Nutrition for Muscular Injury…Can food help you heal?

A sport nutrition colleague (Amy Goodson, MS, RD, CSSD, LD) from Sport Dietetics USA wrote this summary - check it out!

Have you ever wondered if food can help you heal?  The truth is…YES…it can!  Food provides the building blocks needed for cells to repair and proliferate and also influences messages sent throughout the body to regulate blood flow, tissue replacement and healing.  The main key is to eat a diet that is rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean protein and healthy fat as these provide vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.  However, when injured there are several nutrients to focus on to help the body heal.

Macronutrients:

• Calories: Energy needs increase when the body is repairing itself due to post-injury hormonal changes and new tissue formation.  Resting metabolic rate (RMR) may increase 15-50% after traumatic injury and 15-20% following surgery.  Thus the goal is to increase healthy calories post-injury.
• Protein: Protein is key for tissue repair and remodeling.  Rehabbing an injury requires 2 grams per kg body weight of protein.
• Fat: Increase omega-3 fatty acids to 3-9 grams per day.  Examples include salmon, salmon oil, sardine oil, flaxseed, walnuts, hemp seeds, green leafy vegetables, other oily fish, nuts, seeds, olive oil. Limit intake of omega-6 fatty acids from foods such as vegetable oils (corn, safflower, sunflower and soybean).

Micronutrients:

• Vitamin E has been shown to delay healing in muscular injuries and thus should not be provided during injury recovery.
• Vitamin C enhances neutrophil and lymphocyte activity during the inflammation phase and plays a role in collagen synthesis.
  • Recommend up to 1-2 grams per day for limited time spans
  • Food examples include: citrus fruits, strawberries, red and green peppers, green leafy vegetables
• Vitamin A reduces early inflammation after injury, helps reverse post-injury immune system suppression and assists in collagen formation.
  • Recommend 25,000 IU during short periods after surgery and 10,000 IU for 1-2 weeks post-injury
  • Food examples include: green leafy vegetables, carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, mango
• Flavonoids can also help manage inflammation through their well-known antioxidant properties.
  • Compounds found in cocoa, tea, fruits, vegetables, legumes
  • Can be taken in supplement form via blueberry extracts, green tea extracts, and bioflavonoid supplements; however, the best source is from food
• Copper is a mineral that assists in the formation of red blood cells and acts in concert with vitamin C to strengthen connective tissue.
  • Recommend 2-4 mg per day during first few weeks post-injury
  • Food examples include: seeds, beans
• Zinc is required for over 300 enzymes in the body and plays a role in DNA synthesis, cell division, and protein synthesis; all of these enzymes are necessary for tissue regeneration and repair.
  • Recommend 15-20 mg per day, especially during initial stages post-injury
  • Food examples include: animal meats, oysters, clams, nuts, seeds
• Iron deficiency impairs proliferation of all cells involved in wound debridement and healing.
  • Iron levels should be checked for iron deficiency prior to recommending iron supplements or an increased consumption of iron-rich foods
  • Food examples include: nuts, seeds, tofu, meat, sweet potato, pinto beans, artichoke, spinach, tomato juice
  • Consume iron-rich foods with foods rich in vitamin C such as citrus fruits/juices, tomatoes, green leafy vegetables, red and green peppers, this helps increase iron absorption

Food For Thought: Eating to boost your mental game

Do you wake-up with little or no appetite?
Do you find it difficult to get through a high intensity workout in the morning?
Are you ravenously hungry mid-morning even though you ate “breakfast”?
Do you find it difficult to concentrate or focus on one task at work?
Do you feel tired and groggy an hour or so after lunch?
Are you cranky and irritable with family, friends and colleagues?
Do you get negative thoughts near the end of your evening training sessions?

If you answered ‘yes’ to some or all of these questions, there is likely a diet-related reason – you could be a meal skipper, a poor hydrator or you may be simply trying to run on empty calories. Follow these strategies to improve your mental AND physical performance.

Eat breakfast. Those runners who eat breakfast regularly are the fittest, leanest and likely the fastest runners amongst us. Breakfast is important to “break the fast,” reload the liver’s glycogen stores and get the brain and body ready to perform. Research has shown that carbohydrate-rich foods at breakfast tend to improve morning performance. So whether it’s a smoothie or peanut butter on toast, get those carbs into your morning routine.

Eat more frequently throughout the day. Spreading your food intake over four or more feeding sessions a day has been shown to enhance verbal reasoning— perhaps not a big deal for the lone long-distance runner, but it is important for those runners who use training times as a chance to socialize with friends or discuss work matters with fellow-runner colleagues. Enhanced verbal reasoning will come in handy for any runner trying to talk his/her spouse into yet another weekend away at the races!

Choose carbs for positive thoughts. A lack of carbohydrate-rich foods in your daily diet can quickly turn you into a whiny runner, or worse yet, one with negative or self-critical thoughts. Maintain happy thoughts by keeping your brain fed – it is a carb lover and it doesn’t care what form it comes in. There is a gender effect though - women tend to report greater sleepiness after a carbohydrate-rich meal as opposed to a protein-rich meal, whereas men report greater calmness after a carbohydrate-rich meal versus a protein-rich one. But for overall mental performance, low glycemic index foods such as oatmeal will be your best bet as they provide a long, slow release of carbs – just add some berries and maple syrup for an extra carb punch!

Drink throughout training sessions. Studies also suggest that drinking carbohydrate and carbohydrate-electrolyte drinks enhances feelings of pleasure during and following prolonged endurance activities. Anything that makes those grueling long runs feel better sounds good to us!

