- hungtheviet has completed the grueling 26.2 ATR miles to full recovery!
Goal: 365 days from the surgery date.
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- hungtheviet has completed the grueling 26.2 ATR miles to full recovery!
Feb
21
Change of Diet to Boost Healing
February 21, 2013 | |
Before my surgery, my family physician took my vitals, blood samples, and did a test that was new to me: "An Antioxidant Test. " This antioxidant test measured how much antioxidant is absorbed in the skin. The higher the number, the more it meant that I was eating my fruits and vegetables. I scored a 20, 000 out of 50, 000. Below average : (
After my surgery, I had plenty of time to do research on the Internet. I’m not sure if this has been posted but there was a publication on how high-dose vitamin C supplementation accelerates the Achilles tendon healing in healthy rats. (See end of my post for a link and abstract).
After scoring low on the antioxidant test and reading the study I found motivation to eat healthier to help me heal faster (if possible). I bought a juicer called the NutriBullet. Everyday (well at least 5 times a week) I’ve been mixing in oranges, strawberries, bananas, kale, and broccoli and chugging it in one sitting. For lunch I would buy juice with 300% of the daily value (DV) of Vitamin C from my local farmers market and drink it with my meal. Everyday I would be taking in about 500% (DV) of Vitamin C and more than 100% DV of other antioxidant vitamins.
Yesterday, I saw my family doctor just to take the antioxidant test again. I scored a 45, 000 out of 50, 000!
I’m not 100% sure if taking in high dosage of Vitamin C is working to quickly heal my Achilles tendon repair. But I think it’s working. The surgeon told me I was healing nicely last week and this week my PT said I was healing faster than normal.
Here is the article I mention earlier about rats receiving high dosages of Vitamin C to aid in healing its Achilles tendon rupture.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18309503
Abstract
INTRODUCTION:
This experimental study was performed to assess, whether or not, vitamin C, required during the collagen synthesis, would influence the Achilles tendon healing in a healthy rat model.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
The right Achilles tendons of 42 healthy female Wistar Albino rats were completely ruptured. The rats were randomly divided into the vitamin C and control groups and both groups included third, tenth and twenty-first day subgroups. One hundred and fifty milligrams (1.5 cc) of vitamin C and 1.5 cc % 0.9 NaCl were injected once for every 2 days for the vitamin C and control groups, respectively. Qualitative and quantitative microscopic comparisons of the repair tissues of both groups were made on the mentioned days.
RESULTS:
Angiogenesis was more evident on the third day in the vitamin C group. There was a significant difference between the control and vitamin C groups regarding the type I collagen production on the tenth day. The structure of the repair tissue was almost in the form of regular dense connective tissue at the end of twenty-first day in the vitamin C group. Mean collagen fiber diameter was considerably higher, and the number of active fibroblasts in the repair tissue was slightly elevated in the vitamin C group during the entire healing process.
CONCLUSION:
High-dose vitamin C supplementation once for every 2 days has stimulating effects on the Achilles tendon healing because of early angiogenesis and increased collagen synthesis in a healthy rat model. Further studies are needed to make clear the mentioned encouraging effects of the vitamin C on the Achilles tendon healing.
Comments
2 Comments so far
You might find this discussion interesting too:
achillesblog.com/ryanb/2011/09/26/tendon-nutrition/
This is awesome, thank you for the info. I have been using herbal remedies and have experienced similar results. The tendon seems to be growing stronger faster…I love the juice idea. I think you’ve just inspired me to pull the juicer out and add it into my recovery routine! Thanks!