When we’re recovering from an injury it’s important to give our body the building blocks it needs to repair.

This blog will tell you what your body needs for muscle injury repair specifically.

When a muscle is injured the requirements of the injured cells change. It’s important that our nutrient intake is adequate enough the meet this change in cell requirement.

A higher intake of zinc, vitamin C and magnesium have been shown to improve strength and metabolism.

Zinc also promotes the activation and multiplication of muscle parent cells (myognic progenitor cells) which are key in the muscle repair process.

Low vitamin D has also been linked to low muscle strength and power and is key to injury recovery.

So where can you get these nutrients?

It’s always best to try to get the nutrients you need from your food first and if that’s not adequate then you can turn to supplements.

Zinc: meat, shellfish, legumes (chickpeas, lentils, beans), hemp, squash and pumpkin seeds, wheat germ, peanut butter.

Vitamin C: brocolli, spinach, potatoes, chilli, soft and citrus fruits.

Magnesium: baked beans, brown pasta, nuts, lentils, beans, peanut butter, tuna fish, chicken, meat, milk, yogurt, wholemeal bread, banana, broccoli, jacket potatoes.

Vitamin D (there are 2 types):

D3 Cholecalciferol we get most efficiently from the suns UVB rays.

The UVB rays from the sun are strong enough in the UK to promote vitmain D production in the skin between March and October.

We can also get some vitamin D3 from: oily fish (advised for winter months) liver, egg yolks, margarine, cod liver oil and some wild mushrooms

D2 Ergocalciferol we get from mushrooms grown in UV light, fortified foods and supplements.

The information in this blog came from the following sources:

Flueck, M. (2013). Molecular and cell biology of muscle regeneration. In H.W.Mueller-Wolfahr, P. Ueblacker, L. Haensel, &W.E. Garrett (Eds.), Muscle Injuries in sports (pp.90-104). Stuttgart:Thieme.

Hildebrand, R. A., Miller, B., Warren, A., Hildebrand, D., & Smith, B. K. (2016). Compromised vitamin D status negatively effects muscular strength and power in collegiate athletes. International Journal of Sport and Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 1-19.

Lukaski, H. C. (2000). Magnesium, zinc, and chromium nutriture and physical activity. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 72(2 Suppl), 5855-5935.

Ohashi, K., Nagata, Y., Wada, E., Zammit, P. S., Shiozuka, M., & Matsuda, R. (2015). Zinc promotes proliferation and activation of myogenic cells via the PI3K/Akt and ERK signalling cascade. Experimental Cell Research, 333 (2), 228-237. doi:10.1016/j.yexcr.2015.03.003

Peter Ueblacker, Lutz Haensel & Hans-Wilhelm Mueller-Wolfahrt (2016) Treatment of muscle injuries in football, Journal of Sports Sciences, 34:24, 2329-2337, DOI:10.1080/02640414.2016.1252849

This blog is copyright of Holly Elliott registered osteopath trading as Helping Hands Health, 15a Clayton Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE2 4RP.