9 Foods That Help Heal Broken Bones Quickly

How Can I Help My Bones Heal Faster?

When my husband broke his ankle, doctors warned him that he'd likely be out of work for a year. Everyone we knew had a story to tell about friends who experienced slow recoveries.

Despite the naysayers, my husband wanted to heal quickly and hated taking painkillers. Because foods are part of nature's medicine chest, I wanted to find the best options to help restore his fractured tibia and the broken bones in his ankle. A healing diet became part of our recovery strategy.

The information contained in this article contains anecdotal advice. Please consult with a medical professional regarding dietary changes or inclusions before altering your daily regimen.

Just three months after surgery, my husband was back at work (rugged outdoor work, not a desk job)! He continued eating the foods below for a few more months to make his ankle as strong as possible. I have always chosen natural and alternative healing methods, and these are the nine foods I discovered throughout this process.

What Should I Eat to Heal Faster?

Avocados

Avocados might seem like an unusual choice, but the fat they contain provides natural lubrication for our joints. This is pretty important for a broken ankle, so I included one avocado in my husband's meals every day. They're delicious, and my husband enjoys eating them.

Whenever I plan a diet to address a specific health issue, I am mindful of the dish's presentation. Nobody likes being restricted to boring foods.

Onions

Whether you have broken bones or not, onions deserve a place on your dinner plate every night. They have anti-inflammatory, antibiotic and antiviral properties that help strengthen bones.

A few studies found that onions possess a compound that inhibits osteoclast cell activity. These cells negatively affect bone strength, so the onion's health benefits really caught my attention!

Because bone integrity and strength are essential for anyone who has experienced a fracture, I made sure my husband ate lots of onions throughout his recovery. The stronger an onion tastes, the stronger effect it has on your body.

Pumpkins

A number of studies reported positive links between dietary potassium and healthy bone mineral density. High-potassium foods help prevent the removal of calcium from the bones, and pumpkins are very high in potassium and vitamin A. They're gentle on the digestive system, a good source of fiber, and low in calories.

I like to prepare pumpkins with a little olive or coconut oil because the carotenoids in pumpkins need fat for absorption. Some people prefer using butter, but it's up to you.

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Spinach and Other Greens

Spinach provides a treasure trove of nutrients. It's also a great source of vitamin K, which is vital for building strong bones.

• Vitamin K activates osteocalcin, a compound that anchors calcium molecules within the bone.
• Spinach is also a source of calcium, which I believe makes it a perfect package for healing broken bones.
• Half a cup of fresh spinach leaves provides a complete daily value of vitamin K.

It's not hard to work half a cup of spinach into one meal a day. Try incorporating it into your daily diet!

Green Peas

Common garden peas are great for helping broken bones repair because they have the following properties:

• Calcium
• Phosphorus
• Iron
• Sodium
• Potassium
• Vitamin A
• Niacin
• Vitamin C
• Magnesium

Most importantly, fresh green garden peas are acknowledged as a food that prevents blood clots.

When you're instructed to stay in bed and be immobile for a few weeks, you need to proactively prevent blood clot formation. This made green peas an obvious ingredient in his daily diet. When it comes to thinning blood, I prefer to rely on green peas rather than daily doses of aspirin, which has listed side effects I want to avoid.

To add a little variety to his otherwise boring recovery, I tried preparing peas in new and innovative ways. I made fresh pea juice, and we were both surprised by how nice it tasted! I also took frozen peas from the freezer, ran them under water to thaw them out, and then pureed them in my juicer to create a pea sorbet or pea ice cream (dairy-free). The texture was really pleasant, and I joked about serving it in an ice cream cone.

All jokes aside, if he became seriously tired of being served peas daily in soups, steamed, or juiced, I probably would have served him peas for dessert.

New Zealand's Green-Lipped Mussels

New Zealand's green-lipped mussels (sometimes called green-shelled) are anti-inflammatory, have a natural pain-killing quality, and possess chondroitin and glucosamine. Chondroitin is a major constituent of cartilage and other connective tissue, and glucosamine is a crystalline compound found in healthy connective tissue. Both obviously play a significant role in healing broken ankles, and the mussels can be a natural way to intake these properties.

You can buy New Zealand's green-lipped mussels fresh (or freshly packaged in the refrigerated section of your supermarket) and include them in your diet. If you can't find them fresh, buy a bottle of Mobicosa capsules and take a couple every day with your meals. They are made from 100% New Zealand green-lipped mussels. Make sure to take them with your meal, and not on an empty stomach. Of course, make sure not to eat the mussels or take capsules if you are allergic to seafood.

Comfrey

I grow comfrey throughout my garden for mulch and plant food, but it's also particularly useful for healing broken bones. Its traditional name is 'knit bone' because it can be used as an external poultice or eaten and digested to help heal bones.

To help speed my husband's recovery, I did the following things:

• Chopped comfrey and mixed it with scrambled eggs for breakfast
• Juiced comfrey with fresh green peas to make a cool, refreshing drink
• Added comfrey to salads.
• Applied it directly to his leg as a comfrey poultice.
• Used it in soups, curries, and the occasional stir fry

My comfrey dies with the first frosts of our local winter, but I still have small leaves growing fresh in pots and a few protected areas in the garden. If I need to, I can also dig up some comfrey root.

Ever since my husband broke his ankle, I try drying and storing some of my best comfrey leaves each season in a jar for future use.

