Healthy Eating To Help Prevent Injury

Bella Hardy explores the connection between healthy eating, injury prevention, and recovery.

The truth of sports training or being active is that you will likely suffer from an injury. However, most of us refuse to acknowledge that fact until we finally get hit where it hurts the most.

Sure, an athlete at the peak of their career may have access to world-class injury recovery programs, but what about everyone else?

Injury prevention is as important as treatment, so you will need to focus on nutrition as you do with training.

By supporting the body with the right quantities of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats and the right combination of multivitamins and minerals, you can reduce the risk of injury and recover faster.

In this guide, we will give you a roundup of how nutrition and injury prevention, and recovery are connected, along with some tips on making your meals more nourishing.

How can macronutrients, micronutrients, and antioxidants prevent injury?

Proteins, carbohydrates, and fat

Carbohydrates are good for gaining energy and avoiding injury. On a theoretical level, carbohydrate intake plays a significant role in influencing injury-risk status.

Lack of carbohydrates leads to the fall of glycogen levels, which can cause more muscle protein to break down to compensate for our body's preferred "fuel supply."

Chronic glycogen depletion may also lead to soft tissue damage and decreased strength. As this research has concluded. Glycogen is the primary fuel of exercise, and muscle protein is.

Since protein gets broken down in endurance and strength training, an athlete's diet must contain enough protein for synthesis after exercise.

If you train regularly (especially for endurance), remember to consume enough carbohydrates and protein. Otherwise, you will experience a loss of strength in the long run and may not be able to relieve pain, both potential causes of injury.

Fat gets a bad rep everywhere, but little do most people know that they need fat in their diet to create healthy cell membranes to resist damage during exercise.

Certain kinds of "good fat" can also prevent minor injuries from turning into big ones, as this study by the University of Buffalo observed.

Calcium and iron

At the micronutrient level, your body not getting enough vitamins and minerals can be linked to injuries. For example, research says that calcium intake plays an enormous role in bone density. Studies on animals have shown that calcium deficiency is a cause of osteoporosis, which can be reversed by restoring calcium levels.

So, if calcium is essential for bone health, any deficiency may put you more at risk. An adult should take about 1000 to 1300 mg daily, but we usually consume only 500 to 700 mg daily.

Avoid calcium deficiency by consuming low or non-fat dairy foods three times daily or taking supplements.

As this study suggests, the same can be said for iron deficiency. Low blood iron reduces our muscles' oxidative potential, causing more lactate production that contributes to injuries. Without sufficient calcium and iron, your bones and muscles will be more prone to fatigue.

Antioxidants

Research has given us substantial evidence that suggests vitamins C and E play a vital role in injury prevention as they act as oxidants to counter muscle damage caused by an intense workout. During exercise, the contraction of our muscles is caused by oxygen forming ATP, also referred to as the aerobic energy pathway.

The downside of this process is that oxygen breakdown is not 100% clean and causes an inevitable production of free radicals like hyperoxide, superoxide, and hydroxyls. The output of these oxygen free radicals increases with exercise, causing damage to the muscle cells through a process known as lipid peroxidation.

Lipid peroxidation triggers an inflammatory reaction to clean up the damaged cells, causing intense muscle soreness after training. We do not need to explain further how antioxidants can help you prevent injuries and recover faster.

Using food to prevent and heal injuries

It does not matter who you are – a professional athlete, a weekend warrior, or someone who likes to work out – the key to optimum performance lies in a nourishing diet. The essential training diet should be enough to:

Provide necessary nutrients and energy to meet the demands of training
Speed up the recovery process between training sessions
Allow the athlete to achieve and maintain an optimum body fat level
Provide enough fluids for hydration to take place during and after the exercise
Promote both long and short-term health of the athlete

How do you ensure having proper nutrition?

incorporate the following in your diet

Spinach

Spinach is a superfood everyone should include in their diet. It contains copious amounts of iron, which promotes the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the muscles.

Fish Oil

Fish oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA, and has minimised inflammation and promoted a healthy immune system. Most people have a deficiency in omega-3, but consume far more omega-6 (poultry, eggs, nuts), causing an imbalance in the system.

Cherries

This delicious fruit offers the goodness of vitamin C, which is excellent for our immune system and post-exercise tissue repair. Vitamin C facilitates collagen production, which provides our ligaments, tendons, and bones with the strength and flexibility needed to function efficiently.

Coconut water

Coconut water contains a high quantity of electrolytes, magnesium, and potassium to help in muscle recovery and relaxation of the nervous system. It can also prevent dehydration, which might have made tissues more susceptible to injury and tears.

