Healthy diet = Healthy muscles

Have you ever felt like you just can’t keep your body moving? Like something that should feel light, weighs a ton? I want to share the key to a healthy muscular system this week. Hint, hint, it has to do with eating a healthy diet.

Whether you are a young athlete, active adult, elderly or couch potato the body requires certain essential nutrients to adequately build, support and maintain healthy muscle tissue. Proper nutrition also provides the musculoskeletal system with overall strength and mobility, as well as the ability to repair itself.

As a Registered Massage Therapist, I fully appreciate the potential positive effects of therapeutic massage therapy. I have seen many of my clients having a great response to their muscles being manipulated through various massage techniques and myofascial cupping. Over the years I have run into clients who don’t respond to massage therapy in the way I would expect. This was interesting to me as I wanted to know why for some clients massage wasn’t making a big difference in relieving their symptoms such as inflammation, pain and stiffness.

I started to research out other root causes for why a client’s muscles wouldn’t relax much, why they had so much inflammation, why they couldn’t seem to lose weight, why were their joints so sore and why were some client’s more prone to things like migraines and muscle strains. This research led me to take the Diploma program at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition and to become a Certified Holistic Nutrition Consultant/Coach. It was like a light bulb went off with all the connections of proper nutrition and its effects on the muscular system.

This led to me discovering how the health of your gut is linked to so many other conditions and diseases. The health of your bones, joints, tendons, ligaments and muscles are influenced by the gastrointestinal tract through the absorption of key nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, amino acids, vitamins A, D, K and C, and healthy fats like Omega 3. If your gut (GI tract) isn’t functioning properly, the body may not be able to absorb the nutrients it needs to build strong bones, joints and muscles.

Inflammation in your gut leads to more inflammation manifesting itself in the joints and muscles as stiffness and soreness. A healthy GI tract can be achieved through diet, lifestyle and natural health approaches that support the body’s natural ability to repair itself, build immunity, detoxify and cleanse. It also leads to optimal health in all body systems, including the musculoskeletal system.

Here are some of the best nutrients to support the muscles and skeletal system:

• Calcium - it helps muscles contract and relax properly. It is also essential for healthy bones and teeth. Leafy greens like kale and broccoli are good sources.

• Vitamin D - supports many functions in our bodies. It has a protective effect against muscle weakness and bone fractures. Sunlight is the body’s main source of Vitamin D and it store large reserves in the liver, spleen, bones and brain. Good sources are salmon and beef liver.

• Protein - it builds, maintains and repairs muscle tissues. It produces energy and stamina, and enables muscles to contract properly. Along with Vitamin C, it stimulates collagen matrix which is the connective tissue necessary for muscle health and maintaining integrity of the musculoskeletal system.

• Omega 3 fatty acids - are able to influence your muscle metabolism. They help reduce inflammation in the entire body. These healthy essential fats will reduce muscles soreness and increase mobility after workouts. They can also increase your body’s sensitivity to insulin which in time reduces your body’s fat storage by improving your muscle’s ability to burn body fat.

• Magnesium - it increases calcium absorption from the blood into the bones, relaxes muscles, and is important for neuromuscular transmission and activity. Incorporating lots of water, magnesium, calcium, sodium and potassium in your diet will help with muscle relaxation, controlling contractions and balancing electrolytes.

Providing nutritional education and support to help nourish the bodies of people we work with will help improve the health of their muscles and skeletal system. Whether an athlete or not, it is important to have adequate levels of proper nutrients to ensure a healthy response to exercise and to modalities like massage therapy and physiotherapy.

Want to get even healthier? Do you deal with muscle aches, pains or weakness? Are you curious about how health coaching can help you make your own healthy changes, maybe even build some muscle? Let’s talk! Schedule an initial complimentary consultation with us today—or pass this offer on to someone you care about! Visit www.noshoesnutrition.com and sign up for a FREE consultation.  We work with people from all over the world individually or in groups so don’t let anything hold you back!