Injury rehabilitation is a multifaceted process that extends far beyond what exercises and therapy interventions you do during your sessions. Don’t get me wrong, targeted movement and physical therapy play a vital role in recovery, but we’re missing a big piece of the puzzle if you are improperly fueling your body.
Adequate nutrition is critical to supporting the body’s ability to repair tissues, reduce inflammation, and restore function. As physical therapists, we understand the intricate connection between diet and recovery, and how the right balance of nutrition can accelerate rehabilitation and optimize outcomes for our patients.
FACILITATING TISSUE REPAIR
This is the bread and butter of injury recover. The body has the ability to change at the cellular level from physiological adaptations to movement and exercise to facilitate bone growth, collagen production in tendons and aiding in muscle tissue regrowth. Nutrition can help lay the right foundation for these processes to occur optimally.
Protein is perhaps the most important macronutrient in this regard, as it provides essential amino acids that are required for muscle repair and growth. Including high-quality protein sources like lean meats, fish, eggs, and plant-based proteins helps to ensure that the body has what it needs to rebuild tissues effectively. And before you ask, protein supplementation through high quality powders is just as effective and metabolically similar to what you are ingesting via whole food sources.
Collagen is another important nutrient that should be highlighted in rehabilitation. Collagen-rich foods or supplementation can support the repair of connective tissues such as your tendons and ligaments at the level of the extracellular matrix. Improving the health of your tendons and ligaments will as a result, improve joint health and function as demonstrated by numerous clinical studies.
REDUCING INFLAMMATION
Inflammation is a natural part of the injury healing process, but chronic inflammation can slow recovery and prolong pain. The stress adaptations elicited on the body during an injury recover process are called hormetic stress responses and create the natural inflammatory response and post-exercise adaptations on skeletal muscle and metabolism. The adverse chronic stress inflammation response manifests with symptoms like fatigue, digestive issues, aches, pains, mental health changes, circulatory issues, and systemic responses.
In modern diets and societal lifestyle, more people are living in a higher state of chronic inflammation causing a metabolic cascade of issues. As a priority in rehabilitation, consuming anti-inflammatory foods is crucial for managing inflammation levels and recovering fasting.
A diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, found in fatty fish like salmon, walnuts, and flaxseeds, has been shown to help reduce inflammation. Likewise, incorporating plenty of fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants—such as berries, spinach, and sweet potatoes—can combat oxidative stress, a byproduct of inflammation. Reducing the intake of processed foods, refined sugars, and trans fats can also help control excessive inflammation, aiding in a smoother and faster recovery. If you’re finding yourself suffering from repetitive injuries, either the same or multiple within a year, one good place to start address would be diet.
An added benefit of nutrition in rehab is the surprising role in modulating pain. Studies have shown that diets rich in anti-inflammatory compounds can help reduce pain perception in patients dealing with musculoskeletal injuries.
SUPPORT IMMUNE FUNCTION
An injury can be a strain on the immune system as your body works to focus its attention on recovering. Emphasizing quality nutrition can ensure that you are fueling properly for recovery, particularly after surgery, to ensure the body is well-equipped to fight off potential complications like infections in post-surgical wounds. Additionally, ensuring adequate hydration is essential, as dehydration can impair immune function and delay healing.
PROMOTING BONE HEALING
Any bone disorder or injury should have a heavy emphasis on the nutrition component. Nutrients like calcium, Vitamin D and magnesium are essential to bone remineralization and stimulation of cortical bone growth. Mechanical loading in tendon-bone injuries, such as quadriceps tendon rupture, biceps tendon rupture, plays a role in restoring the zonal phenotype of the attachment site, and appropriate fuel is important.
Your ability to load your muscles, tendons and ligaments also helps to increase bone mineral density and has been shown to cure osteopenia in many individuals. Recognizing the need to then incorporate the right nutrients into the diet to facilitate this change is necessary.
MAINTAINING MUSCLE MASS
Injury often results in immobilization or reduced activity, which can lead to muscle atrophy within 1-2 weeks. Proper nutrition can help minimize muscle loss and maintain strength throughout the rehabilitation process. If you are under-eating your caloric need at baseline, you undoubtedly are not in a muscle hypertrophic state. Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) found in high-protein foods can help preserve lean muscle mass even during periods of limited movement. Consuming enough calories and balanced macronutrients ensures that the body has the fuel it needs to maintain muscle mass and prevent further atrophy and loss of strength.
ENHANCING ENERGY AND RECOVERY
Rehabilitation is a physically demanding process, and patients need the energy to keep up with their physical therapy sessions. Your body is requiring more than you think calorie wise in order to recover. Calories = energy. The body demands energy to heal and under-eating can stagnate the healing process. Ensuring adequate caloric intake, particularly from nutrient-dense sources like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats, is vital for sustaining energy levels. Carbohydrates are the body's primary energy source, and choosing complex carbs provides a steady stream of energy during rehabilitation.
Additionally, healthy fats can support hormone production, which is crucial for maintaining muscle and bone health.
Nutrition is an integral part of injury rehabilitation that complements the movement-based treatments we provide as physical therapists. By emphasizing a nutrient-dense diet, or specific nutrient focuses based on diagnoses and recovery, patients can significantly improve their recovery outcomes, reduce inflammation and pain, and support overall healing. Whether you're recovering from a sports injury, surgery, or chronic pain, working with both your physical therapist and a nutrition professional to create a tailored nutritional plan can help you get back to your activities faster and more effectively.
Nutrition isn’t just fuel—it’s medicine for the body during recovery. We love our friends at BASE Wellness who help many of our clients fuel appropriately for all they love to do. They offer free nutrition consultations too. Check out their site below!