Bone Fracture Healing Guide: Stages, Tips, and FAQs

Protein Intake

You can’t build new bone (or anything else in your body for that matter) without protein. After all, protein accounts for around half the volume of bone and a quarter of the mass!⁴ So consuming enough protein is crucial for healing a broken bone. So how much protein is enough? Well, the recommended daily allowance of protein is currently 0.8 g per kg of body weight. But this recommendation was set – over a decade ago – with preventing a protein deficiency in mind. Researchers agree that for optimal health, you need more protein. And that’s especially true for older adults, and those recovering from a fracture! In fact, recent research suggests an intake of 1 to 1.5 g of protein per kg of body weight instead.⁵ Here’s an example to help you out: An older adult who weighs 140 lbs would first divide their weight by 2.2 (to calculate their weight in kilograms) = 64 kg. Then they’d multiply this number by 1.5 (the upper end of the new recommended protein intake) = 95 g of protein needed daily. For reference, a 3.5 oz (100g) chicken breast provides around 30 g of protein. So a little over three chicken breasts a day would reach the target intake. Now, the major reason you need dietary protein to build and repair bone is that it supplies your body with essential amino acids– the building blocks of life! Your body can produce some amino acids itself. These are called the non-essential amino acids. But adults can’t produce eight of the 20 amino acids, so you need to provide them via your diet. These are the essential amino acids. When it comes to choosing your protein source, animal proteins, like fish, meats, and dairy products are considered complete proteins. That’s because they provide all of the essential amino acids. Plant-based protein sources, like grains, legumes, and vegetables are typically incomplete. That’s because they lack one or two of the essential amino acids (although there are some exceptions like quinoa.) But vegans and vegetarians needn’t worry about missing out on some of the essential amino acids. You don’t need to intake all the essential amino acids in one go. As long as you consume complementary proteins throughout the day, you’ll be fine. And as a rule of thumb, try to include some form of protein in every meal of the day. To discover the top sources of protein, and for a little more information on how protein and bone health are linked, visit our “Everything You Need To Know About Protein and Bone Health” page.

Caloric Intake

There’s no need to drastically increase your calorie consumption while you’re recovering from a fracture.⁶ In fact, maintaining the recommended guideline of 1,600 to 2,400 calories per day for adult women and 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day for adult men will still be sufficient. As long as you use your calorie intake wisely that is! Depending on the bone you’ve fractured, you could be unable to exercise as much as you’d ideally need to. So it becomes even more important to fuel your body with optimal nutrition. To help your body heal and remain strong, the calories you consume need to be nutrient-dense foods, instead of the empty calories in processed and refined foods. In fact, you need 13 nutrients in particular to maintain strong, healthy bones:

• • Calcium
  • Magnesium
  • Boron
  • Copper
  • Manganese
  • Silicon
  • Nickel
  • Selenium
  • Strontium
  • Phosphorus
  • Potassium
  • Vanadium
  • Zinc

Plus a handful of vitamins too:

• • Vitamin C
  • Vitamin D
  • Vitamin K2

These nutrients become even more important during the healing process of a broken bone too! For more information on the optimal diet for bone health, visit our “Diet and Nutrition” page. Plus, continue reading to discover how to get ALL these nutrients in one bone-building “super-food.”

Increase Antioxidants

In phase 2 of the bone healing process discussed above, inflammation was the key activity. Inflammation wreaks havoc on the body, attacking the immune system and leading to a wide variety of health ailments, left unchecked. But this is where antioxidants come in handy. Particularly vitamins C and E. Because of all the free radicals swirling around the fracture site, your tissues are swollen with inflammatory molecules. They can overwhelm your existing antioxidant reserves. That’s why consuming antioxidants is crucial to combat these oxidizing free radicals. Antioxidants keep the oxidizing effect of free radicals in check and have been shown to improve fracture healing time in animal studies. One study on calcium metabolism and oxidative stress in bone fractures shows antioxidants like vitamins E and C, lycopene and alpha-lipoic acid can be helpful in extinguishing free radical damage.⁷

Vitamin C

Vitamin C has been studied extensively for its antioxidant activity on bone healing. One study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery studied the effect of vitamin C on fracture healing in elderly rats. Researchers found that supplementary vitamin C ‘improved the mechanical resistance of the fracture callus in elderly rats.’ They suggest that these results may also be mirrored in healing fractures in elderly humans.⁸ Vitamin C is also vital for building collagen– the predominant protein in the bone matrix!⁹

