While bones are a particularly strong component of the body, they are not indestructible. Whether it is from falling off a bike, tumbling down a flight of stairs or falling off your ladder, it is likely you will incur a skeletal fracture in your lifetime. Although there are several methods employed in fracture healing, proper nutrition is one of the most overlooked. Providing your body the proper vitamins and minerals through your diet can significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to recover.
Anatomy of a Fracture
While there are many ways to cause a fracture, it still happens due to predictable circumstances. Your skeletal system was built to support the weight of your body and facilitate movement. Each bone is built to take a very specific type of load. Your femur, thigh bone, was designed to absorb the shock that walking and jumping produce. Your radius and ulna, forearm bones, are designed to aid in picking up objets. By design, each bone can endure a significant amount of force in the role it serves; however, when that load is exceeded or comes from an odd direction, it can cause the bone to fracture.
Body Response to Fractures
The body responds to breaks by flooding the area with blood cells from the fracture. These cells will form a clot and help set the bone in place. In some severe fractures, a doctor or paramedic must set the bone. In most cases, the body can do this with the clot or fracture hematoma. This clot will cut off the supply of blood to the ends and cause the damaged ends to wear away. An inflammation response sets in as the dead and damaged cells are removed from the area. Blood vessels are then formed to the damage area to provide a highway for the cells responsible for healing. The hematoma then hardens and the cells create a collagen scaffold where more cells can build successively stronger tissues and then finally calcify the callus into a bone bulge.
Effect of Calcium and Vitamin D
Calcium and vitamin D go hand in hand in fracture healing. The body will require a significant amount of free calcium in the blood to heal the fracture and replace the damaged tissues. While fracture healing is a priority, your body places its tissue calcium needs above the fracture repair operation. The body will only use the excess calcium for fracture repair after its other calcium needs are met. To create this extra free calcium content, you need vitamin D. Vitamin D causes your digestive tract to absorb calcium. Increased amounts of vitamin D will increase the amount of free calcium. Some studies have shown that this increased calcium content can reduce fracture healing time as much as 50 percent. Both vitamin D and calcium can be increased through supplementation or diet. Milk and juice are often fortified with both substances.
Magnesium
Magnesium, along with several other vitamins, is often overlooked as a part of fracture healing. Magnesium is necessary for calcifying tissues into bone. Without magnesium, your body cannot make use of the excess calcium to heal the fracture. Magnesium can be taken as a supplement but also naturally occurs in halibut, almonds, cashews and spinach. Incorporating these foods will significantly decrease healing time.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C plays a major role in fracture healing. It is the basis for forming collagen and other connective tissues. Collagen formation is a significant step in fracture healing; without it, you cannot heal properly. This could lead to an area of smaller radius in the bone than the surrounding bone, introducing a structural weakness in that bone. You will have an increased risk of breaking that bone in the same location. Vitamin C is often found in citrus fruits and vegetables such as spinach, broccoli and green pepper.
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