The smartest way to eat after an injury—here’s what athletes wish they knew earlier

On April 10, 2025, the University of South Australia released a study showing that female distance runners who chronically under-fuel — eating about 450 fewer calories and 20 grams less fat a day than their peers — were twice as likely to suffer stress fractures, muscle strains, and iron-deficiency anemia.

Sports-dietitian Erin Colebatch summed up the findings bluntly: “"Nutrition is key to optimising athletic performance, providing the energy, recovery support, and injury prevention needed to maintain both endurance and overall health.”

If food choices can help keep athletes on the field, they’re even more critical once you’re off it with a torn ligament or fractured bone.

Every repair process — reducing inflammation, knitting collagen, rebuilding muscle—demands raw materials that only food (or intravenous nutrition) can deliver.

A plant-based approach supplies those materials with the bonus of less saturated fat and more antioxidants than animal-heavy menus.

Below is a 360-degree playbook for eating your way back to strength, distilled from the latest research and seasoned with chef-worthy flavor.

A fresh spin on “comfort food” for recovery

After an injury, it’s tempting to soothe yourself with treats or fall into convenience foods. But the smartest way to eat now is to truly nourish.

Think of it this way: every meal is a chance to speed up repair. That doesn’t mean abandoning comfort — in fact, many traditional comfort foods are healing foods. Around the world, people have developed dishes specifically to restore strength.

In Korea, for instance, new mothers are traditionally served seaweed soup (miyeok guk) after childbirth to help them recover. It’s no coincidence: seaweed is packed with calcium (for bone repair), iron (to rebuild blood), iodine (for thyroid function), fiber, and even omega-3 fatty acids.

 It’s a mineral-rich elixir so powerful that Koreans also eat it on birthdays to celebrate wellness. In India, golden turmeric milk (haldi doodh) has been a go-to remedy for centuries – a warm, spiced hug in a cup.

Turmeric’s active compound, curcumin, has potent anti-inflammatory properties, which modern studies show can calm swelling in injured muscles and tendons. No wonder it’s dubbed “liquid gold.”

And if you peek into a Mexican cocina like my family’s, you might find a pot of bean stew bubbling away. Those frijoles (beans) – whether black beans, pintos, or lentils – are fiber-rich, protein-packed powerhouses that our ancestors relied on during hard times. Today’s athletes are learning to do the same, trading ultra-processed snacks for heritage foods that feed recovery.

Below, we’ll break down the key nutrients your body craves after an injury, and how to get them on a plant-based diet.

The bonus?

Not only will these choices help mend what’s broken, they’ll make you feel vibrant from the inside out. This isn’t a prescription—it’s a flavorful roadmap to recovery.

Plant protein: rebuilding muscle and tissue

“Where’s your protein?” It’s the classic question every plant-based athlete hears. During injury recovery, that question becomes vital – but not in the way most people think.

You might actually need slightly more protein than usual to help tissues repair, but it’s not about chugging artificial shakes or eating slabs of mock meat. It’s about embracing a variety of whole plant proteins that come bundled with other healing goodies. Protein provides the amino acids (like lysine and arginine) that knit together new muscle fibers, mend ligaments, and regenerate skin. As studies show, insufficient protein can slow down wound healing and increase muscle loss.

The good news: it’s entirely possible (and easy) to get enough protein from plants – along with fiber and antioxidants that animal proteins lack.

Top vegan protein sources include beans, lentils, peas, tofu, tempeh, edamame, nuts, seeds, and even whole grains like oats and buckwheat. Each brings its own texture and taste: nutty lentils, meaty tempeh, creamy chickpeas. 

A cup of black beans doesn’t just deliver protein; it also gives iron, magnesium, and B vitamins.

These extras matter – iron helps re-oxygenate recovering muscles, magnesium aids relaxation and repair, and B vitamins are cofactors in tissue regeneration. In contrast, animal proteins come with baggage like saturated fat and no fiber. Plants give you protein plus fiber, plus phytonutrients. It’s like getting bonus therapy with each bite.

One more protein tip for healing: collagen support.

Collagen is the scaffold that knits tissues together – think of it as the glue holding your muscles, tendons, and bones in place. While collagen itself isn’t found in plants (and we’re not about to boil animal bones here), your body can make all the collagen it needs if you supply the right building blocks.

Vitamin C, copper, zinc, and protein are co-conspirators in collagen synthesis.

Vitamin C and antioxidants: healing from the inside out

If proteins are the bricks of a house under repair, antioxidants and vitamins are like the construction crew clearing debris and laying a strong foundation. Injury triggers inflammation and oxidative stress – basically, a rush of “clean-up” immune cells that, while essential for healing, can also create excess free radicals that damage healthy cells.

Antioxidants are your defense here, mopping up those free radicals and reducing unnecessary inflammation. They allow healing to proceed without collateral damage. And among antioxidants, Vitamin C is the all-star for injury recovery. It not only neutralizes free radicals but also rebuilds tissues (thanks to its role in collagen, as mentioned).

Vitamin C has been shown to speed up wound healing and reduce muscle damage from exercise.

Where do we get these antioxidants on a vegan diet?

From a rainbow of plant foods.

