Nutrition for an injured Queen

Fuelling around injury

It can be tricky to know when and how to adjust your eating patterns when you are injured (injuries are rough, hang in there!!). We all know that we need to fuel our training with good, adequate eating but what needs to change when we have time off from running to recover?

Don’t abandon your carbohydrate intake, carbs are important

Yes, carbohydrates are an important fuel source for running and other exercise, breaking down into glucose and being used by muscle cells to power your stride as well as being stored as glycogen for exercise and blood sugar regulation. But carbohydrates are also used in the body for other systems including gut function, ovulation, brain power and even mood. In younger women and adolescents’ carbohydrate intake is also important for growth and development. 

When you are training your carbohydrate intake will include your baseline intake, the carbohydrates you include with meals and snacks and the additional carbs required for your training. As someone dealing with injury you might still be training through forms of cross training or rehab so it’s important to still factor this in additional to your baseline where needed. Training carbs include things like gels, sports drinks and other simple sugars which are used during exercise duration. 

So in saying all of this

Keep your baseline carbohydrates, focusing on including portions similar to~1/4 of your plate and ideally high fibre carbohydrate sources such as:

• Whole grains – oats, quinoa, brown rice, millet
• Starchy vegetables – corn, kumara, potato (skin on)
• Legumes and pulses
• Fruit

Factor in training carbs for any form of training over 60min aiming for a great starting point of 30g of carbs per hour of exercise. Some examples of common fuel options and carbohydrate count include:

• Sports electrolyte 250mls = 15-20g depending on brand
• Gels x 1 = ~25g
• Jet Planes x 5 = 35g
• Jelly beans x 15 = 20g
• Snakes x 3 = 25g
• Sports Chews (such as Gu chews) x 8 = 20g

Include adequate protein intake to promote recovery

Protein intake is getting a lot of spotlight in the nutrition world at the moment, and for good reason. Eating adequate protein intake can help you feel fuller and satisfied for longer, reduce sugar cravings especially in the afternoon/early evening and again before bed, and importantly if you are injured protein is essential for tissue growth and repair. Protein intake recommendations have changed over the past decade or so and we are now encouraging women to try and include 1.5-2g of protein per kilogram per day split between meals and snacks. There is also some evidence that collagen supplementation (when paired with vitamin C) can help recovery and repair of tendons. Foods that are rich in protein include:

• Animal sources such as meat (meat closer to the bone is higher in collagen), poultry, eggs and dairy products (especially yoghurt, milk and cottage cheese)
• Fish
• Tofu and tempeh
• Protein supplements
• Legumes, pulses, peas
• Some grains such as quinoa, millet, oats

Zoom in on nutrients that promote repair and reduce inflammation

Certain nutrients are used by the body to reduce inflammation and promote repair of injured tissues. These include:

• Zinc – shellfish, meat, wholegrains
• Omega-3 – olive oil, hemp seeds, chia seeds, nuts, salmon, sardines, avocado
• Vitamin C – citrus, berries, broccoli, peppers, kiwi
• Iron – red meat, pumpkin seeds, dark chocolate, dried fruit, grains such as quinoa, eggs, fish, poultry, dark green vegetables

Listen to your body

The best way to adjust your intake is to lean on the cues your body gives you by focusing on intuitive eating. You might find your appetite decreases when you are less active or that your craving for certain foods (like salty foods or carbohydrates) reduces with the reduction in training load. Many women worry about eating “too much” when they are unable to train the way that they want to but forget about the role of nutrition for our health and wellbeing outside of our training but also to recover from said injury! Regardless of exercise, an adequate and balanced diet is important for your injury rehabilitation, ovulation and healthy cycle experience, gut function and your mood and well-being. So just because you’re injured and not able to run doesn’t mean you should stop fuelling your body.