Fats, inflammation, sports injury and recovery

Nutrition Focus series #1

Perhaps you know by now that fats play an important role in the diet for various reasons, like enabling your body to absorb fat soluble vitamins (more on this in another post). But, did you know that certain types of fats can have an impact on your inflammation and recovery following a tough workout or injury?

When a muscle is stressed from training or injury it leads to inflammation, tissue breakdown or bruising. If the inflammation is not sufficiently decreased, it can lead to scar tissue, poor mobility (during injury) and recovery times will be longer. The good news? Food choices can impact this inflammatory stage.

What kinds of fats increases inflammation?

• Trans fats (the worst kind of fats – think fried foods like doughnuts, and baked goods including cakes, pie crusts, biscuits, frozen pizza, cookies, crackers, and stick margarines and other spreads – look for the word “partially hydrogenated oils” on packaging). Limit these kinds of fats to as little as possible.
• Saturated fats (mostly fats from animal and dairy products, as well as coconut oil and palm oil, and these kinds of fats are usually solid at room temperature).
• Omega-6 vegetable oils.

On the other hand, certain fats have been shown to decrease inflammation:

• Mono-unsaturated fats (from olives, peanuts, sesame seeds, avocados and their oils)
• Omega 3 fatty acids (cold water fish like salmon, herring, mackerel, sardines, flax, chia and hemp seeds, soybeans and walnuts).

Oh mega what? SOME NOTES ON OMEGA 3 FATTY ACIDS…

Firstly, what are they?

As omega 3 fatty acids can’t be produced by the body and has to be consumed in the diet, they are known as “essential fatty acids”. Two main forms of omega 3 fatty acids exist: DHA and EPA, which is obtained directly from animal products. Plants contain the third form of omega 3 fatty acids, namely ALA, which the body can convert to EPA and DHA. However, the conversion rate of ALA to the more active DHA and EPA forms is low.

When diets were supplemented with omega 3 fatty acids, it has been shown to promote healing and reduce post-exercise muscle soreness and inflammation (1). There is also a strong correlation between omega 3-status, neuroprotection, and omega 3 to enhance recovery from traumatic brain injuries like concussion (2), although these findings are based on results from animal studies.

Aside from inflammation, omega 3 fats also play a role in brain function, growth and development. Cardiovascular disease, arthritis, and mood disorders have been linked to insufficient omega 3 intake.

How much should be taken in?

A good target for daily consumption is 1-2 g of EPA & DHA in an approximate 2:1 ratio, which is common in fish oil supplements, in order to obtain anti-inflammatory benefits. ALA (plant-based omegas such as flaxseed oil) needs to be consumed in larger doses, however (3-5 times higher) because of the low conversion rates to EPA and DHA.

So, what does this mean in food terms? Is supplementation necessary?

The simple answer, is no. Not only can the correct amount of this fatty acid be derived from the diet, but consuming nutritious, whole foods containing omega 3’s will provide you with a whole host of other nutrients – for example, eating a meal with cold-water fish and vegetables will provide you not only with omega 3 fatty acids, but also protein, vitamins, minerals and fibre from the vegetables. Likewise, consuming a tablespoon of flaxseed will not only provide these essential fatty acids, but also fibre, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals.

Even though I would always advocate a food-first approach, supplements can be taken in some cases when it is not possible to obtain the correct amount of omega 3 fatty acids from the diet. Just take care to use a safe and certified product, and not to exceed recommended dosages, as there are risks associated with supplementation – high dosages may have harmful effects like an increased risk of bleeding, and some species of fish (from which fish-oil supplements are derived) have a higher risk of being carrying with environmental contamination like mercury.

Tips to enhance omega 3 fatty acid intake:

1. Aim to eat fish at least 2-3x per week, or 250g per week.
2. Canned fish, like salmon, sardines and light tuna (in brine) are easy and convenient options to include into your diet. However, these sources should be limited to 2 servings per week due to the mercury content that is present in these foods.
3. Adding ground flaxseed to cereal or yogurt are an easy way to increase intake.
4. Substitute ¼ cup ground flaxseed with ¼ cup flour in bread, pizza dough, muffin, cookie or other recipes.
5. Replace 1 egg with 1 tbsp. flaxseed mixed with 3 tbsp. water in recipes (also known as a “flax egg”.
6. Walnuts can be added to salads, cereals and baking (think muffins, cookies, breads, pancakes…)
7. Add fresh or frozen edamame beans (soybeans) as a vegetable to meals.
8. Cook with or use omega-3 liquid eggs or eggs in shell.

References:

1. Jouris, K.B., McDaniel, J. L., Weis, E.P. 2011. The Effect of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation on the Inflammatory Response to eccentric strength exercise. Journal of Sport Science and Medicine, 10(3):432-438.
2. Paterniti, I., Impellizzeri, D., Di Paola, R., Esposito, E., Gladman, S., Yip, P., Priestley, J.V., Michael-Titus, A.T., Cuzzocrea, S. 2014. Docosahexaenoic acid attenuates the early inflammatory response following spinal cord injury in mice: in-vivo and in-vitro studies. Journal of Neuroinflammation. 11(6) doi: 10.1186/1742-2094-11.
3. Mahan, L. K., Raymond, J.L. 2017. Krause’s food and the Nutrition Care Process. 14th ed. Canada: Elserevier. Pp 1047-1048.