This is where eating becomes truly joyful and sensory: vibrant berries, juicy oranges, dark leafy greens, earthy beets, golden turmeric, fiery ginger, and deep purple grapes or plums are all loaded with different antioxidants. 

Healthy fats and omega-3s: fighting inflammation

During injury recovery, not all fats are created equal.

You want to embrace the right fats and avoid the problematic ones.

Why?

Inflammation. Processed foods laden with trans fats or excessive omega-6 oils (common in fried snacks, margarine, certain junk foods) can tip your body toward a pro-inflammatory state, potentially exacerbating pain and slowing healing.

On the other hand, healthy fats can be one of your best allies. They provide energy for healing (remember, repair is hard work!), aid in nutrient absorption (you need fat to absorb vitamins A, D, E, K), and crucially, certain fats actively reduce inflammation.

The champions here are omega-3 fatty acids, famed for their anti-inflammatory prowess. Omega-3s help resolve inflammation by producing signaling molecules that calm the immune response once it’s done its job. Research shows that boosting omega-3 intake can support quicker recovery and even reduce soreness after intense exercise.

In fact, some studies on athletes suggest that omega-3s (like EPA, one type of omega-3) may moderate the inflammatory response and potentially lower injury risk over time.

Translation: by including omega-3-rich foods now, you’re not only helping heal your current injury, you might also be fortifying your body against future ones.

Zinc, and other minerals

Zinc: the repair catalyst

This trace mineral orchestrates immune defense and collagen knitting. A mild deficiency can delay wound closure by 40 percent.

Best vegan bites: pumpkin seeds, tahini, cashews, lentils. Roast pumpkin seeds with tamari and smoked paprika for a 7-gram-protein, 2-mg-zinc snack.

Iron: oxygen’s chauffeur

Surgery or immobility can tank hemoglobin. Pair plant iron (beans, tofu, dark greens) with vitamin C foods to triple absorption. A black-bean–orange salad covers both needs.

Calcium & magnesium: the bone team

Fracture? Load up on calcium-set tofu, fortified soy milk, and greens; chase with magnesium-rich almonds or spinach. They work with vitamin D (get sunshine or a vegan D3) to rebuild bone matrix.

Copper & manganese: collagen cross-linkers

Found in nuts, seeds, and whole grains—often the same foods that provide protein and healthy fat. Another reason trail mix is rehab gold.

Hydration and gut health

Blood delivers nutrients; lymph removes debris. Both are mostly water.

Even 2 percent dehydration slows nutrient transport.

Aim for half your body-weight in ounces daily, more if you’re sweating in a brace or cast. Infuse water with citrus or sip ginger-turmeric tea for extra antioxidants.

High-fiber plant foods feed gut microbes that, in turn, create short-chain fatty acids — compounds now linked to reduced systemic inflammation.

Soup is a gentle vehicle when appetite lags: miso broth with tofu and seaweed hydrates, supplies probiotics, and sneaks in minerals like iodine (critical for thyroid-driven metabolism).

A week of recovery plates (no calorie counting required)

Each day supplies ~80–100 g protein, 30–40 g healthy fat, abundant antioxidants and minerals—enough to keep tissues rebuilding.

The bigger picture: food policy meets performance

As evidence mounts, sports academies and even hospital rehab wings are shifting menus:

• USOPC’s widely reported emphasis on offering more plant-based options at the Paris 2024 High-Performance Center dining hall.   now offers daily plant-forward recovery lines—lentil stews, nut-seed bars, fortified soy shakes.

• The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee stocked its 250-seat dining hall with plant-forward recovery fare — think lentil stews, nut-and-seed energy bites, and fortified soy-protein shakes— a s part of a broader pledge to cut animal products by 50–6 % across Olympic catering.

• Insurance-linked recovery programs are piloting grocery vouchers for whole-food staples rather than supplement pills, citing better adherence and lower inflammation markers.

For everyday athletes, that trend means easier access to prepared vegan meals designed for healing—and fewer excuses to rely on ultra-processed fare.

Final bite

Injury can feel like a detour, but what you plate while you wait may dictate how quickly you return and how strong you feel when you do.

But think of your recovery phase as training of a different sort — you’re training your body to rebuild and come back tougher, and food is the literal fuel for that triumph. Every bite of leafy greens or spoon of nut butter is a step toward that finish line of being healed. And even more, you’re laying down eating habits that will support your long-term athletic career.

The knowledge you gain now about smart nutrition is something athletes say they wish they’d known earlier, but you can carry it forward from this point on.

As a plant-based culinary writer, I find deep beauty in this intersection of science and tradition. The latest research is essentially rediscovering the wisdom of our ancestors: eat whole foods, mostly plants, rich in color and variety, and you shall heal.

We started with a news flash that nutrition reduces injuries, and we ended with a personal revelation: nutrition also heals the mind that may have been injured by disappointment.

So, to every athlete (or anyone) out there nursing an injury: take heart.

Serve yourself that big recovery salad or stew, savor it slowly, and imagine it lighting up every part of your body that needs repair.

You’re not passively waiting; you’re actively

healing. And when you do step back onto the field, court, or trail, you’ll carry not just healed muscles or bones, but a wiser understanding of how to care for the one body you’ve got.