Sena Frost had always given training and discipline first priority as a competitive sprinter. She missed, though, recovery for years.

“I felt inflammation and soreness were only natural for the work,” she says. “I reasoned I was good if I could walk the next day.”

She started to doubt that presumption only when she started having regular joint pain and irregular performance.

Her introduction to something that would become a quiet game-changer—the anti-inflammatory diet—was via a visit to a sports nutritionist.

“I was first dubious,” Sena notes. “I never imagined that my diet could have a major impact on the feel of my knees.” She began to see actual change, though, after a few weeks of emphasising anti-inflammatory foods high in antioxidants, good fats, and natural compounds.

Her period of recovery shortened. She had improved sleep. She could also train more aggressively free from the usual flare-ups.

The change did not mean renouncing pleasure. Sena still delighted in her cuisine. She discovered, though, that her meals should be based on foods that supported her body rather than merely kept it running.

“It was about selecting items that helped me heal while still tasting great, not about cutting everything out,” she says.

Her eating now is as deliberate as her exercise schedule. And the best thing about it? Her daily quality of life has changed as well as her performance on the track.

She beams, “I finally feel like my body and my food are working together.” “And that improves my every single daily athletic performance.”