Sep 26 2011
Tendon Nutrition
I used to do a lot of weightlifting; and one of the things I became absolutely convinced of was that nutrition plays a large role in recovery times. We’d go really beat ourselves up at the gym, and the subsequent recovery time could vary from 3 to 6 days, depending - in part - on how the recovery was fueled.
There is an abundance of information (and product) available regarding nutrition to support healing/regeneration/recovery of muscle, yet I found a surprising lack of similar data (or consensus) on nutrition for tendon and connective tissue health.
I spent quite a while looking, and in the end decided to go with the shot-gun approach. If somebody thought it would work, and could make a credible argument about why, I was going to try it. I’m not terribly confident that any/all of this will really help much, but on the other hand - I don’t think it can hurt. Starting about 2 days after my surgery, I started a regimen of:
- Multi-Vitamins (generic, let’s get all the trace elements I might need)
- Vitamin C (good, in general, for healing)
- Proteolytic Enzymes (some promising anecdotal stories were found touting their benefits)
- Broad Spectrum Amino Acids
- Kelp Supplement (some say the iodine is beneficial to tendon repair)
- Aspirin (doctors orders - to prevent blood clots - but somewhat helpful for inflammation too)
- Fish Oil
- Glucosamine/Chondroitin (better for cartilage than tendons, but I was taking it anyway for my knees)
- Boswellia (added a bit later, but really seemed to help with inflammation>
All of that is taken twice daily. Additionally, I’m supplementing my diet with:
- Protein Powder (basic building block for most body tissue)
- Jello (a full package daily of sugar free gelatin - loaded with connective tissue building blocks)
Truth is, I’ll probably never really know if any of this stuff is helping. If I was a betting man - after all my research - I’d probably put my money on the Jello and proteolytic enzymes as having the best chance of making a positive difference.
** I provided the links for info, so you could know exactly what I was using. They are not meant to be endorsements or suggestions for any particular product.
23 responses so far
23 Responses to “Tendon Nutrition”
Ryan,
I am a fan of supplements also, I am a crossfitter so recovery time is essential to get back in the gym and do the next day’s WOD. During my recovery I didn’t take nearly as many products as you, but one that I did take that you might wanna try is made from a natural herb and its called Cissus. Here is the link for it along with some information.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/cissus.html
I too loaded up on vitamins, esp vitamin C - took 1000 - 2000 mg//day. I am 18 weeks post surgery and am back to running and jumping. No way to say that it directly helped my recovery but it can’t hurt! Good Luck!
Nick
For sure good foodnutrition will help you to recover faster. You need optimal products. Sure2Endure with Boswellia serrata, Omega3 88% Flexibility with the right glucosamine.
We are having great results.
You are doing great in the recovering proces?
Greetz, your speedskatingfriend from the Netherlands.
Renske
You show creatine (monohydrate?) in your photo, but don’t mention it in your post. What I’ve read suggests that it benefits muscles more than tendons. We’ve all got to rebuild several muscles, though doing so too quickly could possibly be hazardous to the AT. (I’ve now TWICE bought a jug of creatine, and haven’t taken much out of either one! First time I got a leg-muscle cramp soon after I started, so I quit. Second time, I was still recovering from a heart-valve replacement, and part of that recovery is reversing the pre-op HYPERtrophy — opposite of Atrophy — to the Left Ventricle, so I never started! Anybody want some creatine cheap?)
I popped some MSM pills when I was recovering from my ATRs. Again, there’s no way to even START proving that any of these things help without a careful RCT, and I’ve never seen one.
Observant guy there Norm
I’m in complete agreement with you- so much so, that I didn’t even put Creatine on this list. Because: I think it’s completely ineffectual in regards to the tendon repair.
When I injured the tendon, I ramped up the weightlifting (upper body/core only at first), it was about the only thing I could do physically. I think Creatine can provide some marginal benefit to muscle growth, so if I was making a shake I’d toss a scoop in there - which, I know, is not the most effective way to use it. But, I was not taking it to help with the tendon. We were laughing one day about all the pills/powders I was taking, and decided it warranted a picture. I just decided to use that picture - call me lazy - for this post.
Hi Ryan, I too am taking some supplements, almost identical to your list. Do you know if Glutamine is beneficial for tendon healing as well? I have been taking it with my whey protein shake 3 times a day.
I don’t know if any of this stuff is beneficial. I actually think this is a good opportunity for a study, and there should be plenty of supplement makers who might be willing to fund it.
It’s not too hard to find claims regarding glutamine and tendon health/tissue/repair. Here is one, just as a quick example:
http://www.lifesciencepharmacy.com/Amino-Acid-Glutamine.aspx
I view all such claims with a healthy dose of skepticism. But as I said earlier, I don’t see how it can hurt-
I also did the supplements and increased my protein intake. I think it helped me.
Hard to say what if any supplement is actually beneficial during recovery. And there has been a lot of noise in the news of late challenging the effectiveness of vitamins. I’ve concluded a well balanced diet with extra quality protein like cold water fish (wild caught salmon, sardines) is the nutrition strategy for me during recovery (I’m 3 weeks post surgery). Well I’m including a few vitamins and a supplement; fish oil, vitamin D, multi-vitamin and, glutamine.
