5 Natural Foods That Can Help Aid Surgical Recovery
Surgical recovery requires plenty of patience and time to rest. Even though you might be extremely eager to get back to your normal routine, to ensure you can heal fully and prevent any complications, you must give your body all the time it needs to recover.
To make a speedier recovery, you must follow the guidelines provided by your doctor/surgeon regarding surgical aftercare. This may include instances where you may need to massage scarring and maintain a healthy diet, but most importantly, you will need to give yourself plenty of time to rest.
Eating particular foods within your diet can be great for aiding your surgical recovery, and there are specific ones that you can incorporate into your diet. With that in mind, here are five foods that you can include in your diet to speed up your recovery.
- EGGS
We’ll agree that the smell and potential taste of eggs can be off-putting, but what you need to bear in mind is what’s on the inside counts the most. There are many minerals and nutrient qualities within eggs that can be essential for your recovery. They include plenty, including the following:
– Protein
– Vitamin A
– Vitamin E
– Calcium
– Zinc
– Iron, and more.
This is one of the main reasons eggs are one of the common foods provided to recovery patients. Thankfully, eggs have a big benefit in several ways as part of your diet. Whether scrambling them on wholemeal toast in the morning or simply boiling them and having them whole, they have plenty of variety that can make it easier to incorporate into your diet.
- FATS
You may be surprised that this is one of the foods as fat tends to have many negative connotations. However, not all fats are bad, and some can be extremely good for your body. This is because certain healthy fats can help your body absorb vitamins from other foods in your diet.
It can also strengthen your immune system and prevent the chances of infection from your surgery and provide energy and vitamin E. Some foods from which you can gain healthy fats include avocado, nuts, seeds, and coconut oil.
- FRUIT
Fruit is beneficial after surgery, but it can be just as effective before surgery. So be sure to fill up your fruit bowl with plenty of nutritious foods. Several fruits offer good doses of vitamins, fiber, carbohydrates, and antioxidants to benefit your body and keep you healthy.
In particular, berries are incredibly good fruit as they are a great source of vitamin C which is commonly known to rebuild collagen and soft tissue. Alternatively, if you’re not a great fan of eating raw fruit, feel free to get out the blender and make yourself some delicious smoothies to drink. Fruits you can eat can include:
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– Apples
– Apricot
– Mangoes
– Melons
– Berries
– Oranges
– Tomatoes
- LEAFY GREENS
If you need to pack a recovery punch, look no further than the available leafy greens. They have high doses of vitamin A, C, and E. More importantly, they also contain plenty of vitamin K produced by plants and are influential in blood clotting, which can aid your surgical recovery.
Amongst these qualities, they also contain a healthy amount of fiber, iron, magnesium, potassium, and calcium. Some leafy greens to consider include:
– Kale
– Bok Choy
– Turnip Greens
– Collard Greens
- WHOLE GRAINS
One type of food that tends to be overlooked amongst all these suggestions is whole grain foods. You should consider this as the particular food group packs plenty of nutrients and minerals essential for wound healing – tissue is repaired from the zinc and protein qualities. At the same time, iron helps deliver oxygen to the affected areas. Magnesium strengthens the body’s defense mechanisms. Whole-grain foods to consider include:
– Barley
– Quinoa
– Risotto
– Wild Rice
– Whole Wheat bread
AIDING YOUR SURGICAL RECOVERY
The five natural foods can be extremely beneficial for your surgical recovery. Still, it’s also worth noting that there are foods that can also harm your recovery, canceling out the benefits of the foods above. It’s important to have a balanced diet so your body can obtain all the vitamins and minerals it needs, but having more of one than the other can stall your healing and have you resting more on the sofa than you planned to.
So, whether you’re recovering from a cosmetic rhinoplasty surgery or a gastric bypass procedure, try to avoid these particular foods – caffeine, alcohol, excessive sugar, and salt. As well as this, most important of all is to ensure that you drink plenty of water as keeping hydrated is vital to keep your energy levels up and to flush the
