• Injury Recovery Specialist

    Injury Recovery Specialist

    Using nutrition to help you recover faster.

Injury Frustrated

Recovering from injury can be a very challenging time both physically and psychologically. I have been fortunate enough as a nutritionist to help a number of people including myself increase their rate of recovery through nutrition and lifestyle modifications.

My clients include well over 50 of the UK’s top stunt men and women and I have also worked with a number of athletes including British sprinters and competitive motocross athletes. I have numerous referral links with osteopaths and physiotherapists that welcome my input when helping clients achieve faster recovery rates from their injury.

How can nutrition help to speed up injury recovery?

When I fractured my leg and ruptured a couple of ligaments in my knee back in 2014, I was shocked at the complete lack of nutritional guidance people are given to support their recovery.

As I laid in hospital after my operation making friends with the rest of the patients on the ward who had also been in for their knee operations that day, we began discussing our recovery strategies. I mentioned what I did and discussed with them my thoughts on nutrition and its ability to support injury recovery. For many if not all of them I know this is the only nutritional advice they would have got throughout their whole recovery.

It is very interesting that both doctors and physical therapists tend to have very little regard for the role nutrition can play in the recovery of injuries and the rehabilitation process.

Interestingly the injury recovery process on a physiological level is an orderly one and one in which we can influence with nutrition and lifestyle management. Below I am going to take you through different phases of injury and how nutrition may help.

Stage 1 – Inflammation phase

This is the first stage of healing lasting up to about 5 days. Nutrition at this point plays a limited role, as you want the body to run through its own natural inflammatory response. Trying to use specific nutritional compounds at this point to calm inflammation can actually have a negative effect on the injury outcome, thus a general focus on health nutrition habits is all that is required.

Once the injury occurs blood-clotting forms, inflammation begins, clean-up cells are sent to the wounded area and the process of repair is initiated.

Stage 2 – The proliferation phase

From about day 4-5 this phase lasts for around a few weeks or more. Once the initial inflammation subsides and new blood flow is reestablished the body is now able to feed oxygen and nutrients to help the rebuilding process.

Nutrition can play a role in supporting blood flow, nutrients required to support normal and faster regeneration of tissue and can also be used to help control chronic levels of inflammation and continue the process of removing unwanted debris around the site of injury.

Stage 3 – Remodeling phase of injury

This phase can go from a few weeks lasting up to a couple of years or more. Many tissues have quite poor blood supply thus an injury can take some time to heal and fully recover. Optimising your nutrition means you can supply the body with the correct nutrients that are going to support recovery and also utilise nutrients and compounds that can enhance the recovery process.

Different tissues may require slightly different nutrient demands, thus targeted nutrition may help support specific injury rehabilitation.

Olivia - Stunt Performer

I appreciate everything Steve did for me, he’s honestly the most knowledgeable person I’ve ever know about the body, health and nutrition. He’s well known in the film industry for helping Stunt Performers and Actors with their body composition for specific roles, but he also plays a tremendous role in the support for sports people and necessary quick recoveries from injuries.

Nutrition for Injury Recovery

What are the main nutrition considerations during Injury Recovery?

Total Energy Demands

When we are injured this increases our energy requirements and a big mistake many people make during their recovery phase is they eat inadequate amounts of calories.

This can cause the body to tap into it’s reserves or lower metabolic functions which can slow down the recovery process. It is crucial not only to get the total calorie intake optimised but to also optimise the levels of proteins, fats and carbohydrates to suit the recovery and goals of that individual.

Inadequate Micronutrient Intake

Many people these days have micronutrient insufficiencies. Inadequate levels of any one single nutrient can have a significant effect on the regeneration of new tissue, affecting the rate of recovery. Also during the recovery phase there will be a higher demand for micronutrients, further increasing the demand on the stored nutrients or what we get from our food.

Specialist Nutrient and Herb Support

Unbeknown to many there are numerous natural food and herb based compounds that can support the recovery process. Many have been scientifically tested to look at how they affect specific types of injury, yet most practitioners are completely unaware of the compounds available that can support the healing process.

Can lifestyle impact on injury recovery?

Many people underestimate the role their lifestyle can have on recovery. Adequate rest and relaxation is crucial to the injury recovery rate. Working on removing or reframing stressors and optimising sleep is crucial for injury recovery.

Some people remain in a fight of flight stress response state even during their recovery, this state can enhance hormones in the body that promote tissue catabolism (break down), especially if combined with a diet that is not supporting their recovery requirements.

Relevant nutrition and health tests

There are tests available now to help look for insufficiencies in particular nutrients that may slow down the recovery process. For some individuals this may be something that we look to take advantage of to individualise their protocol even further.

These tests may include certain blood nutrient tests and specialist testing that assesses urine metabolites that indicate hormone health and cellular metabolic health as well. This is something that may be discussed, especially in those individuals looking to really speed up the recovery process as much as possible.

Andy Pilgrim - Stuntman

I needed to get back to work and that would only happen after some serious bone growth… Enter Steve Grant who advised me on the best food choices for inflammation and healing and top quality supplement choices to speed up recovery.

Injury Recovery How I Can Help

How I can help you to recover quicker from an injury more quickly…

My process is simple; as with all clients it starts with an initial health screen, review of health history, medical history and review of your nutrition and lifestyle habits. We will also discuss your injury and any specific goals and targets you have in mind for your recovery process.

At that point we then work together to put together an individualised plan of action to support your health goals. We then look at scheduling follow up sessions throughout the recovery process to tweak and optimise your program.

Contact me

To find out more about how we may be able to assist you on your journey please fill out the enquiry form below.

*Please note that Steve is currently running at near capacity for clients. For that reason he may not be able to offer any availability. We are happy to add you to a cancellation list or Steve has a network of other clinicians that he may be able to refer you to if you so wish.

If you are a referral from a clinician please complete the form and ensure you state who has referred you or have your practitioner email Steve direct to make a referral that way.

Please click the button below to open the client enquiry form:

Send Client Enquiry

From the following categories what areas do you feel you need the most support with?

Foundational Five

Systems & Symptoms

Optimising Performance