Heading out the door? Read this article on the Outside app available now on iOS devices for members! Injury recovery is an uphill battle.

On top of all that, you might feel the need to rethink the way you eat, since your level of activity is lower than normal. Research suggests that the sweet spot lies somewhere in the middle. Below, three registered dietitian-athletes share the latest findings in injury nutrition, plus actionable advice, so that food can be an asset and a source of pleasure—rather than a source of stress—during an already trying time.

Respect the energy demands of healing. You may be moving less than normal, but the body immediately gets to work after trauma , explains Claire Fudge , an Ironman triathlete, a registered dietitian, and the founder of 4th Discipline Triathlon Nutrition in Birmingham, England.

The site of your injury swells as your blood flow increases and your body ramps up the production of cytokines, a type of protein that helps mediate inflammation. To keep up with all this extra work, your metabolism increases, too. Major surgery spikes it even more. Exact caloric demands depend on the type of trauma and your position in the chain of healing events, but the bottom line is that your body is under stress, and your energy needs likely increased at the onset of injury.

Gaining weight is a common fear among sidelined athletes, but do your best to put that aside. In some sports, that could result in a competitive disadvantage upon your return. The natural conclusion for most athletes, then, is to decrease food intake to prevent increased body fat and total mass.

But a fixation on weight or leanness can muddy the ultimate goal of healing quickly and completely. Just as elite runners eat differently during mile weeks than during taper weeks, your nutritional needs will change throughout a season of injury. There are three widely accepted phases of healing : inflammation, in which your immune system is activated and damage-control cells rush to the injured site; proliferation, which is when your body builds new tissue, restores blood vessels, and covers the surface of any exposed wounds; and remodeling, the period in which the traumatized area matures and regains strength, often leaving a scar in its wake.

Purported anti-inflammatory foods like turmeric get a lot of buzz, but the bottom line is that a healthy, well-rounded diet is the best culinary defense against inflammation , rather than one specific ingredient. However, there are certain ingredients that promote inflammation. During proliferation and remodeling, which start around day four and last as long as your injury does, your body is busy replacing damaged tissues with new, healthy ones.

Kruppa explains that your goal during this time should still be balanced nutrition, and she emphasizes how crucial it is that you get adequate calories in the form of ample protein, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats.

Of the three macronutrients—carbs, fat, and protein—research best supports the role of protein during injury recovery. Whenever a body experiences a health disturbance, such as sickness or inflammation, extra protein is required to maximize muscle protein synthesis.

Consume too little of it and your healing will lag, inflammation will increase, and muscle loss may follow. Beckmann recommends aiming for one gram of protein per pound of body weight per day while recovering from an injury, so grams for a pound person.

Spreading that intake throughout the day is helpful, too—try and sneak a little protein into each meal and snack, and get a final hit at bedtime. Energy intake and distribution will need to be reevaluated to match a decreased volume and intensity or to aid in rehabilitation and recovery.

There are a wide range of athletic injuries that can take student-athletes out of the game and the nutritional concerns can vary greatly for each. Bearing an injury requires making modifications to training so that proper rest and recovery can occur.

During rehabilitation and recovery, the specific nutrient needs are similar to those for an athlete desiring muscle growth, with the most important consideration being to avoid malnutrition or nutrient deficiencies. Here are the specifics on how to eat for optimal recovery and healing while preventing weight gain:.

Calories are necessary for the healing process and consuming too few will likely slow the healing process. However, to prevent weight gain while training is on hold, total daily caloric intake likely needs to decrease.

Many athletes are accustomed to consuming additional calories through convenience foods and drinks such as sports drinks, bars, shakes or gels. These sources of fuel are better left for times of intense training and higher energy needs.

Instead, focus on foundation of whole foods that includes lean proteins, fiber-rich whole grains, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, and healthy fats such as nuts and seeds. These foods tend to be less nutrient-dense as compared to whole food choices.

This article was written for the Sport Science Institute by SCAN Registered Dietitians RDs. For advice on customizing an eating plan for injury prevention or after injury, consult an RD who specializes in sports, particularly a Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics CSSD.

Find a SCAN RD at www. Tipton KD. Nutrition for Acute Exercise-Induced Injuries. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism. Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group, Rosenbloom C, Coleman E.

Sports Nutrition: A Practice Manual for Professionals , 5 th edition. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Rauh, MJ, Nichols JF and Barrack MT. Relationship Among Injury and Disordered Eating, Menstrual Dysfunction, and Low Bone Mineral Density in High School Athletes: A Prospective Study.

Journal of Athletic training. Cowell BS, Rosenbloom CA, Skinner R, Sumers SH. Policies on screening female athletes for iron deficiency in NCAA Division I-A institutions.

Int J Sports NutrExercMetab. Chen, Yin-Ting, Tenforde, Adam and Fredericson, Michael.

Vary your salad greens. Choose dandelion, mustard or turnip greens, kale and arugula as they are high in calcium, iron and antioxidants. Salads are a great start, as are stir-fries with any of the above. Of course, kale chips are an easy and tasty snack, or you can blend greens in smoothies or add some to breakfast or dinner omelets.

Fuel your training with the right amount of carbohydrates. Studies suggest that adequate carbohydrate intake before and during strenuous training can help counteract immunosuppression that is commonly seen following exhaustive exercise. Eat a carbohydrate-rich meal or snack before all workouts even the 5 a.

Be sure to take in 30—60 grams of carbohydrate per hour during prolonged training and follow this up with half your body weight in grams of carbs e. Recover with adequate protein with above carbs after workouts. Here are some preventative measures from a nutritional perspective that may help to avoid injury.

Monitoring body composition is important for health, performance but also for injury prevention. Low levels of lean muscle mass and high body fat levels are both associated with increased risk of injury.

Unwanted excess body weight can negatively impact mechanical stress during exercise, thus causing musculoskeletal related injuries. Insufficient energy intake like during periods of deliberate weight loss may accentuate fatigue and impair recovery.

When the diet lacks enough calories to support the body during periods of intense training, nutrients may be sourced from within the body to support physiological functions. For example, when dietary protein is inadequate, skeletal muscle may be broken down to fuel protein requirements, thus reducing lean muscle mass and increasing muscle injury risk.

It is important for adequate energy intake to provide the nutrients required to fuel exercise and recover optimally. Recovering from exercise is essential to help repair any damaged tissues and replenish energy stores to fuel repeated exercise performance.

Dietary protein is known for its role in lean tissue repair and growth so it is recommended to consume g after training, as part of a daily intake of 1. Alongside protein, post-exercise carbohydrate ingestion is also advocated to promote muscle glycogen synthesis to perform subsequent high-intensity training.

For sports performance dietary protein and carbohydrates get the headlines for their role in protein synthesis and energy availability, however dietary fat is equally important for performance health. Instead, monitor your workout performance, your body weight and your body composition.

Certain types of fat are also essential ingredients in compounds that participate in the inflammation process, which can keep small injuries from becoming big ones. In a recent study from the University of Buffalo, 86 female runners were interviewed about their eating habits and current injury status.

Their level of fat intake turned out to be the single best dietary predictor of injury status, with the women who ate the least fat being the most likely to have an existing injury.

Make sure that no more than 10 percent of your total daily calories come from saturated fat, and try to consume twice as much unsaturated fat as saturated fat.

Also, do your best to hit a daily target of 3, mg of omega-3 essential fats. Keep the calcium coming. Bone strains and stress fractures are uncommon in swimming and cycling, but quite common in running—especially for those with low bone density.

The recommended daily intake of calcium is 1, to 1, mg.