Wound Healing > Dietary Tips

Health Condition

Wound Healing

The right diet is the key to managing many diseases and to improving general quality of life. For this condition, scientific research has found benefit in the following healthy eating tips.

  • High-Protein Diet

    Help the body build and repair tissue by eating a diet high in protein and adequate in calories. Good protein sources include fish, chicken, and soy products.
    High-Protein Diet
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    Building and repairing tissue requires adequate amounts of calories and protein to fuel the repair mechanisms, as the skin and underlying tissues are made of protein. While major wounds from extensive injuries or major surgery significantly raise protein and calorie requirements, optimal healing of minor wounds should not require changes from a typical, healthful diet.17 In a study of malnourished people with skin ulcers, those who were given a diet containing 24% protein showed a significant reduction in the size of the ulcer, whereas those given a diet containing 14% protein had no significant improvement.18 This study suggests an increase in dietary protein can improve wound healing in malnourished people. It is not known whether the same benefit would be observed in well-nourished people.

References

1. Tassman G, Zafran J, Zayon G. A double-blind crossover study of a plant proteolytic enzyme in oral surgery. J Dent Med 1965;20:51-4.

2. Blonstein J. Control of swelling in boxing injuries. Practitioner 1960;203:206.

3. Alvarez OM, Gilbreath RL. Effect of dietary thiamine on intermolecular collagen cross-linking during wound repair: a mechanical and biochemical assessment. J Trauma 1982;22:20-4.

4. Aprahamian M, Dentinger A, Stock-Damge C, et al. Effects of supplemental pantothenic acid on wound healing: experimental study in rabbit. Am J Clin Nutr 1985;41:578-89.

5. Bosse MD, Axelrod AE. Wound healing in rats with biotin, pyridoxin, or riboflavin deficiencies. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 1948;67:418-21.

6. Levine M. New concepts in the biology and biochemistry of ascorbic acid. N Engl J Med 1986;314:892-902 [review].

7. Mazzotta MY. Nutrition and wound healing. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 1994;84:456-62 [review].

8. Ringsdorf WM Jr, Cheraskin E. Vitamin C and human wound healing. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol 1982;53:231-6 [review].

9. Vaxman F, Olender S, Lambert A, et al. Can the wound healing process be improved by vitamin supplementation? Experimental study on humans. Eur Surg Res 1996;28:306-14.

10. Vaxman F, Olender S, Lambert A, et al. Effect of pantothenic acid and ascorbic acid supplementation on human skin wound healing process. A double-blind, prospective and randomized trial. Eur Surg Res 1995;27:158-66.

11. Sandstead HH. Understanding zinc: Recent observations and interpretations. J Lab Clin Med 1994;124:322-7.

12. Liszewski RF. The effect of zinc on wound healing: a collective review. J Am Osteopath Assoc 1981;81:104-6 [review].

13. Pories WJ, Henzel JH, Rob CG, Strain WH. Acceleration of healing with zinc sulfate. Ann Surg 1967;165:432-6.

14. Lansdown ABG. Zinc in the healing wound. Lancet 1996;347:706-7 [editorial].

15. Ågren MS. Studies on zinc in wound healing. Acta Derm Venereol Suppl 1990;154:1-36 [review].

16. Ågren MS. Zinc in wound repair. Arch Dermatol 1999;135:1273-4 [letter].

17. Souba WW, Wilmore D. Diet and nutrition in the care of the patient with surgery, trauma, and sepsis. In: Shils ME, Olson JA, Shike M, et al. Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease, 9th ed. Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins, 1999, 1589-618.

18. Breslow RA, Hallfrisch J, Guy DG, et al. The importance of dietary protein in healing pressure ulcers. J Am Geriatr Soc 1993;41(4):357-62.