Pumpkin seeds

These are rich in zinc, a primary immune system supporter mineral. With enough zinc, your body can use protein to regenerate the muscles and tissues of your body.

Beets

Doctors recommend beets as an incredible source of dietary nitrate. This compound has shown some improvement in athletic performance by reducing the body's need for oxygen. Have some beets before a workout, and you will be all set!

Pineapple

This delicious fruit contains an inflammatory phytonutrient called bromelain, which has digestive aid and other healing properties. You can quickly make a smoothie out of pineapple and incorporate it into your regular diet.

Protein supplements

They contain amino acids such as L-lysine, L-glutamine, and L-taurine, which are needed for advanced immune support and post-workout muscle recovery.

Lean meats, fish, and eggs are good protein sources, but supplements are easy to digest and require no preparation.

You can take low-carb protein supplements if you are on a specific diet, such as Keto Diet.

Maintaining a steady nutritional balance can be a great way to reach sure you reach your athletic goals and remain injury-free.

You can get an abundance of nutrients from various fruits, veggies, raw nuts and seeds, whole grains, lean meats, and clean water.

The perfect athlete diet

Believe it or not, an athlete's diet is not ideally different from what is recommended for regular folk. The total energy intake should come as:

55% or more of carbohydrates
Approximately 12 to 15% of protein
Less than 30% of fat

If you work out strenuously for more than 60 to 90 minutes daily, you might have to increase your consumption of carbs to get 65 to 70% of your energy.

When to eat

And lastly, keep in mind that when you eat is as important as what you eat in preventing and recovering from injuries. Most muscle and joint tissue damage during a workout can be repaired within two hours after the activity if you eat. So, be sure to dig into a nutritious meal after a workout.

Protein is the most crucial nutrient that facilitates post-exercise tissue repair. However, recent studies have shown that combining protein with carbohydrates is an even better option because carbohydrates play a significant role in muscle protein synthesis and replenishing depleted muscle glycogen stores.

Is nutrition everything?

Nutrition is essential, but so is the right kind of physical therapy.

It is safe to conclude that proper nutrition is only one piece of the 'injury prevention and recovery' puzzle.

Page Reference

If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is:

HARDY, B. (2018) Healthy Eating To Help Prevent Injury [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/article380.htm [Accessed

About the Author

Bella Hardy is the creator and editor of Health Nerdy, an online publication dedicated to providing the necessary tools and information to make life healthy, wealthy, and fun. She holds an MS in Nutrition and Metabolic Biology.


