Injuries can interrupt training and competition for even the most experienced athletes. When injuries occur, attention to sports nutrition can help get you back in action sooner. It can be tempting to slack off on your usual attention to eating well, but this is definitely not the time to indulge in junk food!
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Three key nutrients for healing are calories, protein, and water. It can be challenging to adjust your calorie intake when injured. You want to promote healing, but avoid unwanted weight gain. You will need to consider how much your training volume has decreased and how aggressive your rehab regimen is. Calories should not be restricted too much, because you need to protect your existing muscle mass as much as possible. When you don’t eat enough calories, muscle may be broken down. There is also a calorie cost to the body’s healing process, and too few calories may slow things down. Focus on eating nutrient dense foods and avoiding highly processed and high sugar foods. Check your weight frequently and adjust your intake up or down based on trends that you notice.

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​Does it seem like more and more kids are getting concussions? There has been an increase in the number of concussions in student athletes over the past several years. This has led to interest in potential nutritional approaches to prevention and treatment. In 2011 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released their report “Nutrition and Traumatic Brain Injury,” which was focused on treating military TBIs.  The report identified some nutrients of interest for future research both for these serious injuries and for mild TBI (concussion.) These include omega 3 fatty acids, choline, creatine, zinc, resveratrol, curcumin, and other plant based anti-oxidants.