How A Greens Supplement Can Regulate Inflammation and Promote Recovery
Inflammation is a normal part of muscle building and recovery. However, sometimes the inflammatory response can slow down the recovery process. This process usually causes muscle soreness, fatigue and a possible struggle when it’s time for your next workout.
Luckily, you can keep inflammation after a workout to a minimum by doing things like stretching and drinking plenty of water. Sometimes, supplements can help, too. One that a lot of people don’t realize can help with muscle recovery is a greens supplement. The ingredients in this supplement can actually help regulate the inflammatory response, helping with chronic and short-term inflammation.
Keep reading to see how it works, and then consider adding a greens supplement to your post-workout supplement regime.
Workout Recovery and Inflammation
Every time you workout, you create tiny tears in your muscle fibers. This is especially true for resistance training. Those tiny tears are what eventually build muscle later on.
After your workout, your body begins the process of recovery to rebuild and strengthen those muscle fibers. Inflammation is one of the first steps of that recovery process. It’s key to this process because in order to rebuild tissue or heal from an injury or illness, the inflammatory response has to bring blood and nutrients to the affected area. This process also activates proteins to help with recovery.
Although inflammation is normal and important during recovery, it may cause unwanted effects such as muscle soreness and fatigue. These effects may continue into your next workout, disrupting your range of motion and endurance.
Not allowing enough time for inflammation to subside can also hinder muscle building and increase risk for injury. However, you can minimize the process of inflammation with the right recovery technique such as:
Stretching
Massage
Compression
Cold water immersion
Anti-inflammatory foods
What is a Greens Supplement?
A greens supplement is a powder that contains a variety of dried superfoods that are ground into a fine powder. These powders are meant to help boost your vegetable intake and supply your body with a powerful serving of vitamins and minerals. Most greens powders contain dried and ground leafy greens, grasses, herbs, fruits, extracts and other vegetables.
Many times, a single serving of a greens supplement can provide you with two servings of vegetables. This concentrated dose of superfoods contains a long list of nutrients to support gut health and the immune system.
Some supplements also contain probiotics and ingredients that can boost energy. For example, Naked Nutrition’s Naked Greens includes six organic vegetables and grasses, as well as a probiotic and ginseng.
How Greens Regulate Inflammation
Now let’s make the connection between greens powders and post-workout recovery. Fueling your body with foods that will help regulate inflammation is a great addition to other recovery techniques.
Taking a greens supplement gives your body a megadose of concentrated antioxidants and other vitamins and minerals. Leafy greens like spinach and kale are amazing sources of polyphenols and carotenoids, which are antioxidant compounds that scavenge free radicals and therefore reduce inflammation.
Companies use these leafy greens, as well as other antioxidant-rich vegetables like broccoli. The nutrients in these foods also help regulate cytokines, which are proteins released during the inflammatory response.
All of these vegetables are commonly recommended on anti-inflammatory diets as well. Taking them as a supplement just makes it easier to consume the recommended amounts. As a supplement, these nutrients may also be more bioavailable, meaning your body will absorb them more efficiently.
A greens supplement that also provides a probiotic offers additional anti-inflammatory benefits. The gut is a well-known regulator of the inflammatory response. Taking a probiotic helps to balance gut bacteria, which helps to optimize and control the inflammatory response, immune system and metabolism.
How to Use a Greens Supplement
Using greens is as easy as adding it to water and stirring thoroughly. However, you can also add it to a smoothie or protein shake. Some people even sprinkle their greens on veggies and mix them into salad dressings or dips. It’s not recommended to heat or cook a greens supplement, because it may break down some of the nutrients, leaving you with less to absorb.
Take greens once daily. You can take a greens supplement any time of day. However, some fitness experts recommend any time except for immediately after a workout. This is because you want to allow some time for your muscles to begin the recovery process to build new tissue and the anti-inflammatory effects of greens could hinder this process too soon post-workout.
When you’re choosing a greens supplement, avoid anything that has too many unnecessary ingredients. Actually, this is true for any type of supplement you purchase. Some brands add artificial sweeteners, colors or other additives that act as fluff. Avoid paying extra for these fluff ingredients, and instead look for greens powders that have additional helpful ingredients for energy and probiotics.
Final Thoughts
Although a greens supplement shouldn’t totally replace fruit and vegetable intake or a multivitamin, it’s a great option for anyone who could use a nutrient and antioxidant boost.
The vegetables that are dried and ground in greens powders are rich in antioxidants and other nutrients that help regulate inflammation and support the immune system. Additional ingredients such as probiotics may improve gut health and energy levels, which can also help with post-workout recovery and overall health.
Written By: Charlotte MG, Naked Nutrition
