1) Because I'm not exercising and want to do my best to maintain my weight and,
2) Due to the fact that I am a firm believer that food goes a long way towards hearing the body.
We all have read articles on how nutrition can help reverse inflammatory diseases (heart disease, Alzheimer's, cancer, arthritis, et al) but truth is, what we eat can speed our recovery when it comes to injuries such as stress fractures, sprains, tendinitis and even muscle soreness.
If you find yourself with an injury, below are some tasty remedies to help speed your recovery, including some terrific recipe ideas from Roni over at Green Lite Bites!
Injury: Stress Fracture
Foods That Heal: Low-fat milk, spinach, yogurt, collard greens, basil, kale, shrimp, sardines
The Science: The combination of calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin K speeds up bone formation to help repair fracture.
Check out Roni's recipe for Spinach Ricotta Roll's
Injury: Sprain
Foods That Heal: Bell peppers, broccoli, strawberries, Brussels sprouts, kale, spinach, oranges, grapefruit, tomatoes, raspberries
The Science: Vitamin C encourages collagen formation which is crucial for rebuilding injured ligaments.
Check out Roni's recipe for Roasted Red Pepper and Spinach Salad
Injury: Tendinitis
Foods That Heal: Salmon, scallops, sardines, shrimp, cod, walnuts, flaxseeds
The Science: Polyunsaturated fats such as those found in fish and nuts help reduce inflammation
Check out Roni's recipe for Oat and Flax Crusted Tilapia
Injury: Muscle Soreness
Foods That Heal: Whole grains, lentils, cod shrimp, turkey, salmon, yogurt, eggs, peanut butter
The Science: Carbs help to restore energy and protein helps repair the damaged muscle fibers
Grab yourself a post-workout shake or peanut butter on a slice of Ezekiel bread to help ward off those aches and pains!
Susan
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comments
8 Responses to "Foods That Heal Your Aches And Pains"Delicious options that make it less unfortunate to have an injury. Thanks for the great info!
As I am battling several injuries this article is perfect timimg for me!! I believe food is a major factor in our health. Now thanks to you - we have greater knowledge to help with healing. Great article - thanks!!
Caron
Glad that you both enjoyed the posting!! Thanks so much for the feedback.
Long time, no see in the blog Caron ... glad that you stuck around as it's been a long time between postings.
Susan
My body needed this info!!!!!!!
Caron
thanks for the info. I seem to always have some ailment so this will definitely be of use to me!
Welcome Amy!! If any one has any questions that you'd like answered, feel free to post them to the blog, or email me at AskTheTrainer@CatapultFitnessBlog.com if you prefer to remain anonymous. I'll post responses via future articles on CFB.
Susan
Have just found out that I have statin myopathy. I have been taking a cholesterol med for 5 years and just found out that I'm intolerant to it. My muscles are quite damaged and very weak. I can't find much info on recovery, so I thought I would start with food for healing. Any suggestions?
Anonymous, I'm sorry to hear about your problems. I want to preface this by stating that I'm not a doctor, nor am I a registered dietician.
I'm assuming that you're remaining under a doctor's care which is definitely what I recommend.
For those reading this who may not have a full awareness of the issue, I'll start with a few basics (and I'll keep this VERY basic).
Statin - Statin medication is used in the treatment of high cholesterol. Lipitor is an example of one such medication.
Statin Myopathy. Statin myopathy is muscle inflammation and is a side effect of Statins. The most common symptoms of Statin Myopathy are muscle pain and weakness.
There are different levels of Statin Myopathy, which is why it's important to remain under a doctors care. Depending on the "type" of Myopathy you have, your doctor may recommend different courses of treatment.
I would think you would benefit from strengthening exercise, as tolerated. Again, something to speak with your doctor/Rheumatologist about. This doesn't have to be in the form of weight training per se. Depending on your current muscle strength, Yoga and/or Pilates may be good options - especially if you can find an instructor who specializes in working with individuals who have myopathic conditions.
As for food, take a look at this chart - http://catapultfitness.blogspot.com/2009/06/plan.html
This is how we ALL should eat.
Some key dietary points:
- Focus on GOOD fats. Olive, grape-seed and avocado oils should replace butter, margarine and vegetable oil.
- Less Meat, More Fish. I'm a carnivore and I'm by no means telling you never to eat red meat. However, seriously consider limiting it to 1x/week. Wild Salmon, Pacific Cod, Halibut are excellent options that are high in Omega-3 fatty acids. Remember, less Omega-6 and more Omega-3.
Snacks. Fruit and nuts (esp. raw cashews, almonds and walnuts)are great snack items. You need to watch your serving size on nuts as they are loaded in fat (albeit healthy fats). A fave snack time treat of mine is a slice of toasted Ezekiel bread with natural peanut butter. A 1-ounce chunk of really good dark chocolate is another good snack time treat.
Herbs. Take advantage of the warm weather and grow some fresh herbs. I live in an apartment and mine do quite well on the window sills. Fresh herbs have tons of nutritional benefits. Same for garlic!
Green tea. I'm a coffee-holic but that doesn't stop me from consuming LOTS of decafe green tea. The more green tea I drink, the less I suffer from my vestibular symptoms, and the easier it is for me to keep off weight. Seriously.
I hope some of this helps!!
Susan
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