasing the flow of healing cells to the injured tissues. These healing cells and various other hormones are released into the bloodstream and begin to dilate the blood vessels and increase the blood flow to reach the affected area. This is the reason that the affected areas become red and hot.

So, if inflammation plays such an important role in healing; why would I want to eat a diet that negates inflammation? Because prolonged inflammation can become chronic and negatively affect your condition.
The initial inflammation phase should only last 1-4 days. After that, sustained inflammation will actually retard blood flow to the injured site, and also retard the excretion of damaged cells & tissues that need to leave the body.

In order to make sure that our body doesn’t become overly inflamed it is recommended to eat an anti-inflammatory diet. Certain foods will reduce inflammation so that we can control it in the optimal way. A good place to start is by eating more anti-inflammatory fats, such as:

• Fish like mackerel, salmon, sardines

• Olive oil

• Mixed nuts and seeds

• Avocados

• Flax oil or ground flax

• Fish oil

You should also be minimizing foods like:

• Processed foods that are high in saturated fats

• Vegetable oils like corn, sunflower, safflower, and soybean

• Foods with trans fats

Include inflammation managing herbs and spices like:

• Bromelain from pineapple

• Garlic

• Curcumin

• Cocoa 

• Green tea

• Citrus extracts

• Bioflavonoid supplements

It’s quite common that while you are recovering from your injuries you can experience an increase in metabolism by 15-50%. To ensure your body’s best chance of recovering you have to give it plenty of healthy fuel.

1. Be sure to incorporate a diverse mix of fruits and vegetables! Lots of color on your plate is a good indicator of including fresh fruits and veggies.

2. Eat enough carbohydrates. They are a great source of fuel, but be weary of overly processed carb sources. Stick to whole oats, whole grains, whole grain rice, and sprouted breads!

3. Eat adequate amounts of protein. Try to consume minimally processed meats, legumes, eggs, plant-based proteins, and protein supplements.
   

4. Balance your dietary fats. Try to consume ⅓ of your fats from saturated sources, ⅓ from monounsaturated, and ⅓ from polyunsaturated fats!

Now that you know what you should and shouldn’t be eating to control your inflammation, I don’t want you to think this is just an “injury” diet. Eating unhealthy, processed, inflammatory foods can have a detrimental effect on your health as a whole. They can lead to arthritis, weight gain, obesity, and many other comorbidity factors.

Right now is the perfect time to let your injury have a POSITIVE effect on the rest of your life. Do away with the fast food burgers and soda and replace them with some of the suggestions above. I promise you that you’ll thank me if you do, your partner will thank me, your children will thank me, heck, your health insurance will probably thank me too! Take this time to make a change and watch your health blossom as a result.

If you’ve recently injured your spine, and you’re looking for ways to optimize your recovery results please call 515-777-1014, and we will send you our SmartInjuryRecommendations! If you’re located in IOWA, and you’re looking for a physician to treat with, please consider our clinic! We specialize in the accurate diagnosis and treatment of all spinal injuries with our primary focus being your recovery and quality of life.