As we mentioned in a previous article "Rehabilitation - Going The Extra Mile" we touched on the benefits of protein in take for the body when recovering from injury. In this article we are going to explore this point further, highlight the importance of eating for recovery and demonstrate what sources of protein we recommend.

As you should already know, protein forms the very building blocks of the human body. The skin, the muscles, the organs, the connective tissues are all built by a protein of some sort. So when we damaged the said tissues, we need to repair them. The best way of fixing something which is broken is by mending it with the same product. So if your button falls of your shirt because the thread is broken, you get some new thread and fix it. The human body is exactly the same! If you tear or damage a muscle aka protein, you need to replace it with the same product... Protein!!

So with regards to injury, you have torn your muscle fibres, you have torn the thread which holds the button to your shirt. You need to repair the fibres, this is where protein comes in. When you have eaten your protein, your body goes into a state of proteinsynthesis. This is the process of digesting the protein and using it to repair. The broken down protein is then sent to the areas of the body that need it, is this case the injured area. Now we won't go into detail of the whole process of recovering muscles but we will in a future post!

Now you don't have to be absolutely literal about this - if you have a calf injury, I wouldn't recommend just eating leg of lamb or shin of beef - (now that would make a great a study!) But protein can be found in a wide variety of sources: meat, nuts, vegetables, pulses, supplements etc. However each source has a different content of protein in it, some sources have a higher density of protein than the other. Now we shall discuss how we recommend your source your protein dyuring injury.

Now strictly from a performance point of a view, as an athlete you want the quickest way to recover as possible. We believe that eating meat as your primary meat source is the way forward. We have nothing against people who don't choose to include meat in their diet. However with regarding recovery, meat has many benefits including protein content.

Protein Per 100g of Cooked/Grilled Meat:

- Beef: 26.6g
- Lamb: 29.2g
- Pork: 31.6g

Now compare that with vegan sources of protein per 100g

- Peanuts: 25g
- Almonds: 20g
- Lentils: 24g
- Black Beans: 20g

As you can see the red meat clearly trumps on the protein content side of the argument. The other part of the argument is the portion size of each source. It is recommended that during periods of recovery, the body should ingest 2g of protein per kilo of body weight. That does sound a lot, because it is, especially for the heavier athletes. So to break it down, if you weigh 80kg you will need need 160g of protein to enhance recovery.

160g of protein... Sounds a lot, because it is. Imagine eating 160g worth of protein from lentils. With 24g of protein per 100g, you would need 666g worth of lentils to hit 160g of protein. 666g of lentils! Everyday! Throw in the fibre and sugar content that comes with pulses like lentils and you have a very heavy day already.

This is why a balanced diet of red meat, pulses, eggs, protein drinks and other supplements are key to protein in take during injury. So back to our 80kg person who needs 160g of protein, it is going to be much easier to have:

100g of Beef - 26.6g
100g of Pork - 31.6g
100g of Lentils - 24g
4 eggs - 24g
30g of Almonds - 12g
2 Scoops of Protein Powder- 50g

= 168.2g of Protein.

That is much easier than restricting yourself to just vegan or meat eating sources. All that food throughout a day without including the milk you might have in coffee, the spinach or broccoli you have at dinner time and other vegetables, before you know it will be closer to 200g of protein a day.

So is protein intake during injury important? Absolutely. How much do I need? 2g of Protein per kilo of body weight. Did you find this article useful? I hope so. Will we explore this further? Yes. Will be give you recipe ideas to have during injury recovery? Of course. When will these be written? Sign up to our newsletter to find out!

If you have any questions with regards the article, where we got our statistics from, if you agree/disagree with any of our information then please feel free to drop us a message! If you are enjoying the content then feel free to sign up to our newsletter below!

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