Zucchini

Years ago, I bought a book called Heinerman's Encyclopedia of Healing Juices. It recommended juicing zucchini squash to help knit bones back together in a shorter period of time.

I mentioned this remedy to many people who had fractures, but my husband's surgery helped me learn firsthand about zucchini's balance of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and sodium that makes it ideal for mending broken bones.

Zucchini juice and cooked zucchini both made it on my short list of healing foods. When I prepared his first zucchini juice, my husband drank it without complaint. That counts as a win in my book!

Fennel

Because fennel is traditionally used to soothe the stomach and relieve gas, it seemed a logical addition to the daily diet of anyone with limited mobility.

Fennel aids digestion. If you were previously active but are suddenly forced to remain sedentary while your bones heal, fennel can help your body cope with the change.

Parsley

Parsley may seem like an unusual choice, but it has a lot of medicinal qualities that include acting as a gentle laxative.

My husband was instructed to take two Endone tablets every four hours for pain management, but he only took one tablet at night. This meant he only took one out of 12 painkillers a day. He was determined to avoid the constipation problem associated with earlier attempts at pain management, which makes parsley a useful food for anyone wanting to help broken bones heal.

Parsley builds blood, helps renew tissues, and possesses anti-inflammatory properties. It assists kidney function and is believed to help prevent bacterial growth in wounds.

We nibble on fresh herbs every day, and my husband is happy to eat a handful of parsley leaves fresh from the garden. I plan to add some to fresh juice to add an extra boost for his recovery.

Herbal Tea

A lot has been written about the effects of coffee on the body over recent years, but what I honed in on was that caffeine can pull calcium out of bones. Because calcium actively contributes to healing broken bones, coffee was off the menu for my husband. I used herbal tea to substitute for coffee, as it's more helpful for strengthening bones.

Two Healthy Meal Ideas

Here are two easy meal ideas you can use to incorporate beneficial vegetables in your diet:

Meal One: Light Salad

What You'll Need:

• Comfrey
• Peas
• Other greens (optional)
• Avocado
• Tomatoes
• Eggs

Blend the comfrey, peas, and other greens together. Cook an egg, slice avocados and tomatoes, and put it all together on a plate. Sprinkle the dish with balsamic vinegar, and you're done! This dish looks and tastes like a simple salad, but it includes nature's powerhouse foods for healing broken bones.

Meal Two: Pumpkin Everything

What You'll Need:

• Pumpkin
• Onion
• Oil (olive or coconut)
• Chives

To make this dish, dice pumpkins and onions in 0.5" cubes. Add a dash of oil to a pot, add the vegetables and cook them until they've softened. Blend it all and plate your dish. Chop chives and sprinkle them on top. Enjoy!

Healing Broken Bones At Home

Most accidents resulting in bone injuries require a visit to a doctor and sometimes a hospital stay. However, the majority of the recovery period is spent at home on the couch.

Your activity would be restricted, and any exercise may require the active participation of a physical therapist. If you want your hands free while you move around the kitchen, grocery shop, pick herbs, or carry plates to the table, try using a hands-free crutch. My husband hated the inconvenience of traditional crutches, and I grew tired of being the only who could carry firewood, transport mugs of coffee, and pick pumpkins while he wasn't allowed to put weight on his ankle. If you live alone and want to be conveniently mobile, this may be a good option for you!

You can still do things at home to hopefully speed your recovery, and one of the best ways to promote healing is to choose good foods with appropriate medicinal qualities. I hope my choice of the best foods to help heal broken bones also helps you heal faster. Good luck!

More About Healing Broken Bones

• How to Use Comfrey to Help Heal Broken Bones
  I used comfrey to help my husband's broken ankle heal in record time. Here's how to make a comfrey poultice for broken bones and how to apply it. Illustrated guide.
• How to Reduce Swelling Fast Around a Broken Ankle
  The natural remedy I applied quickly reduced the swelling around my husband's broken ankle and allowed doctors to operate three days earlier than normal. He was home before most people reach surgery!!

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and does not substitute for diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, prescription, and/or dietary advice from a licensed health professional. Drugs, supplements, and natural remedies may have dangerous side effects. If pregnant or nursing, consult with a qualified provider on an individual basis. Seek immediate help if you are experiencing a medical emergency.

© 2013 LongTimeMother

Comments

LongTimeMother (author) from Australia on May 31, 2016:

Best wishes to you and your mother, Sammi. I also hope she gets home to you soon. It takes a while to recover from broken bones, but if you can prepare meals for her with these foods for healing broken bones the process may be faster. Good luck!

Sammi on May 29, 2016:

My mom got into a bad motorcycle accident and fractured alot of her bones in her legs and her ribs and i hope these tops will help her heal faster so she can come home sooner. Thank you so muchfor posting these tips. Its exactly what we were looking for.

LongTimeMother (author) from Australia on March 27, 2016:

Hello jcatesby6. Let me start by saying I'm not a doctor (but you guessed that, no doubt,) And I've never had bilateral hip replacements (but you guessed that too, I'm sure.)

However, because you grow your own comfrey, I think it is a great idea to use it. The big question of course is just what is expected after bilateral hip replacements? What exactly is it that you'd be trying to achieve?

If you'd like to send me an email at longtimemother (at gmail) with your email address, I'll jot some thoughts and send them your way. :)