Are you an elite
athlete, weekend warrior, avid cyclist or fitness fanatic? If so, you need to
find a naturopathic sports medicine clinic to help you reach your peak
performance level. A sports medicine clinic should be equipped to help you with
two important aspects of training: nutrition and manual therapy.
Sport Nutrition:
Misguided nutritional choices can negatively affect muscle
building and repair, endurance and power abilities, energy levels, gastrointestinal
health, joint health, inflammation, injury recovery and immune health.
Here are some key
things to consider when thinking about ideal sport nutrition…
Consideration
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Rationale
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Suggestions
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Protein
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Meeting daily
protein requirements is essential for muscle repair and muscle building.
Intense training without getting the right amino acids via diet or
supplementation can result in prolonged recovery time, post-exercise muscle
pain and instability. Additionally, protein is required for immune health,
which means inadequate amounts could contribute to frequent colds and infections.
|
Daily protein intake for a
training athlete is at least 1.2 g/kg body weight. This can be difficult to
meet, so a good quality protein powder and branch chain amino acid supplement
can help. When looking for a protein powder, look for a whey isolate with at
least 20g of protein per serving.
|
Fat
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Healthy fats
are important in the prevention and recovery of injury. Specifically, not
consuming enough unsaturated fat in the form of omega-3 fatty acids can
increase systemic inflammation, which may prolong healing time. In female
athletes specifically, consuming healthy fats are important for the
production of sex hormones, which influence menstruation, fertility and
osteoporosis risk.
|
Healthy fats are unsaturated
fats (omega-3 and 6 fatty acids). Great dietary sources include olive oil,
fatty fish, eggs, lean meats, avocados, nuts and seeds. It’s also a good idea
to supplement daily with a good quality fish oil. High dose fish oil can be
especially helpful during acute inflammation (sprains/strains).
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Whole Food Diet
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An athlete’s
diet should be based around whole-foods, which means avoiding processed foods
and refined sugars. A poor diet can increase inflammation in the body and
aggravate the gastrointestinal system. A whole food diet is also high in
antioxidants.
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As much as possible, cook your
food from fresh ingredients. Avoid anything packaged, processed or refined.
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Supplements to Enhance
Performance
|
In addition to dietary
recommendations, added supplements can be helpful during training.
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Ask your sports medicine clinic
about:
CoQ10 (antioxidant, important in
cellular energy metabolism)
B vitamins (important cofactor in many
cellular reactions)
Rhodiola(adaptogen to manage cortisol
levels)
|
Sport Manual Therapy:
The solution to training-related pain and injury is rehabilitation using safe, effective and sustainable modalities. A naturopathic sports medicine clinic will help you prevent and quickly come back from injury.
Muscle
Pain
|
Joint
Pain
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Injury
Rehabilitation
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·
Hydrotherapy
·
Castor oil
massage
·
Cupping
·
Active Release
Therapy
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Acupuncture
·
Trigger Point
Release
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·
Electroacupuncture
·
Range of Motion
Exercises
·
Anti-inflammatory
supplementation (Curcumin, Fish Oil, Boswellia, etc.)
|
·
Hydrotherapy
·
Acupuncture
·
Kin Taping
·
Rehabilitation
exercises
·
Electroacupuncture
·
Massage
·
Manual work to
break down scar tissue
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