The Achilles Tendon and Nutrition by Laura Kopec, ND, MA, CNC
No one likes an injury. Especially if you are an athlete. The Achilles tendon is one of the most frequent spots for an injury in an athlete. When the tendons become overused or inflamed you may be diagnosed with tendonitis. Tendonitis may cause greater risk of tearing the tendon. A tear of the tendon may be a complete tear or partial tear and may cause pain along with a snapping or popping sound. The area may swell or be in pain. It is important during an injury to consult your health care practitioner to find out what you can do to recover quickly. In addition, there is some important information you should know about nutrition and the Achilles tendon.
There are a number of things you can do nutritionally when experiencing inflammation or tear in the tendon. A most crucial nutrient is manganese. Manganese is important in injuries involving tendons and cartilage. Good sources of manganese are nuts such as almonds, cashews, seeds such as sunflower seeds, leafy greens, pineapple and herbs such as red raspberry leaves. Manganese is an important mineral found in many whole foods. A diet rich in nuts, seeds, leafy greens is important for healing, but is also plays a part in sports nutrition in the prevention of injuries.
Other important nutrients for the Achilles tendon include calcium, magnesium, and silica. Food sources of calcium include sardines, organic soymilk, almonds or almond milk, broccoli, salmon, oatmeal, kale and sesame seeds. Cow dairy is not the ideal source of calcium for athletes since it can often create further inflammation in the body. Magnesium is found in dark leafy greens, black beans, avocado, bananas and fish to name a few. If you decide to add a supplement to your daily regime, make sure the calcium supplement contains magnesium, Vitamin D, silicon, boron and other supporting nutrients for better calcium assimilation.
Athletes are often encouraged to take amino acid supplements for performance enhancement or for injuries. If you decided to take a protein powder, or amino acid supplement a blend of all essential amino acids is better for overall health as opposed to single amino acids which over time may create other deficiencies or imbalances.
Many athletes focus their diet on foods that may improve performance. If you are one of these athletes, you may be too focused on protein and carb loading with the wrong kind of carbohydrates. Refined carbohydrates are very damaging to an athlete, especially gymnasts and other strength training sports over the long term due to the potential risk for metabolic acidosis. Metabolic acidosis is the leeching of important minerals such as calcium, magnesium and potassium from the bones, joints, tendons and cartilage where they are used to neutralize animal proteins, legumes and grains if the diet contains too many animal proteins, grains, vegetable oils and other acidic food without enough alkaline foods. From there these minerals are excreted through the urine where they are no longer stored in the body for strong bones, tissues, joints, healthy tendons and cartilage. Fruits and vegetables and other alkaline foods are important for your long term health and injury prevention, and not just the protein or grains.Nutritional support during injury recovery also includes reducing or elimination high inflammatory foods such as sugar, gluten, and cow dairy. High inflammatory foods are stressful on the body and invest too much of the metabolic energy that could be used for healing and recovery. Non-food ingredients that are found in processed foods may also further inflammation and prolong recovery. These food ingredients include high fructose corn syrup, which also converts to fat in the body, aspartame which may create cardiac irritability and transfat such as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils which are linked to clogging the arteries and may reduce blood flow which helps healing and performance.
Remember, good nutrition, especially sports nutrition is not just about performance enhancement or muscle building. Good sports nutrition also involves a balanced diet that supports injury prevention and injury recovery. Every athlete is unique, and good care must be taken to support your performance with good nutrition. Pay attention to your nutrition so that injuries, long term health consequences, chronic inflammation and early retirement are not in your future. Pay attention to your nutrition so a long term career as a healthy elite athlete is part of your future.
Copyright 2013 Kopec Naturals, Inc. All rights reserved. The above information is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for
medical advice.
Laura Kopec is a nutritionist, educator, speaker and author. She is the author of Let’ s Get Real about Eating: A practical guide to nutrition and health. Her consulting practice is located in Plano serving clients by phone and in person. For more information call 972- 468-9114 or visit our website: www.kopecnaturals.com
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