Benefits of Bone Broth: For Weight Loss, Gut Health, & More​

By Charlie Huntington, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate
​Reviewed by Tchiki Davis, M.A., Ph.D.
Bone broth—a soup-like liquid created by slow-simmering animal bones in water—is thought to be associated with many health benefits. What does the science say?
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A friend of mine hiked the Camino de Santiago, a long footpath through northern Spain, many years ago. Her sister, who made the trip with her, got a stomach bug along the way. Sitting in their hostel in a tiny Spanish village, my friend acquired the number for and called the local doctor, asking for advice. To her surprise, the doctor recommended that her sister eat foods their own mother
would never have recommended in this situation: some ham and cheese, maybe some heavy bread. He seemed confused when she asked whether tonic water and crackers might be a better idea.

I like this story because it reminds me that every culture has its own expectations about what foods or herbs will help you heal. A common one in our culture, for example, is the belief that soup is a good thing to have when you’re sick. As I learned in researching this article, this is a belief shared by many cultures. In this article, I’ll focus on the potential health benefits of bone broth—a cross-cultural home remedy that just may have some good science backing it up.
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What Is Bone Broth? (A Definition)​

Bone broth is a soup-like liquid created by slowly simmering animal bones (usually from cows or chickens) in water, often along with an assortment of vegetables and herbs and spices (Hawkins & Durham, 2018). The idea of giving broths like this to people who have a cold or a similar sickness goes back centuries (Rosner, 1980). However, only recently has this pretty commonplace idea that broths are healthy and can promote recovery from illness been studied scientifically (Hawkins & Durham, 2018).
 
A broth becomes bone broth as the bones in it begin to dissolve; the marrow of the bones then enters the broth itself, infusing it with nutrients (Haluk et al., 2018). For example, bones contain collagen, a protein which is commonly used as a supplement to improve the health of our skin (Alcock et al., 2019). In addition to being nutritious, bone broth also adds flavor to foods, so it is used as the base of many soups as well as other dishes (Haluk et al., 2018).

Why Is Bone Broth Good for You?​

Bone broth is good for you because animal bones, particularly from cows, are full of nutrition (Ma et al., 2023). It is thought that ingesting these elements protects our own bone health, both promoting healthy bones and preventing the onset of osteoporosis. While animal bones are used in a surprisingly high number of foods (I’m looking at you, marshmallows and graham crackers), bone broth seems to be one use for animal bones in which much of the nutritional value of the bones themselves is retained. Careful simmering of animal bones—not too hot and not too fast—can induce the most transfer of those nutrients into the food you’ll be eating (Ma et al., 2023).
 
Bone broth may be good for you because collagen, the main protein generated by simmering animal bones in water, is good for you. While research suggests that bone broth is not as effective in providing extra collagen as a collagen supplement is, it remains a healthy and delicious way to add collagen, with all its skin-protecting properties, to your diet (Alcock et al., 2019).
 
Although the research is not always there to prove these claims, many people consume bone broth because they expect it to positively influence their digestive and immune systems (Hsu et al., 2017). However, other uses, such as to protect against the onset and intensity of migraines, have been established for bone broth (Peterson et al., 2020), and it is generally accepted that consuming bone broth has the potential to activate anti-inflammatory processes in the body (Hawkins & Durham, 2018), such as decreasing inflammation in the nasal pathways in somebody with a cold (Rennard et al., 2000). This has led others to suggest that bone broth may be helpful for psychological conditions that involve inflammation as well (Monro et al., 2013), although these hypotheses have received only minimal testing.
 
Researchers have also established that it is generally safe to consume bone broth. There was some concern that if the animals from which bone broth is derived were consuming lots of unhealthy things, such as toxic metals, this could make it unsafe for humans to use bone broth in their cooking. However, research suggests that the levels of unhealthy minerals and metals in bone broth are well below the acceptable thresholds set by regulatory agencies (Hsu et al., 2017).

Benefits of Bone Broth During Pregnancy

While there are no scientific studies that confirm this, it is generally accepted folk wisdom, especially in some Asian cultures, that consumption of bone broth during pregnancy is helpful (Chan et al., 2000). It is thought that the bone broth will provide more calcium and iron in the pregnant person’s diet, helping to bolster the presence of these minerals at a critical time.

Benefits of Bone Broth After Surgery

No studies have looked specifically at whether bone broth is beneficial following a surgery, but there is research to suggest that it could help. Since bone soups deliver collagen and other essential amino acids, they may have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that can help wounds heal (Meng et al., 2022).​

Benefits of Bone Broth After Childbirth

For the same reasons that bone broth may be helpful during pregnancy, people may benefit from consuming bone broth after giving birth. Specifically, it may help replenish their stores of vital minerals and vitamins after depleting these resources during pregnancy and childbirth (Chan et al., 2000).

