Supplementing for Recovery

An intrgrated recovery plan is just as important as an effective nutrition and exercise plan. In 1:1 coaching, helping women find a balanced recovery practice can be just as challenging as helping her discover a sustainable nutrition plan  Sometimes, an effective recovery plan can be the "little" something that's been missing and when implemented moves the needle and improves her overall health. 

Choosing appropriate supplements that support healthy recovery can be a simple and sustainable way to begin building a recovery plan that assists your health goals. 

Definitely a thing: These Supplements Reliably Help Recovery 

Omega-3 fatty acids

Omega-3 fatty acids are a specific type of fatty acid with a unique chemical structure.

This structure helps them play an important role in managing inflammation and immune function. They also have a range of other potential benefits such as helping with cognitive function and mood.

Some recent studies have found that omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil seem to play a role in upregulating muscle protein synthesis by incorporating into the muscle phospholipid membrane. However, this effect only seems to occur when protein intake is inadequate.

So, if you struggle to consume the recommended levels of protein to support maximal levels of protein synthesis, supplemental fish oil may at least somewhat help to make up the difference.

Suggested daily intake:

•   For fish, krill, or algae oil: 1-3 g EPA + DHA daily (note that different formulations require different amounts to get this dose)

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is often thought of as a “prohormone”, or a substance with hormone-like activity in the body.

Normally, we get it from sunshine, but many people aren’t able to get enough (for instance, if they spend most of their time indoors, live in regions closer to the poles, and/or have darker skin).

Vitamin D also plays a role in the repair of damaged muscle tissue following exercise via the activation of satellite cells, which is an important part of the recovery process.

Suggested daily intake if you don’t get regular sunshine:

•   1000-2000 IU daily as a baseline; ideally get levels checked by doctor

Antioxidants

Antioxidants come from many sources, including vitamins E and C. They can also be found in substances such as:

•   carotenoids (the pigments that give many plants their bright red, yellow, or orange colors);
•   flavonols such as those found in tea and many fruits and vegetables; and
•   anthocyanins found in red, purple, and blue plants like blueberries.

Antioxidants help protect and heal the body from damage caused by free radicals and to maintain redox balance, or the balance between oxidants and antioxidants in our body. While strenuous exercise increases oxidative stress, it also increases the activity of the body’s antioxidant enzymes and repair rates of oxidative damage.

However, we can’t just throw antioxidants at everything. Balance is key.

•  We need some oxidation. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are important signaling molecules for the beneficial adaptations that come from exercise recovery. Without the initial damage caused by oxidative damage, we don’t have the signal needed to initiate repair and adaptation — and eventually grow stronger and more capable.
•  But, we don’t want too much oxidation. High levels of ROS impair muscle force production, so we have to be able to recover from oxidative stress or our long-term athletic performance will suffer. Oxidative stress has also been linked to a wide range of chronic health problems and diseases of aging.

So, while we need antioxidants to recover from exercise stress, too much at the wrong time (such as during exercise) can blunt the signal that we need to benefit from exercise in the first place. Excessively high levels can also disrupt redox balance.

The good news is that while antioxidants from supplements may be a problem (especially if we take a lot, right before intense physical activity), antioxidants from foods have never been shown to have detrimental effects on exercise adaptation.

Unless you’re allergic to the foods that contain them, you’re probably fine getting them from minimally-processed foods — our colorful and aromatic rainbow friends of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices.

That being said, there may be a role for relatively high doses of supplemental antioxidants in some situations:

•  When short-term recovery is more important than long-term adaptations.
•  When oxidative stress is especially high, such as when an athlete must perform in multiple events in a short period of time, or when training or competing at high altitudes.

Creatine

Creatine is produced in the body by the liver, pancreas, and kidneys and is also consumed through food, particularly from foods such as meat and fish. Along with phosphorylcreatine and creatine kinase, it is involved in the synthesis of ATP.

