WHETHER it's dental implants, joint replacements or broken bones we probably know many people who have had these types of operations and that's a lot of bone to heal.
It's not a given that bone will heal well or in a timely fashion as bone healing needs a cast of thousands of biological actors to produce fabulous bone structure.
But patients can influence their outcome by adding in some of the big hitters in bone healing by improving their diet and habits.
Most people are aware that supplementing with vitamin D and calcium is important to bone health but that's a bit like making chicken soup with just a leek and chicken - very watery.
The K vitamins, especially vitamin K2, act like a friendship group with calcium and vitamin D. It helps to transport calcium from your blood and saliva and deposit it into your bones.
Another performance-enhancing vitamin is vitamin B in all its forms - B6, vitamin B9 (folate), and vitamin B12. They're responsible for reducing levels of homocysteine in your blood.
Homocysteine, if left to skyrocket, will reduce your bone hardness leaving it more fragile. Vitamin B12 also has the charming characteristic of being able to reduce pain after having a tooth extraction.
Not only are dark-flesh fish, such as salmon and mackerel, rich sources of calcium and vitamin D, they're also packed with Omega-3 fatty acids which reduce compounds, like prostaglandins, that are responsible for breaking down bone.
Oddly enough, we need tiny amounts of the metal minerals found in fruit and veg, like potassium, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese and zinc which are bone-building warriors.
On the other hand, you don't want to overdo it with cigarettes or saturated fats which have been shown to have a negative impact on bone repair.
But not all fats are baddies - we need good fats like those in olive oil to help us absorb the fat-soluble vitamins that I've already mentioned. Being packed with vitamin E, olive oil is also an antioxidant that speeds up bone healing.
Lastly, good bone healing is not just to do with bone. We need collagen and for good collagen, you need lysine and proline amino acids that support the structure of collagen.
So, after any bone surgery, enjoy healthy meals and build that bone.
