What If Healing Foods Are Not Enough For Your Wound Healing
When it comes to nutrition, its important to understand that everything you consume will impact your body and its functions. Eating a well-balanced diet ensures that your body can function properly and keep creating the essential cells needed to help carry oxygen throughout the body. You may want to consult with a registered nutritionist or dietician if you need help balancing your diet, especially when it comes to wound healing.
Unfortunately, sometimes individuals must undergo strict diet restrictions, which can significantly impact their wound healing ability. Underlying health conditions also affect the bodys ability to heal well. If this is your case, you may seek a wound clinic to help you devise a plan to get you back to health.
Five Nutrition Tips To Promote Wound Healing
Reviewed October 2021
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We’ve all had a wound: a cut, scratch or scrape that breaks the skin. Most wounds on healthy people heal quickly when kept clean and free of infection, while other types of wounds are more serious and require medical intervention.
Serious wounds may include decubitus ulcers, also known as pressure sores or bed sores. Decubitus ulcers develop where bones are close to the skin such as ankles, back, elbows, heels and hips. These wounds are a risk for people who are bedridden, use a wheelchair or are unable to change their position. People with diabetes also have a higher risk of developing foot ulcers that can take weeks or months to heal.
Fortunately, healthful food choices may help with recovery by providing the calories, vitamins, minerals and protein necessary to promote healing.
Promote Wound Healing with Good Nutrition
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The 11 Best Diabetic Wound Healing Products And Supplements
Diabetic wounds â such as diabetic foot ulcers â can be incredibly challenging to treat. It can feel overwhelming to find the wound healing solution your body will respond to best.
But there is good news.
There are a plethora of diabetic wound healing products â and even some that may prevent wounds from forming in the first place!
The key to finding the best diabetic wound healing products is to understand what your body is going through â what creates chronic wounds in the first place. That information, coupled with the guidance of a podiatrist, nutritionist, or other health professional, should be enough to come up with a targeted plan for your individual diabetes wound healing needs.
To start, its important to discuss your symptoms with your doctor.
Then, ask additional questions like:
- What are the most common diabetes-related wounds?
- What can I do to prevent diabetic foot ulcers?
- What are the best diabetic wound healing products for my specific case?
We will attempt to answer some of these questions here. But at the end of the day, its a conversation you should also have with a doctor who knows you and your symptoms intimately.
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How To Speed Wound Healing
Depending on the kind of wound you have, it may take anywhere from a couple of months to a few years to heal completely. Most abrasions or minor wounds take about three months or less to health completely.
Surgical wounds sutured by a health provider often heal much faster than open wounds. Whats more, some health conditions like diabetes, obesity, and vascular disease slow down wound healing.
Fortunately, several treatments are available for wound healing. For example, bandages and other skin coverings are an excellent way to heal wounds faster. Alternatively, you can use skin ointments to get the job done.
Good nutrition also plays a significant role in ensuring you recover from wounds in no time. Of course, a balanced diet plays a key role in ensuring your cells and tissues repair themselves quickly, but some vitamins are worth special mention. Lets start with Vitamin C.
Supplement Speeds Wound Healing
July 8, 2004 — Time may heal all wounds, but a new study shows that taking a supplement that combines several antioxidant nutrients can do it nearly 20% faster.
In practical terms, this translates to shaving about three days off the recovery time following a facelift or similar plastic surgery procedures.
“That really is dramatic, and frankly, I didn’t expect it,” says researcher Rod J. Rohrich, MD, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and chairman of plastic surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
“If you can translate this kind of faster healing after a facelift or a breast augmentation, you are talking about a cost savings in the recovery process and getting back to work sooner that could amount to billions ,” he tells WebMD.
In a small study, Rohrich and his colleagues at UT’s Advanced Wound Healing and Tissue Regeneration Laboratory tested the effects of a new supplement called InflammEnz, available via the Internet but only with a doctor’s prescription.
Twenty-six patients with open wounds from a biopsy received either the oral supplement daily or a placebo. Doctors monitored the healing process of their wounds.
The result: Those getting InflammEnz healed 17% faster, and experienced less redness and swelling at the site of the biopsy.
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What Vitamins Are Good For Wound Healing
The Vitamin B complex is required for carbohydrate metabolism and, as a result, energy generation. The key minerals involved in wound healing are zinc, copper, and iron. Zinc is essential for protein and collagen production, as well as tissue development and repair. Iron is needed for blood formation around the wound site and copper is necessary for normal skin function including maintenance of healthy nails and hair.
The two main types of vitamin supplements are fat-soluble and water-soluble. Fat-soluble vitamins include A, D, E, and K. Water-soluble vitamins include B1 , B2 , B3 , B5 , B6 , B9 , and B12 . It is important to understand that although vitamin supplements are usually provided as a mixture of these two types, this does not mean that they have equal amounts of each vitamin. For example, more than 90% of people consume more than their recommended daily allowance of vitamin C, but this does not mean that you should take vitamin C supplements because it is a water-soluble vitamin.