Top Sources of Vitamin C

• • Citrus fruits like oranges, tangerines, and lemons
  • Strawberries
  • Broccoli
  • Papaya

Please note: If you take a vitamin C supplement, make sure you’re not consuming more than 500 mg in one go. Your body can’t process more than 500 mg at a time.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is highly anti-inflammatory, which, as we’ve discussed, is very beneficial in the healing process of a broken bone.¹⁰ Here’s the thing with vitamin E though; supplements rarely provide you with the full benefit. See, vitamin E supplements only provide one form of vitamin E– alpha-tocopherol. This form of vitamin E will only help you to get rid of certain free radicals, and can actually inhibit your ability to remove others. So you’ll need to provide some vitamin E via your diet to receive the full range, including gamma tocopherol.

Top Sources of Vitamin E

The best source of dietary vitamin E is nuts and seeds like:

• • Sunflower seeds
  • Almonds
  • Hazelnuts
  • Pinenuts
  • Peanuts

Minimize Pain Medication

Anyone who’s broken a bone knows there’s a certain amount of pain involved. But while it’s tempting to reach for pain medications during the healing process, you should know they could be doing more harm than good. Pain meds, known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (or NSAIDs for short) are sold under many brand names. But NSAIDs may actually increase the time it takes for your body to resolve inflammation.¹¹ That means it could take longer for your broken bone to heal! But that’s not to say you should suffer the pain of a broken bone with no relief. If you’re going to use pain medication, use aspirin. Aspirin won’t interfere with the resolution of inflammation. (It’s important to follow the dosing guidelines provided on the bottle though). Speaking of inflammation, did you know omega 3 fatty acids, especially eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), combat the inflammation in your body? The very same inflammation that causes bone loss and can delay the healing process of a fracture if it’s left unchecked! That’s why we created Triple Power Omega 3 Fish Oil. Triple Power provides 1200 mg combined of EPA and DHA in a mango-flavored liquid emulsion that’s super absorbable and super delicious! What’s more, Triple Power provides two more of the world’s most powerful anti-inflammatories– astaxanthin and turmeric curcumin.

Bone-Healthy Supplements

In the caloric intake section above, we mentioned 13 minerals and three vitamins you need for strong, healthy bones. And especially for when you’re healing a broken bone. But there’s a catch… conventional farming and agricultural practices tend to focus on quantity above quality. As a result, our topsoil is becoming less capable of holding moisture and trace minerals, so our produce contains less as a result. Including the trace minerals your bones crave! What’s more, conventional farming practices tend to use pesticides. These pesticides leave harmful residue on produce which can actually harm your bones further. So, when you can, always try to eat organically grown produce. (You can see the Environmental Working Group’s Annual Shopper’s Guide to produce with the most, and least, pesticides by clicking here). But to give your bones the best chance to fully heal and remain strong thereafter, you should consider a bone-building supplement. AlgaeCal Plus provides ALL 13 essential minerals and the three vital vitamins in one convenient capsule. The calcium in AlgaeCal Plus is plant-based. It’s actually derived from a marine algae called Mesophyllum Superpositum (or Algas Calcareas as the locals call it) harvested off the coasts of South America. In fact, this “super-food” provides the other 12 minerals your bones need too! The three vital vitamins are added to AlgaeCal Plus to make it a truly complete bone-healing supplement. The vitamin D helps your body absorb the calcium. And the vitamin K2 helps to direct the calcium to the right place– your bones, and away from the wrong places– your soft tissue, arteries, and organs! (The additional vitamin K2 is especially important, as it’s very rare to come by in food products). No wonder Bone Health Experts like Lara Pizzorno use AlgaeCal Plus!

Physical Therapy

Bone healing requires adequate blood flow and circulation to the fracture site, which is enhanced through exercise. Range of motion, joint loading, and specific tendon-gliding exercises should be used to avoid stress on the fractured bone, while accelerating healing. If you’re not sure how to do those exercises, not to worry. You can visit the following helpful resources:

• • After the Fracture – Osteoporosis Canada: Provides information about pain and practice tips for movement following a fracture. How to sit and stand, get out of a car and bending are all covered.
  • Physiopedia discusses various physical therapy management techniques ranging from easy to hard weight-bearing, balance and stepping exercises.
  • Epainassist has simple, easy to follow tutorials for various physical therapy exercises, including post pelvic exercises.