As I have previously discussed in this article, proper nutrition is important in recovering from the stresses of athletic competition, and can help ward off and speed recovery from injuries.  Give your body all the building blocks it needs to repair itself and it will do so as fast as it is able.

An interesting example of this, found in my A&P textbook, is in 3rd degree burn patients, who could regenerate their scorched skin (and thus not require skin grafts) if they could consume enough calories in the short window before infection set in.  The calorie requirement for this, however, is so great that even with a feeding tube, skin grafts are almost always necessary.  The point is just that given the tools (in this case, calories) the body has incredible potential to heal itself.

Nutrition often falls to the wayside when considering the factors involved in the physical development of athletic skills.  Who is to say that you are not running faster, throwing harder, or catching more passes because your diet sucks?  Or maybe that strained quad was primarily the result of a nutrient deficiency.

You just never know what is holding you back, and when one considers how frighteningly unhealthy the average American diet is, the chances are pretty good that your diet is holding you back on game day, and maybe even keeping you sidelined with injuries.