Nutrition for Healing

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Vitamins. Many of us have been dutifully popping them daily for years. Today, vitamins and supplements are available in a cornucopia of colors, shapes, sizes, potency and quality levels. For active types who put daily physical stresses on their body through exercise, maintaining healthy nutrition levels through good eating and taking supplements is important to keeping our “engines” running. 

And when that occasional injury throws us off course, our body needs more help than ever with healing.

Physical therapy and sometimes surgery are the most common prescribed methods for recovery from an injury. However, nutrition intervention can also play a key role in the body’s healing process. That means being even more conscious of the foods we put into our bodies and the supplements that we ingest for optimal recovery. 

Kim Mueller, a registered dietitian and exercise physiologist who is also a competitive athlete, recently sustained an injury requiring surgery and is practicing nutritional strategies she developed as a means to speed her own recovery. Mueller offers four primary goals of recovery to her clients, as well as nutritional strategies that will get them back training and performing at peak levels in record time.

Goal #1: Correct Calorie-Protein Imbalance.
Following an injury, our body’s protein, carbohydrate and fat-related metabolic pathways are sent into overdrive, causing our total energy expenditure and consequent individual calories needs to increase depending on the type and magnitude of the injury and if surgery was needed. 

Goal #2: Facilitate Optimal Immune Function.
To accommodate increased protein turnover and support immune function post-surgery, an increased protein intake is often warranted.

Goal #3: Encourage Repair of Tendons and Ligaments and Promote Cell Growth.
In addition to physical therapy for the repair of tendons and ligaments, glucosamine sulfate is a nutrient that has demonstrated a broad range of applications for repair of cartilage and other connective tissues including anti-inflammatory effects. 

Goal #4: Decrease Inflammation and Improve Wound Healing.
Dietary manipulation can help mute inflammation and aid recovery. Failure to decrease inflammation and address wound healing can cause scar tissue to develop, resulting in reduced function and/or mobility and poor recovery times. Omega-3 essential fatty acids found in certain foods demonstrate strong anti-inflammatory qualities, as well as some fruits and vegetables that contain phytonutrients that stop the formation of inflammatory agents.

Bob Seebohar, a USA Triathlon-certified coach and registered dietitian who has worked with Olympic athletes including 2004 bronze medalist triathlete Susan Williams, has a nutrition philosophy for his Olympic athletes on par with Mueller’s when it comes to the importance of good nutrition for helping heal injuries.

He recommends that athletes remain in protein and calorie balance. He says that surgery can sometimes lead to a catabolic state in the body and some medications or anesthesia will quench hunger. Not supplying the body with enough calories and protein in the acute time following surgery will slow recovery, thereby increasing the chance of muscle breakdown.  Seebohar recommends glucosamine sulfate in addition to physical therapy to aid in improvement of cartilage metabolism. He also suggests eating foods that are rich in phytochemicals, antioxidants, protein and anti-inflammatory fats (omega-3s). 

Before going in to a sport-related surgery, Seebohar advises, “The best thing to do is to go in a positive energy state (balanced carbohydrate, protein and fat) and already institute most of the healing foods beforehand so you are used to it and your body has a strong immune system and calorie balance prior to surgery.”

Offering a nutritional program on the forefront of total patient care is the pre- and post-surgery program at the cosmetic plastic surgery practice, Boulder Plastic Surgery of Dr. Hans Kuisle in Boulder, Colorado. Kuisle credits the medical community where he lives as a catalyst in his own learning process in the benefits of nutrition for surgery. 

“There are lots of alternative practitioners and holistic practitioners of medicine, and I think that they are probably much further ahead in terms of understanding nutrition, immunology and the stresses the body undergoes with certainly surgery and also strenuous athletic endeavors,” says Kuisle. As a result, he developed a nutritional support program that would help patients with their post-operative recovery “to allow them to go back to a normal day-to-day lifestyle more efficiently with less bumps in the road.”

As the program became more complex, Kuisle brought Sue Van Raes, MS, on board to sit down with patients before their surgery, evaluate their needs, and be sure that they were properly supported in terms of their nutrition during and after surgery. After seven years with the program, Kuisle says, “The vast majority of patients clearly feel that their recovery is faster, that they return to normal activities quicker and that their energy levels are back sooner.”

Dr. Hans Kuisle and Sue Van Raes, Boulder Plastic Surgery. www.boulderplasticsurgery.com/nutrition

Kim Mueller, MS, RD. www.fuel-factor.com

Bob Seebohar, MS, RD, CSSD, CSCS. www.fuel4mance.com

FOODS RICH IN…
Phytochemicals: garlic, orange juice, onions, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, soybeans, legumes, spinach and grains.
Antioxidants: blueberries, carrots, red grapes.
Protein: lean meat, lowfat dairy, soy products.
Omega 3: flax oil, salmon, walnuts.

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