The Bone-Building Diet
Let’s start with diet and the key nutrients you’ve got to be getting in your diet in order to heal broken bones. No. 1, you need a lot of minerals, especially calcium and magnesium.
Calcium is an essential structural component of the skeleton, which makes it vital for both health and bone healing. That’s why a calcium deficiency can contribute to broken bones — and why eating more calcium foods can aid bone healing naturally.
The best calcium-rich foods are green leafy vegetables and raw fermented dairy products. So getting a lot of leafy greens like Swiss chard as well as broccoli. Getting those in your diet is No. 1. Foods packed with calcium — the main mineral that helps make up strong bones — include:
Kale
Spinach
Arugula
Yogurt or kefir
Raw milk
Sardines
But in order for your body to even use calcium, you also have to have magnesium because research shows magnesium and calcium metabolism are closely related. In fact, “the intestinal absorption and the renal excretion of the two ions are interdependent.”
So in order to get the benefits of calcium-rich foods, you need to consume magnesium-rich foods as well. Some high-calcium foods are also high in magnesium, such as green leafy vegetables and raw fermented dairy products like goat milk kefir or raw goat cheese. Other magnesium foods include:
Flaxseeds, chia seeds and pumpkin seeds
Grass-fed beef
Swiss chard
Almonds
Avocados
Black beans
Also, you want to get foods that are high in zinc. Research published in the Saudi Medical Journal demonstrates that zinc supplementation caused a significant elevation of serum zinc and alkaline phosphatase activity, and in the double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, the X-rays assessed in the 30 patients administered zinc showed a significant progress in callus formation in cases compared to the controls. Zinc foods are similar to calcium and magnesium foods, such grass-fed beef, pumpkin seeds, chia and flaxseeds.
Next, you want get loads of vitamin C. Many studies tout the benefits of vitamin C on bone healing. In a study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, researchers found that vitamin C “improved the mechanical resistance of the fracture callus in elderly rats.” They suggested that this may work as well in healing bone fractures in elderly humans.
Another rat study in the Archives of Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery found that the “vitamin C-supplemented group went through the stages of fracture healing faster compared with the control group.” These findings were confirmed by another rat study published in the Journal of International Medical Research. Vitamin C foods include vegetable juices, orange juice, true oranges, lemons, bell peppers, kiwis, broccoli and asparagus.
So really your diet should consist of a lot of veggies, some fruit, some organic meat, and some nuts and seeds, and that should be the bulk of your diet as you’re trying to heal and get all of those nutrients for building strong bones.
Now the foods you want to stay away from are foods that tend to be overly acidic, conventional meat and dairy products, and alcohol. You also want to stay away from excess sodium and excess sugar. Those will acidify your body and actually leach those minerals out of your body and cause your bone healing and growth to slow down.
Bone-Healthy Supplements
Now, the top natural supplement for the treatment of broken bones is a vitamin D supplement. While the jury is still out on whether or not vitamin D supplementation actually leads to bone healing after a fracture, evidence suggests that a vitamin D deficiency often plays a role in broken bones. Thus, vitamin D does play a role in bone healing, at the very least indirectly.
So if you have a broken bone, getting out in the sun is ideal because getting vitamin D directly from sunlight is really important for bone growth. Plus, you can detox your body with the sun at the same time. In addition, you can take 5,000 IUs of vitamin D twice a day for three months to help heal broken bones fast.
Other supplements that promote bone healing include calcium and magnesium supplements (ideally, a magnesium chelate supplement). Other things that can help are a fish oil supplement and a green superfood powder. Fish oil benefits your health and bones because the omega-3 fatty acids present can reduce inflammation and speed the healing process. Getting a green superfood that has beneficial spirulina and chlorella — along with other alkalizing fruits and vegetables — is very beneficial at healing broken bones as well.