How to Plan Our Feeding After Suffering an Injury | Gym Tips

Hello Steemians! Today I want to share with you an article about how to plan our diet during a period of rehabilitation, after having suffered a sports injury.

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The first thing we have to know is that when a sports injury occurs, our energy expenditure will be reduced, since we must be in a period of rest, or partial or absolute mobilization. This will also affect the muscle mass and cause a process known as atrophy, which involves a decrease in the number of muscle fibers and their size. This loss of muscle mass will lead to a decrease in strength, functionality and decreased sensitivity to insulin, while promoting greater fat gain.

As I mentioned earlier, the energy expenditure will be lower, therefore the calories that we are going to ingest daily through the diet should be reduced as well. We must be careful with the type of caloric reduction that is applied, that is, a very broad caloric reduction will harm the curative and re-adaptive processes. In this way, it would be advisable to apply a light calorie surplus, some specialists recommend between 15% and 50% of our daily energy expenditure at rest.

Another important aspect that occurs when we face a period of immobilization and rest, is what is known as anabolic resistance. When a healthy person ingests food, a metabolic response occurs that favors the creation of tissue. On the other hand, in those individuals who have been subjected to a period of very long rest and immobilization, the stimulus necessary to create this new tissue (anabolic response) is diminished and an enhancement is required to promote recovery and rehabilitation. after the sports injury.

How could we overcome this anabolic resistance?

Many studies suggest that this anabolic resistance is due to the decrease in protein intake, rather than to a reduction in energy intake. This is due to the fact that during periods of immobilization, the appetite is reduced and, as is known, foods rich in proteins such as meat, fish and eggs, are the ones that give us that feeling of fullness. Therefore, there is always a tendency to reduce protein intake to a greater extent.

Then, to overcome this anabolic resistance we must increase the protein intake, and that this protein is of high quality. Also, we have to distribute this protein during the day to favor a greater response. Some studies suggest that there is a greater benefit to eat between 4 and 6 daily intakes of 25-30 gr of protein, instead of consuming 1 or 2 intakes with a very high protein content.

What about carbohydrates?

Obviously, if we reduce our daily activity, we increase the protein intake and we have to reduce the calories, then the sacrificed ones will be carbohydrates. This is going to be beneficial for the individual because, as I mentioned earlier, there is a greater resistance to insulin during periods of immobilization.

And what happens with fats?

The fats will suppose the energetic rest to cover our daily requirements, and it is necessary to emphasize the omega 3 fatty acids. These fats have demonstrated to have an anti-inflammatory effect. When we have an injury there is an inflammatory response that is part of the healing process itself. Normally we tend to slow it down and this can be totally counterproductive. Therefore, the omega 3 that we must consume are those that come from real foods, for example fish, nuts, seeds, etc.

Supplementation

Other supplements that could be beneficial to promote this recovery are creatine and HBB. As we all know, these are two supplements that have been used to increase muscle gains in large groups of athletes, however the evidence that exists so far is limited and there is considerable controversy regarding their results. Therefore, the consumption of creatine and HBB can not be recommended openly to favor this recovery from a sports injury.

References

1. Tipton, K.D., Nutritional Support for Exercise-Induced Injuries. Sports Med, 2015. 1(45): p. 015-0398.
2. Wall, B.T., J.P. Morton, and L.J. van Loon, Strategies to maintain skeletal muscle mass in the injured athlete: nutritional considerations and exercise mimetics. Eur J Sport Sci, 2015. 15(1): p. 53-62.
3. Wall, B.T. and L.J. van Loon, Nutritional strategies to attenuate muscle disuse atrophy. Nutr Rev, 2013. 71(4): p. 195-208.
4. Powers, S.K., Can antioxidants protect against disuse muscle atrophy? Sports Med, 2014. 2014(44): p. 014-0255.
5. Magne, H., et al., Nutritional strategies to counteract muscle atrophy caused by disuse and to improve recovery. Nutr Res Rev, 2013. 26(2): p. 149-65.
6. Galvan, E., et al., Protecting Skeletal Muscle with Protein and Amino Acid during Periods of Disuse. Nutrients, 2016. 8(7).
7. Ratliff, J., et al., Carbohydrate restriction (with or without additional dietary cholesterol provided by eggs) reduces insulin resistance and plasma leptin without modifying appetite hormones in adult men. Nutr Res, 2009. 29(4): p. 262-8.
8. Boden, G., et al., Effect of a low-carbohydrate diet on appetite, blood glucose levels, and insulin resistance in obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Ann Intern Med, 2005. 142(6): p. 403-11.
9. Hespel, P., et al., Oral creatine supplementation facilitates the rehabilitation of disuse atrophy and alters the expression of muscle myogenic factors in humans. J Physiol, 2001. 536(Pt 2): p. 625-33.
10. Op ‘t Eijnde, B., et al., Effect of oral creatine supplementation on human muscle GLUT4 protein content after immobilization. Diabetes, 2001. 50(1): p. 18-23.

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