10 Reasons to Use Bone Broth
Many cultures have used bone broth to make healing elixers, soups and stews for many centuries. The Jewish community made chicken soup the popular remedy for the common cold without fully understanding the unique health benefits in this dish. Science has revealed the amazing health benefits that come with bone broth.
Bone broth can be made from any animal with bones and the most popular soup bones include those of fish, chicken, turkey, beef, lamb and venison. The bones house a variety of powerful nutrients that become released when they are slowly simmered in water for a few hours. These nutrients include bone marrow which helps provide the raw materials for healthy blood cells and immune development.
Key Nutrients That Enhance Healing:
Other valuable nutrients include collagen, gelatin, hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate, glycosamino glycans, proline, glycine, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium. These all help with the development of healthy joints, bones, ligaments and tendons as well as hair and skin (1, 2, 3, 4)
These nutrients are considered beauty foods because they help the body with proper structural alignment and beautiful skin and hair.
Glycine and proline are essential for connective tissue function which is the biological glue that holds are bodies together (5, 6). Without them we would literally fall apart. These two amino acids are essential for healing microscopic wounds throughout the body, and they also suppress inflammatory activity. This is especially important for individuals with chronic inflammation or autoimmune conditions (7, 8).
Bone broth provides the nutritional synergy to calm an overactive immune system while supplying the body with raw materials to rebuild stronger and healthier cells. This is why it is such a great healing food to have when the body is encountering stress from bacterial or viral infections as well as digestive disorders and leaky gut syndrome.
Various Nutrients Within Different Bones:
Different bones have unique characteristics to be aware of. Larger bones such as the femur and humerus bones of the legs and arms contain more bone marrow than many of the smaller bones. Individuals with anemia, lung disorders, immune disorders, chronic infections, etc. would more specifically target these disorders using broth with increased marrow.
Smaller bones contain more gelatinous materials than larger bones. The gelatinous material is especially useful for digestive health as it provides key raw materials that help the cells of the digestive system to regenerate. This is a key health tool for individuals who are trying to overcome leaky gut syndrome. Bone broth fasts are one of the best strategies for destroying parasites like Candida and rebuilding the gut.
Finding the Right Stock Bones:
It is especially important to find stock bones from humanely raised healthy animals. This would include 100% grass-fed cows, bison, lamb and organic poultry bones. Wild game like deer and antelope are fantastic as well.
Conventionally raised animals that are fed a diet of genetically modified grains loaded with pesticides and herbicides and other chemicals and heavy metals should never be used. The body naturally stores many toxins in the fatty portions of the bone and that is what you are consuming in the bone broth.
It is best to know the farm and farmer where you are getting your stock bones. The more grass and green foods the animals eat the more rich the nutritional value of the meat and bone contents. Beef can and should be 100% green-fed while poultry should have lots of pasture in their diet although they will also need seeds, worms, insects, etc.
US Wellness Meats is a trusted source for stock bones. You can look for traditional stock bones or for oxtail or get a whole chicken, whole turkey, whole duck and use everything including the organ meats. You can find everything I mentioned here.
Commercial Bone Broth:
If you don’t have the time or energy to make your own broth, there are many commercial bone broths available. Premade bone broth comes in both liquid and powdered forms. My favorite brand of liquid premade bone broth is Kettle & Fire (here) which I have found to be the very best on the market.
The reasons why I love Kettle and Fire is that they only use 100% organic and grass-fed animal bones for their broths. This is especially important as these animals are not exposed to pesticides and herbicides and do not bio accumulate a high toxin load.
Additionally, Kettle and Fire uses a slow simmering process to help extract the maximal amount of minerals and collagen from the bones. My family loves the flavor of their bone broth and we use it on a regular basis. In fact, Kettle and Fire was the first “food” we introduced to our little daughter Joyful when my wife was unable to produce enough breast milk to meet her needs. You can use this link here to get 20% off and free shipping on Kettle & Fire broth.
Beef Gelatin and Collagen Protein
You can also get many of the benefits of bone broth in grass-fed beef gelatin or collagen protein. You may have seen the Collagen Marshmallows and the Chocolate Skin Enhancing Pudding on our website, which utilize the beef gelatin.
Beef gelatin is collagen protein in a traditional gelatin formula, this means that it will gel in cold liquids. It is recommended to add to hot liquids, or to use in recipes that require gelatin. You can also use cold-water soluble collagen peptides or bone broth protein which are fantastic for putting into shakes and smoothies.
Using this protein gives you many of the same benefits as drinking bone broth. It is exceptional for healing leaky gut and improving joint health.
