Bone Broth: Benefits and How to Make It
Written by Caitlin Self, MS, CNS, LDN
You may have heard of bone broth’s amazing health benefits in the past, and we’re here to remind you that it is not a trend: bone broth is great for your health!
At our integrative medicine practice, we often recommend bone broth as part of a healing plan. Let this post be your guide to preparing, purchasing, and using bone broth on your own healing journey or in your everyday life.
Table of Contents
Health Benefits of Bone Broth
Gut Healing:
Glutamine is an amino acid that serves as a primary food for the cells (enterocytes) that line our digestive tract. More glutamine = more readily available food for our gut lining. As such, glutamine has been shown to improve healing of the GI tract. Glutamine is also conditionally essential, and the body has a difficult time producing enough of it during times of stress and trauma. So when we’re under stress, (overworking, overtraining, undersleeping, etc.), we actually need to consume way more glutamine than if we’re skipping rocks on a lake during sunset with our favorite pet. Source
Detoxification:
Glycine is one of the three amino acids we need in order to make glutathione, the body’s master antioxidant. And believe it or not, many people are not getting enough glycine in their diets! Bones and cartilage contain glycine, making bone broth one of the best sources of this amino acid.
Joint Pain:
One of the reasons bone broth has grown in popularity is due to its impacts on joint pain. Bone broth is rich in many compounds that help to build and strengthen bones and connective tissue such as glucosamine, amino acids, and minerals.
Additional Nutrients of Note:
Potassium
In 2019 I attended a nutrition conference where a colleague of mine presented a bone broth report, part of which covered the nutrient content of bone broth. The most surprising thing I learned from this report was the potassium content of bone broth. One cup of bone broth was found to contain more potassium than a banana! Along with the magnesium content and the additional sodium (if added), this taught me that bone broth is one of the best electrolyte beverages available!
Chromium
My colleague’s report also uncovered that there’s a significant amount of chromium available in bone broth. Chromium is important in blood sugar balance, which could help to explain some of the anti-inflammatory benefits of bone broth.
Selenium
And finally, selenium is a mineral known to balance thyroid function in those with hypothyroidism. While we commonly discuss brazil nuts as a great way to get your daily selenium, they’re not the most popular of nuts! A cup of bone broth can provide between 10-20% of the recommended intake.
Potential Considerations
Histamine: broth is often cooked low and slow over several hours, which allows for the development of histamine. If you are sensitive to histamine, I highly recommend using a pressure cooker (such as an Instant Pot) to make your broth. Most recipes can easily be converted to the pressure cooker. We have a recipe linked below!
FODMAPs: many broths will be made with onions, garlic, and other high FODMAP ingredients. FODMAPs are water soluble, and are therefore present in the broth. For a low-FODMAP broth, we recommend using just the bones and skipping the high-FODMAP ingredients.
Additionally, cartilage releases glycosaminoglycan polysaccharides (GAS), a type of FODMAP, into the broth during the cooking process. While this is great for the gut and joints, it can, in some very FODMAP-sensitive individuals, cause symptoms. For sensitive folks, we recommend starting with really small doses to see how you do. Even if you’re following low-FODMAP, we don’t want zero FODMAPs!
Caitlin’s note: most people with SIBO and IBS do extremely well with Low-FODMAP bone broth.
Oxalates: many vegetables contain oxalates (looking at you, spinach!), and the glycine in bone broth can convert to oxalates in the body. There are some people who may have high levels of oxalates in the body, which can bind to calcium and contribute to kidney stones and other symptoms. If you are sensitive to oxalates, skip the oxalate-rich vegetables in your broth and try small amounts of bones-only broth.
As far as we understand it, oxalates are not a “sensitivity” but instead more of a “cup flows over” situation. So, much like histamine and FODMAPs, we don’t recommend a zero-oxalate diet, but rather a low-oxalate diet, which can be further personalized based on your symptoms.
Not sure if any of these specifications apply to you? Schedule a 20-minute free consult with one of our providers to see if working with Integrative Medicine is a good fit for you.
Therapeutic Uses
There are innumerable applications for bone broth, just a few of which are listed above under Health Benefits. But how to apply this? What is the ‘dose’ so to speak?
Primary Therapeutic Dosing:
8 ounces bone broth 1-2x a day, short term or ongoing
One to two cups a day can be especially supportive for gut healing and mineral repletion and is a safe amount to include in your daily diet. You will also see this as a recommendation on many therapeutic diet plans such as SCD, AIP, and GAPS.
Short-Term Therapeutic Dosing
8 ounces bone broth 2-3 times a day for up to 10 days
Work with your provider to determine the dose that’s right for you, but we often recommend this intake when faced with surgical procedures or conditions that compromise your appetite.
Prenatal Therapeutic Dosing
8 ounces bone broth, 1x daily, 3rd trimester
During the third trimester of pregnancy, the belly really starts to expand. I will often recommend patients start incorporating more bone broth at this time to help provide collagen to support the elasticity of the belly. This may help to prevent stretch marks! Many people will increase their intake of vitamin C as well in order to provide one of the essential nutrients the body needs to produce more collagen during this time.