Supplementation with creatine monohydrate can increase the body’s stores of creatine by about 20%. This can benefit athletes, particularly if they focus on doing short, repeated bursts of intense exercise.

Creatine supplementation may also help to improve phosphocreatine and glycogen replenishment, and increase the expression of growth factors involved in the cellular remodeling process during recovery.

Suggested daily intake:

•  3-5 grams of creatine monohydrate daily; up to 10 g/d for larger athletes

Sort of a thing: These Supplements Improve Recovery a Little, sometimes

Beetroot and/or tart cherry juice

Juices from dark-colored vegetables and fruits contain many beneficial compounds.

In particular, juice from beets and/or tart cherries seem to help decrease markers of muscle damage and soreness after exercise, and improve athletes’ ability to perform subsequent bouts of exercise.

Perhaps because it’s high in naturally occurring melatonin, tart cherry may also improve sleep, and thus also improve recovery. (Fun fact: Kiwifruit also seems to help with sleep.)

Suggested daily intake:

•   8 oz (~235 mL) of juice daily in the evening

Collagen

Collagen is a protein that is a component of connective tissues, such as tendons and ligaments.

Hydrolyzed collagen (the supplement form) contains smaller fragments, or peptides, of collagen — mainly the amino acids glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline. Collagen is an incomplete protein, in that it doesn’t contain a full complement of essential amino acids (EAAs).

Some evidence suggests that collagen supplementation (especially when combined with vitamin C, which also plays a role in connective tissue health) may improve the strength and/or stiffness of particular connective tissues, and reduce joint pain (such as knee pain).

Most studies on collagen are small. Most of the data around ligament and tendon regeneration has been done on gelatin (gelatin is just collagen that has been cooked longer).

Collagen supplementation may or may not make any difference to recovery, but if you’re interested in trying it, it’s safe to use.

Most studies use durations of at least 12 weeks or longer — up to 48 weeks. For athletes who want to experiment, consider including a monthly check on pain levels and don’t expect any meaningful data right away.

Vitamin C is the rate-limiting factor in collagen synthesis. So, when you're supplementing collagen you  should also ensure your vitamin C intake is adequate.

Many women in the ICW Community like “collagen lattes” — collagen peptides and gelatin will foam up when put into a blender with hot liquid, so if you’re looking for a high-protein boost in your coffee drink, go for it. Additionally, collagen can easily be added (along with complete proteins) to green smoothies for a potential additional boost, especially when recovering from injury.

Suggested daily intake:

• 5-15 grams daily (can often be mixed into hot liquids)

D-ribose 

D-ribose is a monosaccharide (simple sugar). It’s part of glucose metabolism.

D-ribose has been used in cardiovascular disease treatment. Some research suggests that supplementing with D-ribose may improve ATP recovery and shorten the duration of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) after high intensity exercise by improving recovery of the muscle cell membrane and reducing oxidative stress.

However, it’s not clear that highly trained people benefit from this — untrained sedentary people, or people with particular health conditions (such as cardiovascular disease or mitochondrial dysfunction) may be helped the most by the action of D-ribose.

D-ribose occurs naturally in cells, and is considered safe. If you’re interested in trying it, consider it an experiment and track whether you notice improvements in recovery, performance, and/or energy levels.

Suggested daily intake:

• 5 g daily; more may cause stomach upset 

An integrated recovery plan includes nutrient dense meals, meaningful movement, quality sleep, stress management and ordered recovery practices. Navigating an ordered recovery practice can include supplementation and sometimes be "just the thing" that helps you feel a little bit better. If you would like to learn more about how you can maximize supplements, nutrition, etc. please reach out today and book your 1:1 Strategy Session and we can discuss your needs and begin designing your individual plan for living an integrated life in mind, body and soul! 

A special thanks to my mentors at Precision Nutrition for equipping me with the knowledge I need to help women live the life they were made for! Please reach out if you would like references for the claims in this post.