An irony to my recovery food strategy is before the injury I was moving towards a vegan diet. Putting that off for a while …
After ~8 weeks on this program, I still have no way of knowing if this is all making much of a difference with my tendon. But I can tell you that (ladies take note) my hair and fingernails seem to be growing at about twice their normal rate.
An interesting article on tendon nutrition/supplements:
http://www.tendonitisexpert.com/tendon-supplements.html
When reading the recipe for “bone broth”, I thought: hey, it sounds like they’re making Jello. This was the genesis of the Jello idea. A little searching and I found several articles out there touting gelatin’s benefit for tendons- here’s an example:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/willbrink1.htm
Hi Ryan, I’ve also looked at supplements. I will add as a suggestion S.A.M.E which is supposed to help with joints and mood. If anybody has any knowledge pro or con, please kindly comment. Best recovery,
Interesting nobody mentioned Magnesium.
Magnesium is a huge factor in muscle (smooth and skeletal) operation.
1. If you don’t have enough magnesium, you can’t utilize your calcium.
2. Calcium is required to fire a muscle fiber, Magnesium is required to stop firing that muscle fiber.
3. The more muscle tone you have, and the more you use your muscles, the more magnesium you’re burning through.
4. If you’re short on magnesium, you literally can’t relax (to whatever degree depending on your exact situation).
5. If you can’t relax, you don’t recover as well.
6. If you can’t relax, your muscles stay too tight. The tighter a muscle is, the less able it is to perform work.
7. The less able a muscles it to perform work, the higher your chance of injury (since the muscle gets less and less able to absorb force the tighter it gets, and that force has to go -somewhere-.
Magnesium oxide is the cheapest, that what you’ll find on the shelves and in multi’s. It’s also the least absorbable. Don’t bother. Magnesium Malate with malic acid is theoretically the best, but anything other than oxide is fine.
I started taking Magnesium and Calcium when I was running. It helped me with cramps. I have recommended it to people who suffer from night cramps with good results. Mg is easily lost and harder to restore.
Awesome info. I have had mostly joint and a few tendon issues throughout my life. Once I was almost crippled by what was likely a fluke virus that invaded when I was agressively entering bodybuilding. It sucks to feel like you can uproot small trees one day and have to holler for help getting up off the couch the next. I’ll never take my tendon health for granted again. This is the first time I haven’t heard glucosamine and EFA’s. Thanks for sharing. Hope you are up and lovin you activities Ryan.
I guess if the muscle is getting pulled without you doing exercise it could be caused by a number of things: Your posture, especially when you’re sitting at a computer. Your sleeping position. Do you sleep on your right side? With your arm up over your head? Maybe it’s a tendon, not a muscle that has been injured. Best bet is to get to a chiropractor, massage therapist or doctor to check if it’s a muscle or tendon that is chronically bothering you. If it’s inflamed, swollen or warm to the touch use ice on it, take Tylenol, or some such medicine. If it is sore, stand under a pulsating shower head with the water as hot as you can stand it, or get into a jetted hot tub or spa; let the water pound on that area for 10 to 15 minutes. If none of that is available to you, use a heating pad or hot water bottle on the area to loosen up the muscle.Good luck!!
Thanks Ryan…
I re-introduced myself to Jello based on this (along with multi, C, zinc and E) . Tastes better than I remembered!
I had calicific tendinopathy for 2 years before rupture, any thoughts on whether a calcium suppplement can or did contribute to this?
Hi Ryan and all
Thanks for an awesome site… I have been all over the place looking for info on this…this is great. I tore my achilles 4 days ago… I am extremely active in gymnastics and karate. I love outdoors and sport. Just dealing with the headspace and the Moonboot has been crazy…. Insane.. But feel like I will use this time to read and write and grow into other stuff…. Hmm…
This site is honest and the spirit is so good…..have to be active. I have to beat this. I will find a way out r fast…
So I am in Cape Town. Op is next week. Already started on this kind of thinking. Believe it a 1000% and for sure exercise and sleep is the best medicine too. I am sure just a workout itself gets the blood moving around with all that oxygen and good stuff circulating…
I am interested to find whatever I can to help speed up. Cissus q sounds intersting too… And marine collagen +omega oils.. Thank you again for this… I am. Mega GREATFUL to have found this blog and will explore it more… I train a 4 days a week very hard. And now feel quite miserable… But getting ready to fight this… Now years down… How are you and what do you believe for sure is the best way of healing…. I have found so much on the net…. Thank you so much for this info here..
Good luck, Mark! You definitely have the right attitude!
Surgery next week will probably define your recovery protocol, but you have time to prepare, which is good.
As for training, some fellow bloggers have continued training hard, including mountainclimber, who reports going up an down mountain trails with his knee crutch (a scary thought, as far as I am concerned), and bonnie who is preparing for triathlons and doing lunges and all.
