Q:  Dietary Advice for Healing After Surgery

I have a runner friend who had arthroscopic surgery on her knee and developed a staph (bacterial) infection a couple days after. What was supposed to be a 3 week recovery has turned into 3 or 4 months. She still has massive swelling in her knee which is going down slowly everyday. She lost 15 lbs and because she wasn’t moving off her couch, really didn’t see the need to eat much and lost her appetite. Are there foods or nutrient supplements that would help her heal faster?

Knee-ding Advice

Dear Knee-ding Advice,

Yes, there are many things she can do to help speed up her recovery both from the surgery and the subsequent hit to her immune system with that bacterial infection! Any trauma to the body induces a stress response from the adrenal glands. These glands, which are responsible for the release of adrenaline, cortisol and sex hormones are extremely important as their health will  affect the immune system’s ability to fight infection. So, as you can see, surgery (trauma), coupled with infection (more trauma) means that the adrenals will be taxed!!  If the surgery was necessary due to a repetitive strain or overuse injury this also means that the body had been in an inflamed and “stressed” state for a while. Most athletes completely forget to support their adrenals because strenuous exercise feels like the cure to what we think of when we talk about “stress”…..unfortunately the adrenals take the hit either way. So with that preamble….what can she do to speed up healing???

Eat a diet rich in good quality proteins to increase the pool of amino acids (including l-glutamine) available for tissue repair!  These are essential for the production of immune system cells too so I would encourage her to focus on fish, organic chicken, turkey, legumes, nuts, eggs and whey/hemp/blended protein powders. With the loss of appetite, adding in a smoothie daily with all the essential nutrients would be easy to make and digest!  I would recommend 0.8-1.0g of protein/kg body weight (based on her
healthy body weight pre-surgery) at no more than 20g per meal!!

Avoiding inflammatory foods such as red meat and peanuts, refined sugars and any additives/preservatives will be essential too. If there are any food sensitivities she knows of, these should be avoided 100%!!

Anti-inflammatory foods are those that are alkaline in nature which are mostly all vegetables, especially greens and all fruits except for cranberries. Focusing on the more vegetarian proteins, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, a few whole grains such as quinoa, rice or millet will help to alkalinize her system.

Of extreme importance is that she include lots of healthy fats such as those from avocado (can add to smoothie!), coconut oil (delicious on hot grains/veggies), fish oils, hemp, ground flax seeds, nuts/seeds. These essential fatty acids are essential for cell membrane repair and production and thereby have an anti-inflammatory effect!!  Go EFAs go!

Getting enough water (2L/day even if she isn’t exercising) is key to joint repair for synovial fluid production and to keep intracellular water levels optimal so they can do their job! Water includes herbal teas and some that are good for healing would be nettle and licorice root. Caffeine is acidifying and depletes the adrenals so avoiding it would be very helpful!!

If diet isn’t adequately supporting the demands placed on the body in terms of the inflammation created by the surgery,infection and need for repair then the adrenals will continue to be burdened and eventually they don’t work as well as they should, leading to symptoms of adrenal fatigue which include poor healing, fatigue, insomnia, low libido, inflammation, poor exercise tolerance among many others….so,the cycle continues if it isn’t interrupted!!! 

Diet during recovery should always be supplemented (especially if caloric intake is a bit lower due to lack of appetite) to ensure that the body will have a large pool of nutrients to use.

I would recommend L-glutamine, fish oils, tumeric (can take a teaspoon daily),vitamin C as the bare essentials. Adding to this, some adrenal support (there are several and which one really depends on the person) and then joint/ligament/cartilage support such as glucosamine with MSM would be very beneficial. Sounds like in your friend’s case, she could use some good immune support too like Echinacea or Astragalus (herbs that most people can use).

Our bodies need us to make some sound decisions in order to support what we want them to do, whether it be run, ride, swim or HEAL faster and better!  Every choice we make to support the goal will help make us stronger!!  

By Dr. Nina Lange, ND