Suggestions For Use:
- Add to hot tea or coffee
- Add to soups or stews to increase thickness and add protein
- Home-made marshmallows
- Fruit Jello
- Desserts such as mousse, pie, or custards
- Put in shakes for protein and a gelatinous texture
Bone Broth Protein:
Bone Broth Protein begins as a true bone broth liquid. It’s then dehydrated, making it into a concentrated source of high-quality, tasty powder.
A quality Bone Broth Protein Powder comes with the same benefits of a homemade broth, but it’s also just as beneficial for digestion and even more versatile in so many recipes.
Bone Broth Protein supplies 20 grams of muscle-building protein to support healthy muscle building, maintenance and metabolism.
Bone Broth Protein is loaded with type 2 collagen and also contains vital minerals, including potassium, magnesium, calcium, selenium, glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), hyaluronic acid, glucosamine and chondroitin. It’s high in proline and glutamine– which are amino acids that support the digestive system.
This is my go to protein powder for a smooth shake. The beef gelatin makes recipes very gelatinous, but he bone broth protein mixes easy into water or shakes.
When Not To Use Bone Broth
Some individuals have trouble with bone broth. This is most commonly due to individuals who struggle to metabolize histamines and free glutamates. Bone broth is higher in histamines and free glutamates, which are normally metabolized well by most individuals.
Certain individuals that have a histamine or glutamate intolerance may struggle with bone broth. In both cases, one of the common complaints is that the individual has a headache after they consume something with either histamines or free glutamates. If you notice you are consistently having a headache and/or other possible symptoms such as fatigue, disorientation, skin rash and joint pain when you consume bone broth than you may have one of these problems.
Individuals with a histamine intolerance often will have a tendency to experience hives or skin lesions associated with higher histamine foods. Individuals with glutamate intolerances will often experience pain and neurological symptoms (such as disorientation, poor coordination, neuralgia or muscle pain along with headaches). Here is a helpful article on histamine intolerance and in the future, we will have an article on glutamate intolerances.
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Sources for This Article Include:
1. Clark KL, Sebastianelli W, Flechsenhar KR, Aukermann DF, Meza F, Millard RL, Deitch JR, Sherbondy PS, Albert A. 24-Week study on the use of collagen hydrolysate as a dietary supplement in athletes with activity-related joint pain. Curr Med Res Opin. 2008 May;24(5):1485-96. PMID: 18416885
2. Deal CL, Moskowitz RW. Nutraceuticals as therapeutic agents in osteoarthritis. The role of glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and collagen hydrolysate. Rheum Dis Clin North Am. 1999 May;25(2):379-95. PMID: 10356424
3. Choi SY, Kim WG, Ko EJ, Lee YH, Kim BG, Shin HJ, Choi YS, Ahn JY, Kim BJ, Lee HJ. Effect of high advanced-collagen tripeptide on wound healing and skin recovery after fractional photothermolysis treatment. Clin Exp Dermatol. 2014 Dec;39(8):874-80. PMID: 25283252
4. Choi SY, Ko EJ, Lee YH, Kim BG, Shin HJ, Seo DB, Lee SJ, Kim BJ, Kim MN. Effects of collagen tripeptide supplement on skin properties: a prospective, randomized, controlled study. J Cosmet Laser Ther. 2014 Jun;16(3):132-7. PMID: 24131075
5. Barbul A. Proline precursors to sustain Mammalian collagen synthesis. J Nutr. 2008 Oct;138(10):2021S-2024S. PMID: 18806118
6. Ma Y, Kleinbeck K, Kao WJ. Extracellular matrix-derived tripeptide proline-glycine-proline inhibits keratinocyte proliferation and migration. Wound Repair Regen. 2011 Nov;19(6):718-26. PMID: 22092842
7. Stsiapanava A, Olsson U, Wan M, Kleinschmidt T, Rutishauser D, Zubarev RA, Samuelsson B, Rinaldo-Matthis A, Haeggström JZ. Binding of Pro-Gly-Pro at the active site of leukotriene A4 hydrolase/aminopeptidase and development of an epoxide hydrolase selective inhibitor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 PMID: 24591641
8. Nature.com Link Here
This broth in very good and has a lot of protein . In my country the soup in very popular in a lot of homes.
Dr Jockers Do you recommend Pacific chicken broth over the Pacific bone broth? Thank you.
Both of these are great!
should you skin the chicken first or is the fat from the skin healthy?
thanking you in advance
In an organic and pasture raised chicken the skin should stay on, it’s very healhy
If it is natural raised than use the skin as their are great amino acids in that.
Hi
What about vegans who don’t eat animal products? Many people say when you have a chronic disease that you are trying to cure, that mostly raw food with no animal products is the way to heal. This is so confusing? I don’t know which way is right!
What would you recommend if bone broth and animal products make me sick?