Vitamins play an important role in maintaining health and repairing wounds. They work by helping your body use other nutrients properly and preventing deficiencies.
The Best Vitamins For Healing Wounds
If you leave a wound by itself, it might take months, if not years, to heal. Vitamins, especially vitamin C, B, and D, play a vital role in ensuring the quick healing of wounds. However, consult your doctor before deciding on a supplement, especially if the wound is a serious one.
The material on this website is intended for educational information purposes only. It should not be seen as definitive, but as part of research process. It should not substitute or delay medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
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The Best Vitamins For Wound Healing And Surgery Recovery
Falls, burns, and scrapes it happens to everyone. Whether you suffered from a traumatic accident, suffered a small cut to the skin, or underwent a large surgery, our bodies naturally heal these wounds and repair our living tissue. Its a complex and incredible system.
Depending on the severity of the wound, it can take months to a few years to complete the healing process. Besides pain and discomfort, open and untreated wounds are more prone to infection and can lead to nasty scars. However, with the proper nutrients and vitamins, your tissue can repair and replenish itself at a faster rate.
The Building Blocks Of Wound Healing
Eating well is good for us! Consuming more colorful fruits and vegetables, salmon, beans, legumes and whole grains improves our health and well-being. So does limiting sugar and eating lean protein, good fats and leafy greens. But what does that have to do with wound healing?
A lot, it turns out.
Though often overlooked, good nutrition is extremely important because wounds must be well-fed to heal. During the healing process, your body is busy adding new tissue, replacing fluids and fighting infection, so it needs increased amounts of water, calories, protein and vitamins.
Water
You need to drink extra fluids to replace fluids lost from your wounds. And if you have a heavily-draining wound, you will need to drink even more. Hydration also helps regulate body temperature and deliver nutrients to cells. Choose your fluids wisely and avoid sugary, caffeinated drinks. Water is the best and least expensive option for hydration.
Calories
Calories provide energy to the body. Because your body requires extra energy to heal a wound, increased calorie intake is an important factor for healing. Did you know that you need about 15 calories per pound of body weight each day during wound healing? For a 150-pound person, this adds up to 2,250 calories a day! If you do not feel you can eat three large, calorie-dense meals per day, try eating five or six small meals or snacks.
Protein
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How Does Vitamin C Affect The Healing Process
Vitamin C has several functions in wound healing, and a lack of this vitamin has a variety of impacts on tissue repair. Vitamin C deficiency impairs healing and has been associated to reduced collagen production and fibroblast proliferation, reduced angiogenesis, and increased capillary fragility.
Vitamins C , A , and E are anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory. Vitamin C has several functions in wound healing, and a lack of this vitamin has a variety of impacts on tissue repair.
Animal studies have revealed that zinc, selenium, iron, copper, folic acid, and vitamins A, B6, C, D, and E deficits might change immunological responses. These nutrients assist the immune system in numerous ways, including acting as antioxidants to protect healthy cells, promoting immune cell proliferation and function, and creating antibodies.
Vitamin C has several functions in wound healing, and a lack of this vitamin has a variety of impacts on tissue repair. Vitamin C deficiency impairs healing and has been associated to reduced collagen production and fibroblast proliferation, reduced angiogenesis, and increased capillary fragility.
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Still Unsure How To Get Started Making Meal Improvements
Food labels can be confusing, and not everyone has time to watch every morsel that they eat. If youre overwhelmed and not certain what to eat versus what not to eat, start by trying to eat something from the different food groups every day. Its worth it to make changes to optimize your diet since eating the right foods can make a big difference when it comes to wound healing.
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Protein Needed For Wound Healing
The amount of protein needed per day is dependent upon the individual, but generally, the average non-active male needs 56 grams per day. The average non-active female needs to eat 46 grams of protein per day. People with wounds and other illnesses need to eat more protein each day to help in wound healing. You may consider finding a wound care specialist to help determine the optimal amount needed for you to heal.
Woundvite By Zen Nutrients
Zen Nutrients have developed an amazing wound healing promotion formulation called WoundVite, which has been carefully crafted by pharmacists, surgeons, and leading skin experts. It contains amazing ingredients, such as vitamins A, C, D3, E, B12, and biotin.
Vitamin A is known to accelerate tissue epithelialization, so it is very useful when it comes to wound healing. Through a series of chemical reactions, vitamin A induces inflammatory inflammation in wounds and has a multiplier effect on wound healing even in non-deficient conditions.
Vitamin C helps the skin, bone, and soft tissues in optimal condition. Without this vitamin, collagen synthesis is impossible, which is another important function when it comes to wound healing. Vitamin C also protects the body from the adverse effects of free radicals that are formed under the influence of adverse factors , due to its antioxidant properties. Vitamin E is also an antioxidant and helps speed up the wound healing process.
This supplement contains phenomenal nutrients that support wound healing, contains them in optimal doses, and also meets other quality standards.