Take care and good luck!……… Manny
Hi Mark, there have been some studies that show that pineapple and papaya help early healing of tendons. They contain bromelaine and studies show that this can increase tenocytes and decrease (I think) MDA (can’t remember what that was) and both of these things are apparently good in the early stages of tendon healing. Good luck with your surgery next week, I hope all goes well.
Why am I not seeing Collagen on here anywhere? Anyone trying Collagen too? I am 11 weeks post Achilles Tendon surgery and am a dance teacher full time. Start teaching in 10 days, but modified for a while of course. Taking Osteo Bi-Flex (has all your products listed above in this product) plus I add Collagen.
Hi Mark,
I just wondered how long it ended up taking you to get your wound healed. I’m will be post surgery 10/27/17, however, I have a wound that won’t heal. The only supplement I’m taking is calcium and trying to eat all the protein I can. I’ve been to the wound Dr’s., now seeing a plastic surgeon. He wanted to try the wound vac, which didn’t help much. The wound is smaller, but still not healed. The worst part of getting the wound vac was getting the debreadment without any anesthetic. I wanted to jump out of my skin, it was awful. Now, he feels a skin graft is necessary, but tells me that may not work either. I’m beyond frustrated! I’m happy for you that you’re on the road to recovery or maybe even fully recovered by now.
Thanks,
Michelle
I’m a 45 year old male and I’ve been using Creatine Monohydrate off and on for 25 years. I started using it for strength and size gains as a bodybuilding and powerlifting enthusiast. When I first discovered it, I thought is was a wonder “drug”. Having tried all sorts of other over the counter supplements, nothing worked like creatine. Occasionally, I would experience some muscle cramping, but nothing too serious or debilitating. When I got into my thirties, my fitness interests and goals changed and I started competing in triathlon. In addition to my swim, bike, run training I continued to strength train with weights. I started using creatine again. Shortly after starting a creatine regiment, I encountered the first of many debilitating calf injuries. While running, without any warning, I would catch the most crippling calf cramp imaginable. The first time it happened, I though I could walk it off, but that was a mistake. It wasn’t that type of cramp. In retrospect, it wasn’t a cramp at all. What I experienced was a partial calf tear. Calf cramps (or tears) while running became a chronic issue for me. After an episode like this, I could barely walk for a few days and I wouldn’t be able to run for 2-4 weeks depending on the severity! Chronic calf “cramps” became a recurring theme throughout most of my amateur triathlon career. I went to doctors, chiropractors and physical therapists, but no one could explain the cause. After doing a ton of my own research, the light bulb finally went off. Could it be the Creatine? By simply ceasing my creatine use, I solved the mystery. Although the creatine induced calf injuries were so bad, I continued to use it at lower doses because the performance benefits were so great. I kept the calf cramps at bay for most of the time thereafter. Fast forward to 2017. I live in the burbs with my wife and 3 little boys. Having little time to train at a gym, I bought some free weight equipment for my basement. I went back to a hybrid powerlifting/bodybuilding program. I’m actually the strongest I’ve ever been since I was 25. So last week my friend invited me to American Ninja Warrior training at his gym. They built a replica of one of the courses you see on tv. Long story short, after a good warm up we started with the Salmon Ladder and then went on to another pull up bar type obstacle. The third and final obstacle was the Warped Wall. There was a short, medium, and tall wall. We each completed the short wall twice and then moved onto the medium. This was fairly easy as well. After about 6 reps each, our instructor told us one more rep and we’ll move on to the big one. My approach was exactly the same, but this time as I got half way up the wall I heard a pop like a balloon and I went down like a ton of bricks! I had ruptured my Achilles’ tendon. A week later and 4 days post surgery I lay on my back writing this post. And why, because I firmly believe that Creatine Monohydrate was a major contributing factor to my injury. One hour prior to this accident I had consumed a mega dose of creatine thinking it would help my strength and endurance, never once thinking that it might have a negative impact or contribute to an injury. I figured that since I wasn’t going so be running, I would be fine. Well, after doing extensive research on tendon ruptures for the past week and speaking with two orthopedic surgeons, I finally understand the science behind a tendon rupture. To sum things up, a tendon rupture is most often caused when a muscle cannot absorb the force applied to it and the force is then transferred to the attached tendon. There are three main reasons why a muscle may not handle the applied force. The muscle is too weak, the force is too great, or the muscle doesn’t contract quickly enough. In my case, I believe that my calf muscle did not contract quickly enough due to the use of creatine. Explanation as follows. Creatine causes cells to retain water and volumize. This causes muscle bellies to swell. Swollen muscle bellies restrict both blood flow and neuromuscular signaling. In my case, I believe that my calf muscle did not receive the signal to contract and thus the entire load of my 190 pound frame running full speed up a wall was transferred to my Achilles’ tendon causing it to snap. There is a fair amount of anecdotal evidence to support my theory. I’m not a medical professional and I’m not giving medical advice. I’m just telling my story in the hope that I can save someone else from the pain, agony, and inconvenience that I have experienced.
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