Heal your diastasis with food!

I really enjoyed listening to a webinar from Jessica Drummond of the Integrative Women's Health Institute last week.

One of the sections that I was particularly interested in was on postnatal soft tissue and wound recovery - applicable particularly for those with diastasis or a c-section and perineum wound.

My advice nutritionally has always been to use bone broth either in soups or gravies but her information will give you a few more tools to use!

Eating foods that are high in collagen can help to repair and build damaged tissues - this includes wounded and strained core and pelvic floor muscles.

Good sources of lysine and proline, the amino acids that build collagen, are meat, chicken, fish and egg whites. For vegetarians - peanuts and wheat germ.

But there are other nutrients necessary. Vitamin C is destroyed when collagen is made so your intake of citrus fruits, strawberries and dark leafy greens, for example, will need to increase.

Hyaluronic acid is needed to create bundles using collagen. It can be found in sweet potatoes, avocado, mango and bone soup - using bone broth or whole fish.

The final nutrient she mentioned is zinc. This can be found in sesame seeds, cashews, dates, linseed, cocoa, beef, blue cheese and eggs. The healthy treats we have after postnatal Pilates should take care of that!

Looking at the list, an all-encompassing recipe would be a Chinese style soup of bone broth, chicken pieces, kale or pak choy, sprinkled with sesame seeds or cashew nuts.

Perfect for the summer we're having!!