The Right Foods to Help Your Wound Heal
What you eat plays a significant role in how your body functions on a day-to-day basis. It also has a big impact on the wound-healing process. The presence of a chronic wound raises the metabolic demands of your immune system so eating a nutritious, balanced diet of healing foods and increasing the right type of calories can help your body heal more quickly and effectively.
The Essentials for Wound Healing
There are essential things that you need in your diet to help promote optimal healing. Additional calories from foods rich in protein, amino acids, and vitamins will help create blood cells to fight infection and regenerate tissue cells for skin closure.
Protein is essential for cell health and development, so it plays a key role in all stages of wound healing. New white blood cells are needed to fight infections and new skin cells must replace damaged tissue. Zinc, Vitamin A, and Vitamin C aid in the creation of collagen for tissue repair and skin cell regeneration.
Simply having a chronic wound can increase the number of calories you need by 50% and protein requirements by up to 250%. A tip to help you make sure you are consuming enough calories is to plan five or six small meals instead of aiming for three large meals a day. Another method is to include calorie-enriched beverages as snacks such as smoothies or milkshakes with added protein.
Your wound care clinic may prescribe additional wound care supplements that supply the calories and proteins you need as well as the amino acids that help increase blood flow and oxygen to your wound. The amino acids will also help increase collagen production and reduce inflammation of the wound.
What foods should I eat if I have a wound?
When it comes to nutrition, it’s important to understand that everything you consume will impact your body and its functions. 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.
Each day, you should aim to consume two to three servings of protein and at least two servings of foods high in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Zinc. Your body also needs more fluid to keep your skin healthy for wound healing.
Proteins
Meat, fish, tofu, eggs, cheese, milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, dried beans, nuts
Vitamin A
Dark, leafy green vegetables, orange or yellow vegetables, orange fruits, fortified dairy products, liver
Vitamin C
Citrus fruits and juices, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes with the skin, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussel sprouts
Zinc
Red meats, poultry, seafood, eggs, liver, beans, lentils, whole grain foods
Fluids
Water, milk, fortified soy beverages, soup, tea, 100% fruit or vegetable juice
What if healing foods are not enough?
Unfortunately, sometimes individuals must undergo strict diet restrictions, which can significantly impact their wound-healing ability. Underlying health conditions such as diabetes can also affect the body’s ability to heal well. If this is your case, you may need to seek a wound clinic to help you devise a plan to boost your ability to heal.
Outside of food, there are a few other healthy habits that can help with the healing process.
- Get Enough Sleep Getting a lot of sleep can help wounds heal more quickly
- Don’t Stop Exercising Exercise increases blood flow and helps speed up the healing process. You may need to reduce the intensity of your routines or simplify your exercise down to walking, but try not to stop altogether.
- Quit Smoking Cigarettes can delay the healing process by tightening blood vessels and restricting nutrients from reaching the wound, and it can increase the possibility of complications.
Hyperbaric Wound Care Along with Proper Nutrition Can Heal Wounds
Some individuals may have difficulty balancing the necessary nutrients needed to help deliver oxygen where it needs to go. Hyperbaric wound care treatment at Conway Medical Center delivers 100% oxygen to the body through inhalation and absorption. This ensures your body is getting the oxygen it needs to improve it’s wound-healing abilities. When used in conjunction with a nutrition plan, we can ensure you are getting the optimal health benefits to help your body heal.
For over a decade at CMC Wound Care, our team has provided the assistance and support to treat over 4,300 patients and heal over 15,000 wounds. If you are dealing with a wound that won’t heal and would like a wound care specialist to evaluate your healing, ask your primary care provider for a referral to CMC Wound Care or call 843-347-8347 for more information about our program.
