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What to Eat When You Have Crashed and Broken a Bone

By Jiri Kaloc

There’s nothing worse than breaking a bone in a bike crash because it takes you out of the saddle for many months. But instead of being sad and eating pizza in front of the TV for comfort, you can do something to recover faster. One thing that will help is eating good food that promotes bone health. Let’s take a look at your best food options.

You need plenty of protein, the main building block for all tissues, and calcium, the most important mineral in bones. You also need enough vitamin D and K, so that your body can properly utilize the calcium for bone repair. Getting enough potassium will also help you retain more of the calcium you get from food. And finally, vitamin C and iron will help you build more collagen, which is the main type of protein needed for bone repair. Now, let’s look at what kinds of foods deliver all of that nutrition.

Eat plenty of eggs

Eggs are a great source of quality protein and they are one of the few dietary sources of vitamin D, so they should be a part of your recovery plan. Aside from that, they contain a wide spectrum of vitamins, and minerals like iron, calcium, zinc, potassium, and magnesium, so consider them a great natural multivitamin pill.

Include fish and seafood

Fish and seafood are a great source of calcium, quality protein, and vitamin D. Especially sardines that can be eaten with bones are the best calcium source you can find. Alternatively, you can include red meat that will be a good source of iron as well as protein. Or you can nibble at the end of chicken bones to get some quality calcium if you go for poultry as your protein food of choice.

Get some dairy

Dairy is another great all-around bone-building food. It contains a lot of calcium, vitamin K, and protein. A good cultured yogurt or high-protein cheeses like cottage are great choices, but almost any dairy will be a valuable addition to your diet.

Green leafy vegetables will help too

Kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, and arugula are all great options. They are a potent source of vitamin K, but also provide good amounts of vitamin C, calcium, potassium, iron, magnesium, and zinc. Other, colourful veggies and fruits will give you some amount of vitamins and minerals too, but leafy greens should become your daily choice, specifically for vitamin K.

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Expose your body to sunshine

Even though you will get some vitamin D from fatty fish and egg yolks, the best source by far is sunlight that comes in contact with your skin. Try to get about 30 minutes of exposure a day, depending on your skin tone, geographical location, and time of year.

Avoid alcohol, sugar, and caffeine

If you manage to get the above-mentioned foods into your daily meals, you will boost your bone-repair capabilities substantially. Don’t worry if they aren’t in every meal, just do your best. At the same time, make sure your diet is free from alcohol, foods rich in added sugars, and too much caffeine. Such things make you lose calcium and slow down bone healing in general.