Diet and exercise really are the answer to everything. Everyone gets injured from time to time, but how fast you heal is dependent on your nutritive habits!
At some point or another, we all experience injuries: minor scrapes and cuts, burns, broken bones, surgery, and muscle tears. Though the more intense injuries are more serious and do more damage, many of the same processes and nutrients are required for any degree of injury repair. Here we’ll look at some nutritional strategies to help you speedily and completely heal and recover from any injury.
First and foremost, it’s important to understand that food must come first. If the body is to heal, it does so with the elements it’s receiving from the food you’re eating. This means that not only does food need to be considered before supplementation, but it also means that the source, quality, nutrient density, and overall nourishment of your food must be optimal. Once proper nourishment from food is achieved, then whole-food based, quality supplementation can be an additional aid to hasten healing.
(NOTE: Find the whole-food based, quality supplementation right here with Sunwarrior's proteins. All of our proteins are certified, plant-based, and filled with BCAA's to help you recover properly.)
A second principle of eating to help heal the body is to eat an abundance of natural anti-inflammatory foods daily. An abundance means multiple servings each meal, ideally. There are definitely some top natural anti-inflammatory foods to increase when aiming to heal from an injury that you should be eating.
- Dark leafy greens (ideally organic & local), such as spinach, kale, collards, & parsley
- Berries (ideally organic, local & fresh)
- Pineapple
- Flaxseed (freshly ground directly prior to being eaten)
- Carrots
- Ceylon cinnamon
- Ginger
- Turmeric
- Onions & garlic
- Tart cherries (ideally organic & fresh)
- Raw walnuts (ideally organic)
In addition to considering the true nourishment of your food and increasing your intake of natural antioxidant foods, there are some specific nutrients that the body requires during healing and regeneration. Boosting these nutrients can help to speed up healing.
- Vitamin C: Bell peppers, citrus fruits, dark leafy greens, strawberries, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, cantaloupe & cabbage
- Vitamin A: Yellow & orange fruits and veggies such as carrots, sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, bell peppers, squash, mangoes & apricots
- Zinc: Beans & raw nuts
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Raw walnuts & flaxseed
- Magnesium: 100% (organic, soaked/sprouted) whole grains, raw cacao, dark leafy greens, raw nuts and seeds, beans & avocados
As long as you’re ensuring that you’re truly eating the most nourishing, whole foods, then the body is surely likely to have all the tools that it needs to quickly and completely repair itself. However, because eating this way can be a great challenge for many people, it’s also important to understand some of the worst offenders, nutritionally speaking, for injury recovery. If you’re seeking to heal an injury, make sure to avoid the following things as much as possible:
- Trans fat (aka hydrogenated oils)
- Vegetable oils (canola, sunflower, safflower, corn, grapeseed)
- White & processed sugars (including {high} fructose corn syrup and other processed syrups)
- White & highly processed flours
- Soda pop (regular and diet)
- Highly processed juices and other such beverages
- Energy drinks
- Sugary coffee beverages
- Artificial dyes
- Artificial preservatives
- “Sugar-free” sweeteners (Splenda, NutraSweet, Ace-K, Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose, Aspartame)
As you strive to implement the best foods, it will be easier to avoid the bad. Do this consistently and watch your injury get better in no time!