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What Should I Eat
| Choose whole grains for higher protein content. |
5 servings daily
For example: 1 slice bread, 1/2 cup cooked cereal, 1/2 cup rice or pasta, 3/4 cup dry cereal
Vegetables
2 servings daily
For example: 1 cup raw vege- tables, 2 cups raw leafy green vegetables, 1/2 cup cooked
Fruit
3 servings daily
For example: 1/4 cup dried fruit, 1 piece whole fresh fruit, 1 cup melon, berries, grapes, 1/2 cup canned fruit or 100% fruit juice
Protein
5-8 servings daily
For example: 1 oz. meat, fish, or poultry, 1/4 cup cooked beans, 1 egg, 1 Tbsp. peanut butter, 1/2 oz nuts, 2 oz. firm tofu
Dairy
3 servings daily
For example: 1 cup milk or yogurt, 1.5-2.0 oz. cheese
Check your weight twice weekly. If your weight is stable you are eating enough calories. If your weight decreases each time, you need to add more calories.
To increase calories, add snacks, calorie-containing beverages, or high-calorie condiments to foods such as butter, cream, cream cheese, olive oil, nut butters, nuts, seeds, hummus, syrup, sugar, jam, and/or jelly.
If you are unable to meet your needs through your diet alone try the following:
Can Collagen Supplements Help Wound Healing
Yes, collagen supplements are excellent for wound healing. As mentioned earlier, collagen is vital for strong and healthy skin. It does this by helping to restore your bodys natural cartilage, which is essential to the healing of all kinds of cuts.
Whats more, collagen helps to improve the strength and elasticity of your skin. However, the results you get after taking collagen depend on factors like your age, type of supplement used, and the quantity consumed.
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How Do Our Bodies Heal Surgical Incision Wounds
The wounds we sustain after a surgery or an injury that breaks the skin are classified as acute wounds, Nelson explained. A burn is also considered an acute wound.
Chronic wounds, alternatively, are those that dont show improved healing by approximately 30 days, such as pressure injuries or foot ulcers stemming from issues including immobility and diabetes. Often older adults in long-term care facilities experience pressure injuries, also known as bed sores. Chronic wounds can lead to further complications and require additional care.
Nelson shares the perfect analogy for what happens when wounds start to heal: “I think of it as a house on fire.”
First, as you come out of surgery, the inflammation stage starts. Specialized cells move to the incision site, working to stop the bleeding and mitigate excessive cell damage just like firefighters rushing to a burning building to quench its flames.
Cell proliferation starts about a week later. Here, your body begins “clearing out the rubble,” as he explains, and sending materials like collagen to prep the incision site for rebuilding. Around the two-week mark, wounds start to fill in with new tissue so that ultimately the wound can close and new skin can form.
It usually takes about a month for acute wounds to close up, and up to a year for the complete recovery depending on the type and extent of the wound.
What Things Should You Pay Attention To When Choosing Wound Healing Supplements
In order to find the best wound healing supplement and ensure that it is effective and safe enough, we suggest you pay attention to a few things:
- Ingredient and formulation
The first step is to make sure that the formulation really makes sense. This means that the supplement should contain active ingredients such as vitamins and minerals and are, if possible, of natural origin. You want to avoid wound healing supplements that are full of sugar and additives, so pay attention to the ingredients list.
Proper dosing is crucial if you want the supplement you are using to show the desired effect and speed up your wound healing. Make sure you always buy supplements that have the correct clinical doses of each important ingredient, which means they show maximum effectiveness with minimal risks.
When choosing the optimal wound healing supplement it is very important for it to have transparent labeling, which means that all ingredients and their quantities are clearly indicated, as well as for instructions for use and other important information. If you dont understand the label, its most likely a sign that you should skip that supplement.
- A trust-inspiring promotion
- Supplement company reputation
Below we share with you a few supplements that meet all the above criteria and with which you can not go wrong if you want to accelerate wound healing.
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Is Vitamin B Good For Healing
The B vitamin family plays an important role in the body. Vitamin B deficiency can impair wound healing in a variety of ways since it is necessary for various processes. One of these is the requirement for collagen linkage. Guaranteeing a strong immune system capable of fighting illness and infection is also dependent on proper levels of B vitamins. The best sources of B vitamins include dairy products, eggs, meat, fish, vegetables, and fruits.
Vitamin B has several functions in the body. It helps with energy production, maintains healthy blood cells, aids in the formation of bone tissue, and supports the immune system. Vitamin B12 is needed to produce new red blood cells. Without enough B12, you will become anemic. Other B-complex vitamins play different roles in metabolism, DNA synthesis, and nerve function.
B12 can be found only in animal products such as meat, milk, cheese, and eggs. You cannot get this vitamin from plants or food supplements. In addition to eating foods that contain B12, it is possible to get this vitamin through oral supplements or injections. Oral supplements are the most common way of taking B12 but injections are often recommended by doctors if you need more than what eating foods containing B12 will allow.
You should not take too much B12 since toxicity can occur if you consume large amounts of this vitamin over time.
