After any procedure, (surgery or injury), your body needs to get enough fuel to repair or grow tissue.  Improper nutrients can impair this process.

CATABOLIC Phase of Healing
This phase happens initially and the body needs more of carbohydrates, fat, proteins, antioxidants, etc.  During this phase, your basal metabolic rate increases and you need to ingest more nutrients in order to heal.

If you do not provide your body with enough nutrients, healing could be delayed and this would impair your muscular mass and bone mass as your body has to use your own proteins to take care of the wound/injured area.

During the early phase of healing, your consumption of proteins has to increase.  It should constitute 20-25% of the total daily calories you are ingesting.  (This is approximately 3-4 servings of proteins daily).

Essential fatty acids (EFA’s) are necessary for wound healing and should constitute 20-25% of your daily calorie intake during the catabolic phase.  Good sources of EFA’s are found in nuts, olive oil, avocado, salmon and other cold fish, flax seeds, etc.

Carbohydrates are a good source of energy and help the body to preserve the lean body mass.  During the catabolic phase, the daily diet requirement for carbohydrates is 55-60% of the total calories.

Vitamin C
Vitamin C is an antioxidant that is important for wound healing.  Citrus fruits and leafy, green vegetables are rich with it.  You should be taking 200 mg of vitamin C during the catabolic phase.

Vitamin A
Vitamin A is an antioxidant and helps to decrease inflammation.  Red fruits, vegetables, fish and dark green vegetables are good sources of vitamin A.

Zinc helps to synthesize protein and develop collagen.  If you take your proteins from meat, you will get enough zinc.  Otherwise, you need to make sure you take 15 to 50 mg each day.

What to Avoid
All processed food and refined sugar can increase inflammation and compromise the healing process.

ANABOLIC Phase of Healing
This is the phase where your body builds new tissue.  (The opposite of catabolic state.)

How do I know if I am in a catabolic or anabolic phase?