Keep that morning java. Research continues to show that caffeine has some mental benefits for those who are not caffeine sensitive. Two to three milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight has a positive effect on cognitive functioning, including your ability to pay attention, your psychomotor skills, and your memory. For those of you that do physical training that requires you to count laps, remember sets and reps (such as interval training) or pay close attention to what you are doing (such as highly technical trail running) the caffeine in your morning cup of coffee might be particularly helpful.

Choose protein for multi-tasking. Short term memory is best after a protein-rich breakfast like a vegetable omelette sans toast, while overall morning brain function is optimal with a meal that contains similar amounts of carbohydrate and protein-rich foods, such as two poached eggs on toast with tomato and low fat cheese.

Eat a high-carbohydrate, low-protein lunch, and your ability to concentrate in the afternoon takes a nosedive, predominantly from lapses of attention. This does not mean that you need to be eating huge hunks of meat for lunch or pounding back the protein rich shakes, mind you. Instead, choose smaller amounts of carbohydrate-rich foods (bread, pasta, rice, crackers, cookies, muffins, etc) to accompany your protein-rich foods (meat, poultry, fish, milk, yogurt, low fat cheese) at lunch time.

Enhance your mental (and physical) performance with iron-rich foods. Iron’s main job is carrying oxygen in your blood. It is part of a molecule called hemoglobin, which gives your blood its bright red color. Hemoglobin is like a magnet for oxygen – it carries the oxygen from your lungs throughout the body to wherever it is needed to release energy from the food that you eat. Too little iron in the diet can lead to iron deficiency anemia, which may make you feel weak, tired, and irritable. You may be too tired to train and may have trouble increasing the intensity of your training sessions—definitely not a great way to feel if you have a big season of running ahead of you!

To maximize your absorption of iron, choose foods with higher iron content more often, especially the more colorful foods, such as dark green veggies, ruby red meats, whole grains and cereals. Plant sources of iron are not absorbed as well as animal sources so non-meat eaters, especially active, menstruating women, need to pay attention to their dietary iron needs. Consuming foods rich in vitamin C—such as oranges, grapefruit, strawberries, and cantaloupe—with any iron rich food will improve absorption. Check out the chart below to see if you can improve your iron intake and absorption.

Plant sources of iron Maximize absorption with/in:
Bran flakes cereal, 30 gm Strawberries
Whole wheat bread, 1 slice Orange juice
Enriched pasta, ½ cup Tomato sauce
Raw spinach, ½ cup Lemon slices
Raisins, 2 tbsp Fruit salad
Tofu, 3 ounces (90 gms) Tomato and red pepper stir fry
Kidney beans,1/2 cup Tomato based chili

Animal sources of iron Iron content (mg)
Broiled Lamb chop, 90 gm 1.8 mg
Grilled Sirloin steak, 90 gm 2.8 mg
Roasted Pork tenderloin, 90 gm 1.4 mg
Roasted Chicken breast, 90 gm 0.9 mg
Baked Sole, 90 gm 0.4 mg

Nutrient Spotlight for Runners Health – Are you getting enough Vitamin D?

Exercise and vitamin D are both important for musculoskeletal health and bone health. Vitamin D may also have a beneficial effect on some types of cancer, in particular colorectal cancer, and other immune-related diseases. Skin exposure to UVB radiation from sunlight promotes vitamin D production in the skin. While outdoor exercise is the cause of higher vitamin D levels in runners, this effect is seasonal and is likely only seen in younger runners. Why? In Canada, for most of the winter months, there is insufficient UVB radiation from sunlight to have an effective amount of vitamin D production. Most Canadians do not get enough dietary vitamin D. It is found in the skin of fatty fish, some mushrooms, fluid milk, soy beverages, and some yogurts. Unless you are eating and drinking these foods daily, you likely are not meeting your needs for vitamin D from foods. Skin cells get old too – and the skin’s production of vitamin D decreases with aging. 50 years of age seems to be the cut-off.

Which runners are at greatest risk for inadequate vitamin D?
Older runners (> 50 yrs) - as one ages, there is reduced production of vitamin D in the body. If this is combined with eating few dietary sources of vitamin D then risk of inadequate vitamin D is even greater.
Runners with lactose intolerance - this inability to digest milk sugar means that the main dietary source of vitamin D – that found in milk – is absent from the diet.
Runners with dark skin – the ability to produce vitamin D from sunlight exposure varies with the amount of skin pigmentation; the darker one’s skin, the lower the production of vitamin D.

What should you do?
Ask your family doctor to do a blood test for Vitamin D. The best time to do the test is when your diet is the main provider of Vitamin D - that would be between January-March. Vitamin Di levels tend to be the highest in the late summer as a result of UVB radiation from the sun helping us to make our own Vitamin D.
Runners (and anyone) over 50 yrs of age should take a supplement containing 400 IU of vitamin D. You may need even more - a blood test will help you and your doctor to determine how much supplementation you may or may not need. Include good food sources of vitamin D in your diet to help you get the vitamin D your body needs. Fortified foods (foods with vitamin D added to them) are common sources of vitamin D. In Canada, milk, margarine, and some yogurts are fortified with vitamin D. Fish and eggs are other good sources of vitamin D. Listed below are common sources of vitamin D.
Fortified soy beverage* 250 mL (1 cup) 120 IU
Margarine 5 mL (1 tsp.)60 IU
Milk 250 mL (1 cup) 100 IU
Fish:
Mackerel 90 g ( 3 oz.)310 IU
Salmon, canned 90 g (3 oz.)650 IU
Sardines, 1 can 100 g (3.75 oz.)250 IU
Tuna 90 g (3 oz.) 236 IU