Functional Foods For Muscle Recovery and Repair

Every time you work out, your muscles go through a recovery process. Working out causes small micro tears in the muscle that must be repaired. The repair process actually helps muscles grow and become stronger making it an important process. However, in order to properly make these repairs, the body needs support. Functional foods are foods that provide functions to the body beyond their nutrient value. There are a variety of functional foods that play a role in muscle repair and recovery.

How Functional Foods Affect Muscle Recovery

There are 4 areas in which we can support our bodies with functional foods during muscle repair.  

1. Reduce Inflammation and Oxidative Damage

Working out, especially strength training, causes not only micro tears but also oxidation and inflammation in the muscles. As mentioned before, the micro tears in the muscle are repaired to create even stronger and larger muscle fibers. However, high levels of oxidation and inflammation can lead to unnecessary damage of the muscle. Foods with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects have been known to reduce inflammation in the muscle and lessen damage that happens from oxidation when exercising. Because of their anti-inflammatory effect, these foods can also speed up recovery time and lessen muscle soreness.

Examples of antioxidant-rich, anti-inflammatory foods are:

• Tart cherry juice
• Fatty fish
• Blueberries
• Turmeric

2. Promote Muscle Repair and Growth

Protein is the most crucial nutrient to muscle repair. Our muscle are made out of protein, and therefore our bodies need adequate protein to fix the small tears made when working out. Proteins are made out of a variety of 20 different amino acids and can be categorized as complete and incomplete. A complete protein contains all 20 amino acids while an incomplete protein only contains some of them. Our bodies must have all 20 amino acids to properly repair muscle, making it important to choose good quality complete proteins. Animal proteins are complete, and most plant proteins are not.

Examples of good quality proteins for muscle repair are:

• Eggs 
• Fatty fish
• Greek yogurt
• Lean meats

3. Replenish Energy Stores

Glycogen is the storage form of carbohydrates in our muscles that is used as quick energy when working out. Exercise depletes these stores causing it to be hard to continue a workout by the end. It is important to replenish these stores after exercising as it can improve endurance and make working out more doable. The best way to improve glycogen stores in the muscle is to consume carbohydrate-rich functional foods in between workouts. It’s easy to want to consume processed carbs, but choosing high-quality, whole-food carbs will be better for your health in the long run.

Examples include:

• Sweet potatoes
• Bananas
• Whole grains

4. Promote Hydration and Electrolyte Balance

Water plays an essential role in almost every process in the human body, including muscle recovery. Electrolytes are charged molecules that help water perform its job in each of the body systems. Loss of water and electrolytes can lead to slower muscle repairs making it important to focus on proper hydration and electrolytes before and after working out.

Electrolytes can be found in foods, including:

• Watermelon
• Bananas
• Sports drinks/electrolyte powders
• Coconut water

Try focusing on these 4 areas of muscle recovery and begin creating meals and snacks to promote muscle recovery! In doing so, try and notice if your post workout journey feels any different! 

References:

1. Aoi, Wataru et al. “Exercise and functional foods.” Nutrition journal vol. 5 15. 5 Jun. 2006, doi:10.1186/1475-2891-5-15
2. Mielgo-Ayuso, Juan, and Diego Fernández-Lázaro. “Nutrition and Muscle Recovery.” Nutrients vol. 13,2 294. 20 Jan. 2021, doi:10.3390/nu13020294