Episode 7: Foods that aid tendon healing
If you haven’t read and watched episode 6 in this series, you can do that here
Over one fifth of injuries in team sports involve tendons. Even if your tendon injury is not severe enough to warrant a surgery, you may still experience a common chronic condition such as tendinopathy, like “Jumper’s knee” . This article is for you.
Tendons
Tendons are tough, elastic structures that connect muscle to bone. They are formed from collagen which must be stimulated with the right exercise and fed with the right food in order to heal and become stronger. Remember that injuries like my bicep tendon rupture involve a period of immobilisation. Immobilization for even short periods (10 days) has been shown to reduce tendon collagen synthesis (your body building collagen) by up to 50%, and the decline in collagen synthesis continues out to 23 days. Add that to the trauma inflicted on the tendon through the injury and the surgeon’s knife and the need for optimal healing is apparent.
Exercise is a key ingredient in forging strong tendons – compare the experience of eating a commercially farmed chicken (the couch potato of the avian world) to a wild game bird such as a pheasant (the athletes of bird world). In the former the meat will slide easily off thin, weak connective tissues and in the latter, you work a lot harder for your meat, which is as it should be.
Don’t be a weak bird.
The other ingredient is food – certain foods assist the healing process of tendons and this article focuses on four top contenders: Gelatin, Glycine, Red Meat and Green Tea.
Gelatin – glue yourself back together
Gelatin is a mix of proteins and peptides formed when water breaks apart the molecular bonds in animal tissue such as skin and bones into smaller building blocks. It isn’t just the thing that makes ice cream and sweets yummy; the range of amino acids within it can be repurposed by your body to build new tissue, such as collagen and therefore, new tendon. Supplementing with 15g of gelatin 1 hour prior to exercise along with some vitamin C increases collagen synthesis in response to the exercise. You can purchase gelatin powder (it’s flavourless) and stir it into orange juice or better still, make your own bone broth which comes with a host of other benefits such as minerals and a wholesome taste. I talk about bone broth in my video. You should already be on first name terms with your butcher, but if you aren’t this is your opportunity.
Glycine – what is it and why is it good for my tendons?
Glycine is an amino acid which your body uses to make proteins. It has many functions including improving chemical communication in the brain and is used by some Doctors to treat disorders in the brain such as stroke. In tendons, glycine improves the ability of the primary building materials in your tendon to remodel and grow, as well as reducing inflammation in injured tissue. Glycine is abundant in gelatin, making up about 25% of the gelatin. You could get yours in your gelatin/bone broth, or supplement with it separately. When combined with green tea, the effects are better than when either substance is used alone.
Red Meat – you have been fed lies.
Red meat such as grass-fed beef, bison or wild deer is THE human superfood. I don’t have the space here to rebuff every myth or misinformation associated with eating red meat, I will return to that in future posts. For now, the take home point is that you and your tendons are composed of animal tissue and the best way to build more of you is by consuming more animal tissue. Our eyes are in the front of our head, not on the sides meaning that we are optimised for hunting our calories and therefore basing our diets around meat.
There are several important compounds only found in meat, or only found in appreciable quantities:
· Vitamin B12 – for producing DNA and red blood cells.
· Creatine – stores energy, improves strength & power, working memory and reaction time.
· Carnitine – helps to use fatty acids for fuel.
· Choline – essential for cellular health and neurotransmitter production.
· Carnosine – a powerful antioxidant.
· Taurine – another antioxidant.
Green Tea – why is it so good?
Green tea has many proven health benefits; in animal studies it shrinks mouse tumours to half their size and reverses the otherwise fatal effects of toxins on rats. It also markedly reduces inflammation, measured in the same way that doctors would measure your inflammation in response to infection or serious illness. Inflammation damages collagen, your tendons are made of collagen, hence, reducing inflammation is the intention behind drinking green tea.
How much should I take?
Gelatin: 15g 1 hour before exercise on the days you perform your isometric/eccentric protocol (see next week for an in depth look at these). Or a cup of bone broth daily.
Meat: Eat grass fed beef/game most days of the week.
Green Tea: 2-3 cups per day before 2pm.
Healing from an injury places an extra demand on your physiological systems, so feed them what they need and ensure your diet is plentiful in animal derived protein sources to nourish you back to full strength.
If you want to know more about managing injury or you need a custom designed return to play programme, contact me Here
About the author : Edward Baker
Edward Baker is a University Lecturer, Researcher and Strength and Conditioning Coach with over 15 years’ experience working in elite sport.