Benefits of Bone Broth for Diabetes​

People with diabetes may be at increased risk of bone fractures (Saito et al., 2014), and consuming bone broth, with its high amounts of collagen—the primary building block of bones—seems to protect against broken bones (Ma et al., 2023). In this way, consuming bone broth may be beneficial for people with diabetes.

Benefits of Bone Broth for Gut Health

It seems likely that bone broth contains many substances which will promote healthy gut microbiota (Siebecker, 2004). For example, consuming bone broth seems to reduce how many pro-inflammatory cytokines our bodies release (Wang et al., 2022), making for a less inflamed gut. Additionally, consuming bone broth seems to be related to higher rates of beneficial gut microbiota (Wang et al., 2022). Although some of this research has been done with animal models (meaning they are feeding mice or rats the bone broth, not humans), it is likely that the same positive effects are felt in humans (Mar-Solís et al., 2021).

Benefits of Bone Broth for Reducing Belly Fat

Could bone broth even be helpful for people looking to lose weight, or more specifically belly fat? At least one study suggests that the answer is yes. In a study where fourteen young adults ate bone soup twice a week for six weeks, participants’ body fat and overall weight decreased (Lee et al., 2009). At the same time, their levels of a number of healthy vitamins and minerals increased significantly, with the only change to their diets being the inclusion of bone broth soup. Apparently, their skin even looked better too!

Benefits of Bone Broth During a Detox

Bone broth has detoxifying properties (Morell & Daniel, 2014). It contains a lot of the amino acid glycine, which our bodies use to produce glutathione, a chemical that detoxifies the liver, helps remove toxic metals from our bodies, and is known for having anti-aging and anti-carcinogenic properties.
 
Since the idea of a detox is to cleanse the body of all substances that may be harming it or causing the immune system to activate and stay activated, bone broth may be a natural fit for this process. The nutrients it contains can augment the detoxifying process while also calming our bodies down in the process (Morell & Daniel, 2014).

Benefits of a 24-Hour Bone Broth Fast

Bone broth fasts are recommended by some medical professionals in lieu of fasting completely (that is, having no intake of calories or nutrients). The advantage of a bone broth fast is that you are able to continue getting important nutrients into your body while still minimizing calories so that the beneficial aspects of fasting continue (Horne, 2020). This reduces the risk of breakdown in your body’s functioning during the fast, and it helps keep your energy levels up at a time when they would otherwise be depleted.
 
If you are curious to hear even more about the health benefits of bone broth, I recommend watching this video:

Video: Expert Explains Health Benefits of Bone Broth

How to Make Your Own Bone Broth

While you may be able to find bone broth in your local supermarket, it is easy and more reliable to make it in your own home. (In fact, many restaurants make their own bone broth rather than trying to purchase it wholesale from distributors.) Here are the steps for making your own bone broth.

First of all, you will need animal bones. This is often either bones from a cow or the carcass of a chicken, such as a whole roast chicken that you would purchase intact from the grocery store. You will want to make sure that any beef bones you use have the marrow inside the bones intact, as this is where many of the nutrients come from.

Most recipes call for the inclusion of vegetables as well as animal bones in the bone broth. Commonly used vegetables include celery, carrots, garlic, and onions. (For the garlic and onions, it’s actually best to leave the peels on.) People often add spices, such as bay leaves and thyme, to their bone broth as well.

Place all your ingredients in a large pot or slow cooker filled with water. Simmer the whole mixture for at least six hours, but preferably much longer. Chicken bone broth does not need to cook for as long as beef bone broth does. If possible, you will want to have this simmering process go as long as 36 hours in order to glean the maximum benefit from the bones. During simmering, some fat may rise to the surface of the broth; you can remove this. When you are done simmering, strain the bone broth to remove all the solid foods you placed in it. Let it cool, then store it in the refrigerator or freezer. If you refrigerate it, use it soon—within a week or two. If you freeze it, it should last several months.​

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Final Thoughts on the Benefits of Bone Broth​

It is important to note that bone broth is not an appropriate substitute for eating a balanced diet; more specifically, other animal products may offer an even better concentration of certain nutrients than bone broth does (Shaw & Flynn, 2019). Nonetheless, bone broth has the potential to positively impact your health in a number of ways. To recap: First, it delivers a heavy dose of collagen, which is an essential protein for the lining of your gut. This protects against the development of leaky gut syndrome and acid reflux, among other conditions.
 
Second, collagen is what makes your skin healthy, flexible, and smooth, so getting more of it in your diet may reduce the aging of your skin and should give you a more youthful appearance over time.
 
Third, consuming bone broth appears to help your liver do its job. Since the liver’s job is to detoxify your body, this means consuming bone broth can help you detox. At the same time, consuming bone broth may increase the diversity of your gut microbiota while reducing the presence in your gut of pro-inflammatory chemicals. Finally, there is emerging evidence that the amino acids found in bone broth may help improve your overall psychological functioning (Heresco-Levy et al., 1999). For all of these reasons, adding bone broth to your diet may be a real boon to your overall well-being.

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