Supplements and diet

A note on diet and supplements.

I have cut the carbs relative to my usual diet since I need less energy being largely chair bound.  To my usual morning smoothie (see http://fredippides.blogspot.com/p/other-stuff-diet-and-injury-prevention.html) I am using more chia.


I am taking certain supplements to help with healing:

HMB:  900mg, 3 times daily.  HMB has supposedly been shown to slow muscle wasting, and is supposed to help middle aged athletes put on and maintain muscle mass.  I decided to take this to do what I can to prevent loss of muscle in my injured leg, which cannot bear weight for the next 2-3 months.

SAM-e 400mg, 2x daily.  SAM-e is metabolized into glutathione, an important compound required in the liver to sweep toxic metabolites of many types out of the body.  In particular, glutathione stores become depleted by using acetaminophen.  Once glutathione is depleted, the toxic metabolites of acetaminophen do liver damage which can run away and ultimately cause liver failure.  Since I am taking vicodin, which contains a lot of acetaminophen, this seemed like a good idea.  Treatments for acetaminophen toxicity all involve ingestion of glutothione precursors after all.

In addition SAM-e is supposed to promote cartilage growth;  in any event its been shown effective in treating osteo-arthritis.  A big concern about my fractured acetabulum is that the cartilage  must have been damaged  when the socket cracked and separated.  If this cartilage doesn't heal I will have  a short running career (if I have one at all) once the fracture heals.

I am also taking a lot of glucosamine, again, out of concern for cartilage damage sustained during the acetabulum fracture.

3000-4000 i.u. of vitamin D daily to promote bone healing.

100% of the RDA for calcium  in the form of calcium citrate, for bone healing.

500 mg vitamin C on top of 2-3 oranges per day.  This is promote formation of the collagen matrix that evidently first forms in a fracture, before the fracture begins to calcify and heal.