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The Best Foods for Bone Healing After a Fracture

Contributor Nancy Oliveira, MS, RD, LDN
7 minute read
Woman drinking a glass of milk.

The foods you eat play a surprisingly important role in bone health. Bone is living tissue that your body constantly builds up and breaks down. Supporting this process by eating bone health-boosting foods is especially important when you’re healing from a bone fracture.

Nancy Oliveira, MS, RD, LDN, a Mass General Brigham dietitian and manager of the Nutrition and Wellness Service at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, discusses the most essential nutrients for bone healing and which foods contain them.

How does diet affect bone health?

Bones are made of several minerals, most notably calcium and phosphorous. Nearly all the calcium and phosphorous in the food you eat ends up in your bones. So when you’re healing from a fracture, it’s crucial to get these nutrients in your diet. “These key bone nutrients either play a part in the bone-building process or become part of the bone itself,” says Oliveira.

There are two types of cells that maintain your bones: Osteoblasts build bone and osteoclasts break down bone. “Breaking down bone might sound bad, but it’s necessary,” says Oliveira. “For instance, when you have an injury or fracture, you need your osteoclasts to break down the old, damaged bone tissue.” Then, your body can build healthy bone tissue to replace the damaged bone.

Other nutrients that are critical to the bone-building process include:

  • Vitamin D: This vitamin helps your body absorb and use calcium. Without vitamin D, much of the calcium you get from food wouldn’t make it to your bones. 
  • Vitamin K: Vitamin D and K work together, so they’re often combined in supplements. Vitamin K helps improve bone density because it limits the activity of osteoclasts.
  • Vitamin C: This vitamin helps build collagen, which makes up a small percentage of bone tissue. Collagen helps provide structure in bone and supporting tissues such as cartilage and tendons.
  • Iron: Sufficient iron is essential for healthy blood flow, which in turn affects bone health because blood brings nutrients to your bones. Without sufficient iron, your body is less effective at transporting bone-building nutrients where your body needs them.
  • Protein: All cells are made of protein, including osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Protein is essential to the process of repairing a bone injury and building new bone.

It’s best to get these nutrients from food instead of supplements. “It can be confusing to know what to eat for bone healing if you’re just focused on individual nutrients. So we want to tie it all together by talking about how it translates into the food to put on your plate,” says Oliveira.

Best foods for fracture healing

There isn’t just one best diet for bone healing. Instead of a specific diet, Oliveira advises following a whole-food eating pattern. A whole foods diet includes plenty of protein, vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, beans, and seeds.

Many of the best foods for healing a bone fracture contain more than one nutrient for bone health. Oliveira advises starting with foods containing calcium and phosphorus because they’re the most important building blocks for bones and then adding in foods to fulfill other bone nutrient requirements.

Here are foods to eat to ensure you’re getting enough bone-healing nutrients:

Foods with calcium and phosphorus

“Everyone wants to know how to get more calcium,” says Oliveira. To make sure you’re getting enough, focus on food such as:

Dairy, fish, leafy greens, nuts, and whole grains contain nutrients for bone healing.
  • Dairy foods and dairy substitutes: Anything made from cow’s milk is a good source of calcium and most dairy substitutes, such as almond milk or soymilk, are fortified with calcium.
  • Leafy greens: Collard greens, bok choy, kale, and turnip greens are examples of leafy greens that provide calcium.
  • Small edible bones: Sardines and other small fish that typically come in cans have tiny edible bones, which provide calcium. 

“Most people are not deficient in phosphorus because it’s found in a lot of foods, so you probably don’t need to focus on eating more phosphorus,” says Oliveira. You’re likely getting plenty of phosphorus from foods such as:

  • All animal protein
  • Dairy foods and non-dairy milk substitutes
  • Nuts, beans, and whole grains

Getting enough vitamin D

Foods naturally highest in vitamin D like cod liver oil and fatty fish aren’t ideal when eaten in large amounts because they may also contain mercury or too much vitamin A. Vitamin D-fortified foods can help make sure you meet your needs, and your body can make vitamin D through exposure to sunshine on your bare skin.  

But sometimes people don’t get enough sun exposure to produce the vitamin D they need, so this is one exception where you may need a supplement. “If you need more vitamin D, especially during winter months with less daylight, you’ll need to get it through supplementation,” says Oliveira.

Foods with vitamin K 

“Dark leafy greens that are rich in calcium are also rich in vitamin K,” says Oliveira. If you’re already eating plenty of these calcium-containing veggies, you’re probably getting adequate vitamin K.

You can meet your daily vitamin C needs with one orange. Many people pop vitamin C supplements, but research doesn’t really support taking extra vitamin C this way. I prefer people focus on getting vitamin C from food instead because fruits and vegetables also contain things like antioxidants and beneficial plant compounds.

Nancy Oliveira, MS, RD, LDN

Dietician

Mass General Brigham

Foods with vitamin C

Many fruits and vegetables contain vitamin C. “You can meet your daily vitamin C needs with one orange,” says Oliveira. “Many people pop vitamin C supplements, but research doesn’t really support taking extra vitamin C this way. I prefer people focus on getting vitamin C from food instead because fruits and vegetables also contain things like antioxidants and beneficial plant compounds.”

Beans are a good source of iron and protein.

Foods with iron

The type of iron that your body absorbs most easily (heme) comes from animal sources. However, there are vegetarian sources of iron, too. Foods that provide iron include:

  • Meat, poultry, fish, and shellfish 
  • Beans
  • Nuts and seeds

Sources of protein

When you’re healing from a fracture, Oliveira advises eating a little more protein than usual. “High-iron foods also usually have protein,” says Oliveira. “But even those who follow vegetarian or vegan diets can still get plenty of protein.” Protein-rich foods include:

  • Meat, poultry, fish, and shellfish
  • Dairy foods
  • Beans and lentils
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Firm tofu and tempeh

Foods to minimize or avoid

When healing from a bone fracture, Oliveira recommends avoiding certain foods that can cause your body to lose calcium. She advises avoiding excessive amounts of:

  • Alcohol 
  • Caffeine
  • Dark sodas
  • Salt
Learn more about diet and how it impacts joint pain

Contributor

Nancy Oliveira, MS, RD, LDN
Dietician