What foods are best for relieving muscle pain?

Whether it's the day after a long run or the day after a high-intensity training session, muscle pain can be annoying. Although it's a normal reaction, we can mitigate its impact with some nutritional strategies. Here are some tips to help you recover after intense training.

The most important thing to consider is protein intake. It is recommended that after intense exercise, we ingest about 0.25-0.4g/kg of body weight immediately after training.

In addition to this, it is recommended that we consume around 3 grams of leucine throughout the day. Leucine is an amino acid that our body uses for protein synthesis, which is very important for performance and muscle recovery.

High-leucine foods include chicken, turkey, dairy products, beef, salmon, or protein powder made from whey protein.

Depending on the Time of the Season

Depending on your workout, we might or might not play around with the intake of carbohydrates after training along with this amount of protein. But when specifically talking about recovery to alleviate possible muscle pain, it is highly recommended. We should always add servings of carbohydrates immediately after finishing, whether it be through liquid drinks like plant-based rice or oat beverages or through bread, rice, pasta... Preferably immediately after training, they should be easily digestible and have no fiber.

Diet Throughout the Week is Important

It's very important to consider several key points to alleviate these pains:

• Eat blue fish 2-3 times per week.
• Have 2-3 servings of healthy fats throughout the day to increase omega-3 intake: blue fish, nuts, seeds, avocado, EVOO...
• Use spices such as turmeric, black pepper, and ginger.
• Have a good intake of fruit, especially those high in vitamin C and magnesium.

And finally, it would be a good idea to take a supplement backed by scientific evidence to help us recover faster:

• Vitamin C (a great antioxidant)
• Magnesium
• Vitamin D3 (only if we have a deficiency in our blood test)

As you can see, these are some important points to consider when treating these pains. But the most important thing is to start slowly and understand that adaptations to exercise will come with regular practice.

As long as we start with a clear mind and a good training plan, there will be no problems. And if pain does occur... it will also be because the interval training was very intense.

Keep adding those miles!