Thank you
If your chronic illness is related to gut issues, the animal fat and gelatin will be very healing and nourishing. If you can try to adapt to tolerating bone broth, or even just meat broth, it will help you heal. You can continue with your raw veggies provided they are not furthering your gut issues because of the high fiber. I could only tolerate fresh juices and very cooked vegetables such as carrot when I began to heal my gut in the very beginning. I still cannot tolerate raw vegetables at all anymore. A lot of illnesses start with a gut imbalance. Good luck!
Great points Tammy, many people with SIBO struggle with digestive vegetables. They need a low-FODMAP nutrition plan as I describe in this article: https://drjockers.com/14-strategies-to-beat-sibo-naturally/
I would recommend using a vegetable broth if you are vegan Barbara
Follow your intuition. All raw with juicing is the way to go.
MSG (free glutamic acid) is a trigger for seizures and I am very nervous about trying bone both even though I would like the nutritional benefits. Everyone is on the “bone Broth” bandwagon and it is highly recommended by many. As a specialist in seizures, I trust your opinion the most. I also avoid gelatin, collagen, grains and green drinks made from their grasses and juices, etc. etc. (the list of possible sources of glutamic acid is extremely long) and I have even been urged to be cautious with slow cooking meat as this frees up glutamic acid. There are already so, so many things I cannot eat (and, yes, I try to stay on the ketogenic diet) that my variety of foods is very limited (no carbs but green vegetables) and I am looking for sources of nutrition. I know you cannot give medical advice, but I also know that you are very knowlegeable about this subject and all I am asking is for your suggestions. I would be very, very grateful for any words from you. I thank God for the work you are doing. May He bless you and your family this Christmas season and in the new year to come.
Chicken flavor is code for MSG. I do use the vegetable broth in this Pacific brand because it does not have vegetable “flavor”, but the chicken broth does. Anything “flavor, flavorings” code for MSG. Thank you for this article.
Great question, it can be done either way, but there is a lot of subcutaneous fat under the skin so I like to keep that on and boil it with.
Hello Dr. Jockers
Can you tell me if bone broth is known to interfere with or stop ketosis because of glutathionine being released during cooking? I have heard
That this can create glucogenesis
Very interested in hearing your comments.
Hey Missy,
Bone broth helps to support ketosis. Most find it very good for a ketogenic diet.
I’ve always been busy and whenever I try cooking my own bone broth I fail at it. I opted instead on drinking Au Bon Broth’s organic bone broth and it was actually tasty and delicious like it’s home made. Drinking bone broth every morning made a lot of improvement with my health.
Great to hear Cam! Bone broth is powerful nutrition!
It’s great how drinking bone broth has helped me improve my health. After drinking Au Bon Broth, I’ve felt more energetic than before and it helped me with my joint pains.
That’s amazing Lei!
Hi Doctor Jockers,
Thanks for the unbiased and informational information on bone broth. My girlfriend has small brittle bones and won’t lift weights. I assume bone broth will help to strengthen her bones density? Also, how does bone broth interact with high cholesterol? I seem to be one of those people with high cholesterol despite a good diet and exercise.
Can Bone Broth powder lower cholesterol?
Hey Fate, the high levels of glycine can help maintain healthy cholesterol balance.
Have any side effect in this powder? Please let me know Doctor!
Rarely Jeff!
In the recipe it says 8 c of water, what does that mean?
Hey Melanie, the “c” is denoting cups. This recipe calls for 8 cups of water.
hi dr jockers
when glutamate intolerance article would be available
Here you go https://drjockers.com/salicylate-sensitivity-major-symptoms-and-what-foods-to-avoid/
Hi dr
I make bone broth from marrow bones.
The marrow is very rich and when it cools off its like hard fat on top of the liquid.
Is it ok / beneficial to use the “fatty” part with the bone broth liquid? Or must it be separated?
I suffer from diverticulitis.
Yes you can either mix it in or you can seperate it and use the fat to add healthy fats to your meals (chicken fat is called Schmaltz and beef fat is called tallow) as these are very flavorful to add to savory dishes.
Thanks
Can schmaltz and tallow clog our arteries?
No they will not. Dietary fats don’t clog the arteries. It is sugar and carbs that drive up inflammation and the inflammation damages the arterial lining and causes the production of scar tissue or plaques in the arteries. There is a few types of fat that drives up inflammation. These include trans fats like partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and seed oils (corn, soy, cottonseed, safflower, peanut, etc.) that are high in linoleic acid.
I am a post kidney transplant patient . Can the bone broth interfere with my immune suppressant medications?
No it will not!
I’ve got SLE nephritis. Does bone broth (especially the protein) affect my kidney? And does the fat of bone broth increase my blood lipid level because its very oily.