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The truth of sports training or being active is that you will likely suffer from an injury. However, most of us refuse to acknowledge that fact until we finally get hit where it hurts the most. Sure, an athlete at the peak of their career may have access to world-class injury recovery programs, but what about everyone else? Injury prevention is as important as treatment, so you will need to focus on nutrition as you do with training. By supporting the body with the right quantities of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats and the right combination of multivitamins and minerals, you can reduce the risk of injury and recover faster. In this guide, we will give you a roundup of how nutrition and injury prevention, and recovery are connected, along with some tips on making your meals more nourishing. How can macronutrients, micronutrients, and antioxidants prevent injury? Proteins, carbohydrates, and fat Carbohydrates are good for gaining energy and avoiding injury. On a theoretical level, carbohydrate intake plays a significant role in influencing injury-risk status. Lack of carbohydrates leads to the fall of glycogen levels, which can cause more muscle protein to break down to compensate for our body's preferred "fuel supply." Chronic glycogen depletion may also lead to soft tissue damage and decreased strength. As this research has concluded. Glycogen is the primary fuel of exercise, and muscle protein is. Since protein gets broken down in endurance and strength training, an athlete's diet must contain enough protein for synthesis after exercise. If you train regularly (especially for endurance), remember to consume enough carbohydrates and protein. Otherwise, you will experience a loss of strength in the long run and may not be able to relieve pain, both potential causes of injury. Fat gets a bad rep everywhere, but little do most people know that they need fat in their diet to create healthy cell membranes to resist damage during exercise. Certain kinds of "good fat" can also prevent minor injuries from turning into big ones, as this study by the University of Buffalo observed. Calcium and iron At the micronutrient level, your body not getting enough vitamins and minerals can be linked to injuries. For example, research says that calcium intake plays an enormous role in bone density. Studies on animals have shown that calcium deficiency is a cause of osteoporosis, which can be reversed by restoring calcium levels. So, if calcium is essential for bone health, any deficiency may put you more at risk. An adult should take about 1000 to 1300 mg daily, but we usually consume only 500 to 700 mg daily. Avoid calcium deficiency by consuming low or non-fat dairy foods three times daily or taking supplements. As this study suggests, the same can be said for iron deficiency. Low blood iron reduces our muscles' oxidative potential, causing more lactate production that contributes to injuries. Without sufficient calcium and iron, your bones and muscles will be more prone to fatigue. Antioxidants Research has given us substantial evidence that suggests vitamins C and E play a vital role in injury prevention as they act as oxidants to counter muscle damage caused by an intense workout. During exercise, the contraction of our muscles is caused by oxygen forming ATP, also referred to as the aerobic energy pathway. The downside of this process is that oxygen breakdown is not 100% clean and causes an inevitable production of free radicals like hyperoxide, superoxide, and hydroxyls. The output of these oxygen free radicals increases with exercise, causing damage to the muscle cells through a process known as lipid peroxidation. Lipid peroxidation triggers an inflammatory reaction to clean up the damaged cells, causing intense muscle soreness after training. We do not need to explain further how antioxidants can help you prevent injuries and recover faster. Using food to prevent and heal injuries It does not matter who you are – a professional athlete, a weekend warrior, or someone who likes to work out – the key to optimum performance lies in a nourishing diet. The essential training diet should be enough to: Provide necessary nutrients and energy to meet the demands of training Speed up the recovery process between training sessions Allow the athlete to achieve and maintain an optimum body fat level Provide enough fluids for hydration to take place during and after the exercise Promote both long and short-term health of the athlete How do you ensure having proper nutrition? incorporate the following in your diet Spinach Spinach is a superfood everyone should include in their diet. It contains copious amounts of iron, which promotes the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the muscles. Fish Oil Fish oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA, and has minimised inflammation and promoted a healthy immune system. Most people have a deficiency in omega-3, but consume far more omega-6 (poultry, eggs, nuts), causing an imbalance in the system. Cherries This delicious fruit offers the goodness of vitamin C, which is excellent for our immune system and post-exercise tissue repair. Vitamin C facilitates collagen production, which provides our ligaments, tendons, and bones with the strength and flexibility needed to function efficiently. Coconut water Coconut water contains a high quantity of electrolytes, magnesium, and potassium to help in muscle recovery and relaxation of the nervous system. It can also prevent dehydration, which might have made tissues more susceptible to injury and tears. Pumpkin seeds These are rich in zinc, a primary immune system supporter mineral. With enough zinc, your body can use protein to regenerate the muscles and tissues of your body. Beets Doctors recommend beets as an incredible source of dietary nitrate. This compound has shown some improvement in athletic performance by reducing the body's need for oxygen. Have some beets before a workout, and you will be all set! Pineapple This delicious fruit contains an inflammatory phytonutrient called bromelain, which has digestive aid and other healing properties. You can quickly make a smoothie out of pineapple and incorporate it into your regular diet. Protein supplements They contain amino acids such as L-lysine, L-glutamine, and L-taurine, which are needed for advanced immune support and post-workout muscle recovery. Lean meats, fish, and eggs are good protein sources, but supplements are easy to digest and require no preparation. You can take low-carb protein supplements if you are on a specific diet, such as Keto Diet. Maintaining a steady nutritional balance can be a great way to reach sure you reach your athletic goals and remain injury-free. You can get an abundance of nutrients from various fruits, veggies, raw nuts and seeds, whole grains, lean meats, and clean water. The perfect athlete diet Believe it or not, an athlete's diet is not ideally different from what is recommended for regular folk. The total energy intake should come as: 55% or more of carbohydrates Approximately 12 to 15% of protein Less than 30% of fat If you work out strenuously for more than 60 to 90 minutes daily, you might have to increase your consumption of carbs to get 65 to 70% of your energy. When to eat And lastly, keep in mind that when you eat is as important as what you eat in preventing and recovering from injuries. Most muscle and joint tissue damage during a workout can be repaired within two hours after the activity if you eat. So, be sure to dig into a nutritious meal after a workout. Protein is the most crucial nutrient that facilitates post-exercise tissue repair. However, recent studies have shown that combining protein with carbohydrates is an even better option because carbohydrates play a significant role in muscle protein synthesis and replenishing depleted muscle glycogen stores. Is nutrition everything? Nutrition is essential, but so is the right kind of physical therapy. It is safe to conclude that proper nutrition is only one piece of the 'injury prevention and recovery' puzzle. Page Reference If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is: HARDY, B. (2018) Healthy Eating To Help Prevent Injury [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/article380.htm [Accessed About the Author Bella Hardy is the creator and editor of Health Nerdy, an online publication dedicated to providing the necessary tools and information to make life healthy, wealthy, and fun. She holds an MS in Nutrition and Metabolic Biology.