Episode 258 – Should Athletes Care About Anti-Inflammatory Diets?

Should Athletes Care About Anti-Inflammatory Diets?

Anti-inflammatory diets often get discussed in the context of health, longevity and chronic disease risk. However, athletes may also wonder whether this style of eating can improve recovery, reduce soreness and support performance.

In theory, lowering inflammation could help athletes feel better, recover faster and manage injury risk. At the same time, inflammation is not always a bad thing. Training creates an acute inflammatory response, and that response plays a role in adaptation.

Because of this, anti-inflammatory nutrition can be useful, but it should sit within the bigger picture of fuelling, recovery and performance.

What Is an Anti-Inflammatory Diet?

A general anti-inflammatory style diet usually focuses on nutrient-dense foods. This includes omega-3 fatty acids from foods such as salmon, sardines, mackerel, flaxseeds and walnuts.

It also includes polyphenols and antioxidants from colourful fruit and vegetables, whole grain carbohydrate sources, and healthy fats such as olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds. In addition, this style of eating often involves a lower intake of ultra-processed foods and refined sugars.

A Mediterranean-style diet is a common example of this approach. For athletes, this may need some changes, such as a higher protein intake or a higher carbohydrate intake depending on training demands.

How Anti-Inflammatory Nutrition Could Help Athletes

Athletes may have higher baseline inflammation due to training load. If inflammation stays chronically high, it may increase vulnerability to injury or make recovery harder.

Muscle soreness also has an inflammatory component. Therefore, reducing excessive inflammation may help some athletes feel less sore and continue training or competing at a higher level.

Omega-3 fatty acids, particularly fish oil, have been discussed in this context. Around 2-3 grams per day appears to help reduce C-reactive protein, which is a marker of inflammation, as well as self-reported soreness.

Underfuelling Risk

Although anti-inflammatory eating can be useful, athletes often have high energy needs. In some cases, eating too “clean” can make it harder to consume enough total energy.

This can increase the risk of underfuelling, low energy availability, fatigue and unintended weight loss. For this reason, some athletes may need more processed or convenient foods to meet their energy and carbohydrate needs.

Endurance athletes are a clear example. During high-volume training, they may rely on gels, sports drinks and other sports foods. These options may not fit neatly into an anti-inflammatory diet, but they can still be important for performance.

Inflammation Is Part of Adaptation

Inflammation is not automatically harmful. Exercise-induced muscle damage creates an acute inflammatory response, which helps drive training adaptations.

If an athlete suppresses inflammation too aggressively, they may reduce some of the adaptations they are training for. This concern is most relevant with high-dose antioxidant supplements, especially when taken close to training.

Vitamin C and vitamin E supplements can reduce soreness, but there is also evidence that high-dose antioxidant supplementation may blunt some endurance training adaptations. The evidence is less clear in strength athletes, but it may still be a factor.

How Much Does It Matter?

Anti-inflammatory nutrition can improve markers of inflammation, but athletes usually care more about outcomes such as soreness, injury risk, recovery and performance.

Tart cherry juice has some of the most noticeable evidence for reducing soreness. It may be useful before and after events that are likely to cause significant soreness, such as marathons, Ironman events, multi-day competitions or cycling tours.

However, it will not remove soreness completely. If someone completes a very demanding event, they will probably still feel sore. Tart cherry juice may just reduce the severity.

Omega-3s may also help with muscle soreness and joint pain. The effect is not huge, but it may provide a noticeable benefit compared with placebo.

Injury Recovery and Joint Pain

Anti-inflammatory nutrition may support injury recovery, but it is only one piece of the puzzle.

For example, if an athlete has a strong rehabilitation plan, nutrition may help them return to peak performance slightly faster. However, if their training or rehab keeps aggravating the injury, nutrition alone will not fix the problem.

This applies to issues such as tendon pain. Nutrition can help, but load management and a well-structured rehab plan still matter more.

Practical Recommendations for Athletes

Most athletes can benefit from building a strong nutrition foundation first. This means eating enough total energy, meeting macronutrient targets and getting enough micronutrients.

After that, athletes can add anti-inflammatory strategies where they fit. This may include eating fatty fish, adding more colour through fruit and vegetables, using olive oil, choosing whole grain carbohydrates when practical, and including nuts, seeds or avocado.

Processed foods can still have a place, especially when athletes need more energy or carbohydrates. The goal is not to eat perfectly. Instead, the goal is to meet performance needs while making easy swaps where possible.

For example, an athlete may choose olive oil over animal fats, or a nutrient-rich juice outside of training instead of a soft drink. These small changes can support an anti-inflammatory pattern without making fuelling harder.

Where Supplements May Fit

Supplements may help in specific situations. Tart cherry juice may be useful around races, competitions or events where soreness could affect performance over multiple days.

Omega-3 supplements may also be useful if an athlete does not regularly consume omega-3-rich foods. Other options discussed in this space include curcumin and antioxidant supplements, although high-dose antioxidant use should be considered carefully around training.

Key Takeaway

Athletes do not need to follow a perfect anti-inflammatory diet. However, they can benefit from including anti-inflammatory foods and strategies within a well-fuelled performance nutrition plan.

Calories, carbohydrates, protein and overall fuelling should come first. Once those foundations are covered, anti-inflammatory foods and targeted supplements may help reduce soreness, support recovery and improve how an athlete feels during heavy training or competition.