When you injure yourself, it’s vital to treat the wound externally by cleaning it, applying antibacterial ointments, and keeping it covered to prevent infection. However, the most crucial part of the healing process takes place internally when your immune system goes into overdrive to fight off bacteria and repair the injured tissue. This means that optimizing your immune system is the key to promoting wound healing from the inside out. But how do you achieve that? A recent study from the U.S. Army Institute of Environmental Medicine discovered a few steps you can take to accelerate the healing process and minimize pain.
The Influence of Sleep and Nutrition on Wound Healing
Researchers from the U.S. Army Institute of Environmental Medicine set out to analyze the impact of sleep and nutrition on the wound healing process. They split their study participants, who had sustained injuries, into multiple groups.
- One group had two hours of sleep per night for three nights, consumed the recommended daily protein amount, and drank a placebo drink twice daily.
- Another group had two hours of sleep per night for three nights, ate extra protein each day, and drank a nutritional beverage twice daily.
- The third group slept normally for three nights but made no special dietary changes.
It turns out that those who slept well but didn’t adjust their diet saw significantly quicker healing than their sleep-deprived counterparts. Surprisingly, adding nutrition to the sleep-deprived group’s diet led to some improvement in the healing process, but it wasn’t enough to outweigh the detrimental effects of insufficient sleep.
Optimizing Sleep and Nutrition for Wound Healing
Fixing injuries isn’t an either-or choice between sleep and nutrition. Ideally, you should aim to ensure you’re getting enough sleep and consuming foods that promote healing to reap the benefits of both.
When recovering from an injury or surgery, prioritize your sleep and make sure to consume a sufficient number of immune-boosting nutrients. Previous studies have shown that vitamin C, omega-3, and certain amino acids can help reduce inflammation and speed up healing. The nutritional drink used in the U.S. Army Institute study also contained arginine, glutamine, zinc sulfate, and vitamin D3.
You can also try some of the following remedies to encourage even faster healing:
- Utilize the antibacterial power of Manuka honey.
- Test the anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin cream.
- Apply bentonite clay to eliminate antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
- Exercise and break a sweat regularly; your sweat glands play an essential role in the healing process.
While it may be tempting to focus solely on external treatment when you’re injured, integrating a robust immune system by prioritizing sleep and an immune-boosting diet can significantly shorten the healing process and lead to a speedy recovery.