You can add this in by sipping on broth, using it in soup, or even getting creative by adding it to other recipes such as cooking grains and beans, braising greens, or even making desserts!
Recipes for Bone Broth
In its simplest form, bone broth is made by simmering leftover bones in water for 12-24 hours or so. You can do this on the stove top, in a slow cooker, or in a pressure cooker. Many people like to jazz up their broth with vegetables, herbs, and collagenous cuts of meat.
Basic Bone Broth Recipe: PIM’s Basic Bone Broth Recipe
This recipe is a tried and true favorite using bones, chicken feet, and veggies.
Low FODMAP Broth Using Leftover Bones: Caitlin’s Slow Cooker or Stove Top Chicken Bone Broth
This recipe uses leftover chicken bones, water, and vinegar. This recipe is a Low-FODMAP option that is entirely hands off. This recipe also qualifies as low-oxalate because it doesn’t contain any oxalate-rich vegetables.
Bone Broth Using Fresh Bones:
Check your local butcher or area farms to find bones at affordable prices for making broth. Years ago you could get bones for free from farms and butcher counters, but with the increase in supply, they are often being sold for $1-$2 a pound instead. This is still very affordable and much cheaper than store bought! Feel free to pre-cook them if desired: you can roast the bones first for richer flavor, or blanch them in boiling water to provide a smoother, cleaner taste. Or, simply cook them in water as normal without pre-cooking.
You can order bones online from US Wellness Meats or search on EatWild for local farms in your area with high-quality, grassfed, and pastured animal products.
Meaty Bone Broth:
If you don’t have time to make broth from leftover bones, you can achieve a similar result by using collagen-rich pieces of meat attached to the bone. Chicken wings and chicken drumsticks are the most accessible options, and are quite affordable. Chicken feet are another great option, but make sure you clean them first.
The resulting meat used to make broth will be a bit dry and flavorless, but it will still contain protein, so you can add it to soups, stews, and other flavorful dishes.
Low Histamine: Dr. Becky Campbells’s Low Histamine Bone Broth
Making bone broth in a pressure cooker is the easiest way to significantly reduce the production of histamines. This recipe takes just two hours to make!
Store Bought Options
I have tried many, many store-bought cartons of broth and stock. They’re usually pretty bland, sometimes a little acidic, and often devoid of the therapeutic benefits of homemade. However, with the booming popularity of bone broth over the last few years, I’m pleased to share some brands that are delicious, nutrient-dense, and convenient.
Store-bought bone broth is much more expensive than homemade, but can be a great way to keep your household stocked with this gut-friendly food, and is ideal for those who don’t have the time, energy, or capacity for preparing homemade broth.
Some of these brands are available online, while others are available in health food stores nationwide. At our integrative medicine practice in Philadelphia, we often refer patients to Kimberton Whole Foods or MOM’s Organic Market to source many of these brands.
This is my personal favorite. The flavor is rich and comforting. Brodo started as a pop up broth shop in NYC and now offers delivery and subscriptions through their online store. (They ship it frozen.) They have a variety of bone broths, as well as a vegan mushroom broth. I will often send a combination pack to loved ones after surgery, giving birth, or having a significant illness such as coronavirus.
My second favorite of the bunch, this one is sold in the freezer section of many stores. When thawed, it is gelatinous and flavorful. I’ve tried their chicken and beef broths.
Kettle & Fire
This company has a lot of great options, but I have found some of them to be better than others. Their Regenerative Chicken Bone Broth is one of my favorites, but they also have a number of Organic options that are delicious.
This company has a variety of regeneratively raised and organic broth options, and is my go-to brand for Low FODMAP bone broth options for patients. They also have AIP-friendly bone broth without any peppercorn or nightshades. As far as I know, this brand is only available online.
Low FODMAP: https://fondbonebroth.com/collections/low-fodmap
Substitutes for Bone Broth
If bone broth isn’t available to you for some reason, there are two additional ways you can get many of the benefits of this product.
Collagen Powder
We like Designs for Health Whole Body Collagen (available on Fullscript), Great Lakes Collagen Hydrolysate, and Further Foods collagen powder, but most forms of Grass-fed collagen are great. Just know that these products are not “complete” proteins as they do not contain adequate levels of all the essential amino acids (specifically tryptophan) so should be used as part of a varied diet and not a sole source of protein. This could be in part due to the fact that most commercially available collagen products are derived from cow hides instead of bones, though Whole Body Collagen may be derived from a blend of various sources of collagen such as bones, cartilage, tendons, and hides.
Bone Broth Protein
There are several forms of powdered bone broth protein, but the one I am most familiar with is by Ancient Nutrition. This product is a powder of concentrated bone broth. Similarly to collagen, it may be low in tryptophan and therefore not a complete protein on its own.
Vegan Broth Option:
And, alternatively, we also love to recommend Rebecca Katz’s Magic Mineral Broth as a concentrated source of minerals for vegans and vegetarians. This will have a completely different array of micronutrients and therefore different health benefits. It is still a nutrient-dense option that is soothing and provides bioavailable forms of important nutrients.
PIM wants to hear from you! Do you have an experience with the healing benefits of bone broth? Have you ever tried making it? Do you find this article helpful? Share your thoughts in the comments below or on our Facebook and Instagram!
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