The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. A moderate amount of coffee or tea should be fine.Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. It might make you pee more, and that could mean you lose more calcium through your urine. Salt can be in some foods or drinks that don't taste salty, so check labels and aim for about 1 teaspoon, or 6 grams, a day.Ĭoffee: Lots of caffeine - more than four cups of strong coffee a day - can slow down bone healing a little. Salt: Too much of this in your diet can make you lose more calcium in your urine. A bit too much alcohol can also make you unsteady on your feet, which can make you more likely to fall and risk an injury to the same bone. You won't build new bone as fast to fix the fracture. It's a good idea to cut back on or skip these:Īlcohol: While you don't have to cut out alcoholic drinks, these beverages slow down bone healing. Good sources: Bananas, orange juice, potatoes, nuts, seeds, fish, meat, and milk. There are lots of fresh fruits rich in potassium. Get enough of this mineral in your diet, and you won't lose as much calcium when you pee. Good sources: Red meat, dark-meat chicken or turkey, oily fish, eggs, dried fruits, leafy green veggies, whole-grain breads, and fortified cereals. It also plays a part in getting oxygen into your bones to help them heal. Iron helps your body make collagen to rebuild bone. If you have iron-deficiency anemia - when you don't have enough healthy red blood cells - you may heal more slowly after a fracture. Good sources: Citrus fruits like oranges, kiwi fruit, berries, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and green vegetables. Aged or heated produce can lose some of its vitamin C, so go for fresh or frozen. You can get it from many tasty, fresh fruits and veggies. Vitamin C helps your body make collagen, which helps your bone fracture heal. Vitamin CĬollagen is a protein that's an important building block for bone.

Good sources: Swordfish, salmon, cod liver oil, sardines, liver, fortified milk or yogurt, egg yolks, and fortified orange juice. Adults should get at least 600 IU of vitamin D every day, and if you're over 70 you should get at least 800 IU. Vitamin D is found naturally in only a few foods like egg yolks and fatty fish, but manufacturers add it to other foods, like milk or orange juice. You get some vitamin D when sunlight hits your skin, so it can be a good idea to spend a short amount of time outdoors each day - 15 minutes may be enough for a fair-skinned person. It helps your blood take in and use calcium and build up the minerals in your bones. This vitamin should be a part of your diet to help your fracture heal. Good sources: Milk, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, broccoli, turnip or collard greens, kale, bok choy, soy, beans, canned tuna or salmon with bones, almond milk, and fortified cereals or juice. Your doctor will tell you if you need a calcium supplement, and what amount you should take if you do. Adults should get between 1,000 and 1,200 milligrams of calcium each day. This mineral also helps you build strong bones, so foods and drinks rich in it can help your bone fracture heal. Good sources: Meat, fish, milk, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, nuts, seeds, beans, soy products, and fortified cereals. It also helps your body take in and use calcium, another key nutrient for healthy bones. When you have a fracture, your body needs it to build new bone for the repair. ProteinĪbout half your bone's structure is made of this. It's much better to get the nutrition you need from your plate, not from a pill. You don't need to take supplements unless your doctor recommends it. A healthy, well- balanced diet rich in key nutrients can help speed that up. After a fracture, your bone needs to rebuild.

Potassium density