Learn how to reduce inflammation with a special sports nutrition diet that works for your lifestyle.
Weekend warriors and
true athletes alike know that pain often comes with the territory. For most,
the first stop is the medicine cabinet, but how many realize that additional
relief can be found in the kitchen with proper sports nutrition?
Sports Nutrition:
Injury Aid When it comes to injuries, there are two kinds: acute and chronic.
"Acute sports injuries such as a sprained ankle require immediate medical
attention and anti-inflammatory medications (non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDS]), as well as the famous
R.I.C.E. acronym (rest, ice, compression, elevation)," says Janet Bond
Brill, PhD, RD, adjunct professor at both the Robert Stempel School of Public
Health at Florida International University and at the University of Miami and
author of Cholesterol DOWN.
Chronic injuries, on
the other hand, which can result from repetitive motions like the constant
pounding on the knee joints of a marathon runner, can benefit from a special
sports nutrition diet designed to reduce inflammation.
Sports Nutrition: What
Foods Can Reduce Inflammation? Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil,
specifically docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), along
with alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) in certain plants and nut oils are the most
potent anti-inflammatory foods.
Omega-3 fatty acids
can easily be added to your diet by eating fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, or
herring, while ALA is present in some nuts and vegetable oils.
Other
anti-inflammatory foods you can easily incorporate into your diet include
ground flaxseeds, flaxseed oil, walnuts, dark green leafy vegetables,
and canola oil.
"When it comes to fat, you truly are what you eat," says Dr. Brill.
"In the body, a biochemical transformation of essential fatty acids into
eicosanoids (hormone-like substances that the body uses for multiple
physiological purposes) occurs. Some eicosanoids provoke inflammation and
others are anti-inflammatory. The balance in the type of eicosanoids your cells
produce shifts depending on the type of fat that you eat. Eat more omega-3 and
less omega-6 and your cells will produce the more healthful anti-inflammatory eicosanoids."
Omega-6 is found in
many processed foods; cooking oils such as sunflower, safflower, corn,
cottonseed, and soybean; egg yolks; and meat, especially organ meat.
Sports Nutrition: What
Is the Recommended Intake? In general, a healthy dietstrives for a good balance of omega-3 fatty acids
to omega-6 fatty acids, with a ratio of approximately one omega-3 to four
omega-6s. Unfortunately, research has shown many Americans consume closer to 11
to 30 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3s.
To get these numbers
in better alignment, Brill recommends 3 grams of ALA per day (the amount in two
tablespoons of ground flaxseeds) and 0.65 grams of fish omega-3s (EPA/DHA),
which is equal to the amount of two servings of fatty fish per week.
Sports Nutrition: Easy
Ways to Add These Foods Into Your Diet Flaxseeds can easily be sprinkled into
the mix when making pancakes, waffles, muffins, or cookies or can be stirred
into hot oatmeal. Toss some dark green leafy vegetables into a salad instead of
iceberg lettuce. Consider cooking with canola oil and snack on walnuts instead
of chips or pretzels.
The good news doesn't
stop there. Not only can these foods help injury-related inflammation, they can
keep inflammation of all kinds at bay, including heart disease. And isn't that one of the reasons we exercise
in the first place?