When I learned I was going to be having knee replacement surgery I started taking a more intense interest in my current health and what I could do to assist my own recovery from surgery. In the following article, I report on some of what I found.
Any major surgery, whether it's for a total knee replacement as I recently had, or for something else, will stretch your body's resources to the limit. Surgery immediately pushes your system into emergency mode and every available capability and nutrient is preferentially re-directed to healing the wound and dealing with the aftermath. Everything that isn't directly related to life sustaining activity will be sidelined while your body begins the healing process.
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Unfortunately, as study after study has shown, on a day to day basis most of us are already living in a state of chronic nutritional depletion. That is, we are receiving less than optimum amounts of at least some nutrients, many of which are necessary for healing.
Dr. Emanuel Cheraskin, professor emeritus at the University of Alabama Medical School, has spent his career trying to find the optimum levels of nutrients needed by human beings. He has done this in a revolutionary way. He studies healthy people, and then determines what it is they are eating and doing to keep themselves in great health. This is opposed to the normal method that preferentially starves rats or other lab animals until they demonstrate a deficiency disease.
Dr. Cheraskin has been the author and/or co-author on over 700 publications in international scientific journals and 22 books. In 2005 he completed a report for the International Academy of Science called "Diet and Supplementation, Keys to Optimal Health". In this report he makes some shocking statements that run counter to prevailing wisdom.
1. "...we also found that even with an optimal diet (emphasis mine), it is important to take supplements."
2. "...the ideal (nutrient) intake appeared to be two to tenfold that of the FDA recommended or
suggested dietary allowances." (emphasis original)
3. The current RDA for Vitamin C is 60 mg per day. "...only 9% of Americans take in that much Vitamin C."
4. "As we studied the effect diet made on the health of individuals, we found that to promote well being,
protein levels might need to be tenfold that proposed by the National Research council."
5. "Studies showed that the optimal daily refined carbohydrate consumption should approach zero."
Dr. Cheraskin was able to make these statements after spending 20 years surveying, interviewing and monitoring the health and daily eating and supplementation habits of 1405 dentists and their spouses. In addition he completed double blind studies to document his findings. In the course of his work, Dr. Cheraskin concluded that the healthiest members of his survey group typically consumed two to ten times greater levels of specific nutrients than the governments own recommended RDA.
What does this mean for you, both before and after going in for surgery? I can tell you what I did.
It is usual for me to take two multi-vitamins a day, one in the morning and one in the evening. After learning of Dr. Cheraskin's work, I went looking for a better formulation. I found one with higher amounts and more of his recommended ingredients, so I could actually increase my intake while keeping to two multi's a day, but I also made a special effort to increase my intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. I included an apple, banana, an orange or a grapefruit for breakfast, to go along with my protein shake. I also started packing some fruit for lunch. I almost completely eliminated starchy carbohydrates from supper and made sure we had a nice big salad, steamed vegetables, grilled veggies or stir fired veggies as a large side dish.
I followed this regimen in the weeks leading up to and after my knee surgery. I know that, anecdotally, I had less trouble than many others I talked to or heard about.
I can also tell you that the incision healing process after my knee replacement went very well. I had different aftercare nurses comment on how quickly I was healing. One went so far as to say my 6 week old incision looked like it had been healing for 10 weeks.
So there IS something you can do to improve your chances of quick recovery after surgery. Pay attention to what you are eating. If you would like to know more about optimal nutrient levels, look for more on Dr. Cheraskin and his findings. Like in Part 2 of this article.
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