How to Recover Faster: 27 of the Best Foods for Healing

As a runner, getting hurt sucks.

Depending on the injury, research has shown that icing, message, compression, rest, strength work, and elevation are all successful treatments for injuries; however, to completely heal an injury time off is almost always a necessary element.

But, are there healing foods that aid muscle recovery?

If so, what are the best healing foods to load up on during this “waiting period” for runners with bone issues and tendonitis to help decrease healing time and get back to running?

Your body is built to heal from the inside out and eating recovery foods are important in the healing of injuries.

If you provide the right foods and nutrients to your body during the time of healing the duration of an injury can be shortened.

First: Make sure you’re eating enough

Research has shown that lack of nutrition can delay wound healing.

Our body’s use the nutrients (fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals) from the foods we eat to aid in the process of recovery.

As such, when you’re limiting the amount of nutrients you put in your body, you now have less nutrients available to dedicate towards recovery.

So, you want to carefully balance eating enough calories to aid in recovery without going overboard and gaining weight.

The easiest way to do this is make sure all the foods you eat are nutrient dense and help with healing. This means no wasted calories!

What Foods Will Help Me Recover Faster?

If you happen to be fighting a nagging injury or have just recently picked up a runner injury, I suggest adding the following foods and nutrients to your diet to help get back on track with your training and allow your body to be at its best.

Even if you do not currently have any aches or pains, adding these foods into your diet can help prepare your body for healing if you should happen to get hurt.

Foods rich vitamin C

Examples include: citrus fruits, kiwi, peppers and broccoli.

Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin that your body does not have the ability to make, which means you need to consume it on a daily basis. Vitamin C plays an important role in the healing process by building new protein for the skin, scar tissue, tendons, ligaments and blood vessels.

Vitamin C also helps our bodies maintain cartilage and bone tissues. In addition to the healing properties, vitamin C offers internal protection against free radicals. Free radicals are molecules in our body that can cause significant damage and come from our external environment, such as the foods we eat, high intensity work outs (like running), and chemicals we are exposed to.

Foods Rich in Vitamin A

Examples include: sunflower seeds, carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash, swiss chard, and spinach

Vitamin A promotes the production of white blood cells in your body. White blood cells are the main “keepers of the injury”; they help fight off infection and viruses.

Even if you don’t have a visual injury like an open wound, your body will still rely on the production of white blood cells to protect the injury and increase the rate of healing.

Foods Rich in Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Examples include: salmon, flax seeds, and walnuts.

Many research studies have found that omega-3 fatty acids have the ability to reduce inflammation, so much so that other pain killers and drug may not be needed.

Most of these studies have been conducted on individuals with rheumatoid arthritis or other cases of extreme inflammation. The results of these numerous studies indicate that high quality omega-3s will reduce inflammation from an injury or daily run.

Reducing the swelling and inflammation around an injury will reduce the pain you may be experiencing and promote healing!

Foods Rich in Amino Acids and Creatine

Examples include: fish, meat and other animal products such as dairy. Also nuts and seeds

In order to accelerate recovery from injury, muscle growth and repair the body needs amino acids (the building blocks of protein) and creatine. In fact, when amino acids were combined with creatine, studies show a 3x larger response to muscle protein synthesis (think muscle rebuilding) than regular protein.

Personally, in addition to eating health sources like fish, I also highly recommend Heal from the Amino Co. It’s much easier to drink post workout than it is to eat meat, which is why I like it so much.

Foods Rich in Zinc

Examples include: oysters, nuts, seeds, and chicken.

Every single tissue in your body contains zinc; therefore, it becomes very important in the healing process of any injury. Zinc will help your body use the fats and proteins you consume to promote growth and healing of the injured tissue.

Zinc will also help keep your immune system strong, much like vitamin A, which will protect you from other infections or viruses.

Foods Rich in Antioxidants

Examples include: blueberries, tart cherries, prunes, turmeric, ginger, coffee.

Free radicals are the toxins that are roaming around our body, especially when we sustain a running injury. They make us weaker by taking from our healthy cells. Foods like blueberries, strawberries and tart cherries help to control those free radicals, so our body can focus on repair.

Ginger and numeric have also been named natures anti-inflammatory medicine as they accelerate recovery within our bodies.

Finally, coffee has been proven to not only decrease recovery time, but restore Central Nervous System function, so it can get back to making you better.

Foods Rich in Protein

Examples include: grass feed beef, chicken, turkey, eggs, Greek yogurt.

An injury to the body automatically increases the body’s demand for protein. Protein is required in multiple processes that take place as soon as the injury happens and through the injury recovery time.

How quickly and how well the injury heals can largely depend on consuming adequate amounts of high quality protein. Therefore, it is essential that runners who are hurt shift their diet from a high carbohydrate to high protein.

Bonus Tip

For me, one of the easiest ways to make sure I am getting all my vitamins and minerals (especially the ones discussed above) naturally is to use a daily greens supplement like Athletic Greens.

One scoop of Athletic Greens contains 75 bioavailable vitamins, minerals and whole food-sourced ingredients, including a multivitamin, multimineral, probiotic, greens superfood blend and more.

All I need to do is add one scoop to a glass of water in the morning when I wake up (which also helps me stay hydrated, another important factor in recovering faster) and I know for sure I am getting everything I need.

If you want to try them out, they have are currently running a special bonus of 5 travel packs and a year’s supply of vitamin D. Check it out here.

With races to train for and PR’s to hit, getting injured or staying injured is simply not an option for most of us.

If you are plagued by an old injury, just recently injured, or looking to prevent an injury, add these foods into your diet to give your body what it needs to protect, heal, repair, and recover as quickly as possible.