When you’re dealing with sprains, breaks, cuts and inflammation, nutrition isn’t necessarily the first thing that comes to mind. And yet your body needs more nutrients than ever at this time to provide raw materials and co-factors, both for its immediate response to injury, and for the entire wound healing process.

In fact, with a diet that is supportive of your tendons, muscles, bones and other tissue, you may be less likely to injure yourself in the first place – be it from sports injuries, repetitive strain injury or breaks resulting from weakened bones.

The most important place to start is with hydration. One of the main components of cartilage, tendons and other types of connective tissue is ground substance, a gel-like fluid that has the capacity to hold an incredible amount of water. If this ground substance is well hydrated, then the tissue is less likely to damage easily, and is able to clean up and get vital nutrients and materials to any injuries.
If your diet is too acidic, your body may choose to dump the excess acidity into this ground substance instead of water – with the result that your cartilage, tendons and other connective tissues become brittle, dry and sometimes damaged and painful. This is not the way to prevent or heal injury! A high intake of alkalising vegetables is therefore important, alongside avoiding acidic foods such as sweets, fizzy drinks, caffeine, alcohol, highly processed foods and convenience food.

Protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, nuts, seeds and pulses are also acid-forming, but should not be avoided as proteins are essential as building blocks for healthy new tissue, as well as for making hormones and enzymes that trigger wound healing processes.

Finally, instead of turning to anti-inflammatory medication to bring down any pain and swelling, you may be interested to explore effective natural anti-inflammatories. Zinc and omega 3 oils are among the best here, and aloe vera can also be useful, both internally and as an external compress.

This is a brief glimpse of how we can influence tissue health and wound healing with diet. To find out more about how to prevent and deal with injury from the inside out, contact the Dragonfly Clinic on 01273 311711.

Kirsten Chick
www.connectwithnutrition.co.uk