Bone broth has been around for a very long time, and gained popularity in the nutrition and wellness realm a few years ago. It’s said to have numerous benefits, such as aiding in joint health, being anti-inflammatory, as well as containing lots of protein. We’ll explore these claims, and learn more about bone broth here.
What is bone broth?
A savoury liquid made from bones, this broth has been used for centuries in cooking. The attached connective tissues, bits of meat, and added veggies were simmered for hours to make up the liquid of soups, stews, and gravies.
Is there such a thing as vegan bone broth?
Well… no. Bone broth, hence the name, is literally made from bones. If you’re interested in vegan alternatives, you can make broth with mushrooms, onions, leeks, carrots, cabbage or other vegetables that help get that rich umami flavour that bone broth gives. Vegetables simmered in stock will also have vitamins and minerals, but not true collagen.
Vegan collagen has components that support the bodies’ own production of collagen, rather than directly ingesting collagen (through animal products).
Read more about collagen here, plus vegan collagen alternatives.
Bone Broth Benefits
Vitamins & Minerals & Heavy Metals
Cooking times over 8 hours yielded higher calcium and magnesium concentrations when compared to lower cooking times of bones (7). And if you were concerned about toxic levels of heavy metals in bone broth, such as lead and *cadmium, (made at home or commercially), this same study found some information. Minimal levels of these elements in the few micrograms of servings were found (7, 9).
Bones are known to hold onto heavy metals (9). Many studies looking at chronic ingestion of heavy metals do so by looking at the level of milligrams ingested per kg of body weight (8). 1000 microgram = 1mg. So theoretically you would have to be drinking a LOT of bone broth in a day over many years to reach toxic levels of heavy metals in the body to be sympathetic. But, if this is something you are worried about, ingest bone broth in small amounts on rare occasions.
*According to the CDC, cadmium is found naturally in small amounts in soil, air, and water.
Ulcerative Colitis (UC)
According to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, UC is an inflammatory bowel disease, a chronic condition, affecting the large intestine. Due to an overactive response from the immune system, the lining of the large intestine gets inflamed and develops sores and ulcers.
Compared to a group of mice that consumed water, the group of mice that consumed bone broth for 10 days showed significantly more anti-inflammatory cytokine* activity after being UC induced (2).
Some of the amino acids present in bone broth, from what the researchers found in this study, included histidine and glutamate. These amino acids were found to be lower in people with UC compared to healthy individuals (5).
In the study with mice, it was found that histidine and glutamate concentrations were higher in bone broth (2), and may be a good supplementation for individuals with UC. More studies need to be done.
*Cytokines are proteins that are released by cells and have an effect on interactions with other cells. Anti-inflammatory cytokines are cells that have immunoregulatory effects that control pro-inflammatory responses (1).
Joint Health
I talked about collagen earlier, but here’s where I’ll go into more detail. It was not easy to find research done specifically on collagen and bone broth, but I did my best.
There was a study done in 2008 looking at the ingestion of collagen hydrolysate (collagen that’s been broken down to be more easily absorbed), and the results found significantly improved joint pain in those that consumed collagen hydrolysate for 24 weeks (10).
Collagen makes up connective tissues (11), like bone, so it would be assumed that collagen is indeed found in bone broth. And when collagen is cooked, it gets broken down into amino acids, which would be present in the broth.
Bone broth also contains glucosamine and chondroitin, which have been shown to help reduce joint pain (12, 13).
How do I use bone broth?
Bone broth can be used to make soups, stews, gravies, and many other things! I like to mix it with one part water, warm it up, and drink it on a cold morning. You could also use it as a base for rice or quinoa to give added flavour, and health benefits.
Can bone broth be used as a post-workout recovery drink?
Bone broth does contain protein, as well as electrolytes, and water, to help recover after a workout. To read more about post-workout recovery beverages, read here.
Kettle & Fire Beef Bone Broth 1 cup
Calories: 40kcal
Carbohydrates: 0g
Protein: 10g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 330mg
Potassium: 110mg
Calcium: 2%
Bottom line
Bone broth can be a delicious, nutrient dense liquid used in many recipes, or drunk on its own.
Bones are known to hold onto and store heavy metals. If you’re worried about heavy metal poisoning, choosing bone broth on occasion rather than daily may be beneficial.
References:
- Zhang, Jun-Ming, and Jianxiong An. “Cytokines, inflammation and pain.” International anesthesiology clinics 45.2 (2007): 27.
- Mar-Solís, Laura M., et al. “Analysis of the Anti-Inflammatory Capacity of Bone Broth in a Murine Model of Ulcerative Colitis.” Medicina 57.11 (2021): 1138.
- Adeyeye, Emmanuel Ilesanmi. “Bone marrow: A source of nutritionally valuable fats as typified in the femur of ram and bull.” OJACR 2 (2014): 1-15.
- Hassan, AmmarAli, TorkjelM Sandanger, and Magritt Brustad. “Level of selected nutrients in meat, liver, tallow and bone marrow from semi-domesticated reindeer (Rangifer t. tarandus L.).” International journal of circumpolar health 71.1 (2012): 17997.
- He, Fang, et al. “Functions and signaling pathways of amino acids in intestinal inflammation.” BioMed research international 2018 (2018).
- Hassan, AmmarAli, TorkjelM Sandanger, and Magritt Brustad. “Level of selected nutrients in meat, liver, tallow and bone marrow from semi-domesticated reindeer (Rangifer t. tarandus L.).” International journal of circumpolar health 71.1 (2012): 17997.
- Hsu, Der-jen, et al. “Essential and toxic metals in animal bone broths.” Food & nutrition research 61.1 (2017): 1347478.
- Balali-Mood, Mahdi, et al. “Toxic mechanisms of five heavy metals: mercury, lead, chromium, cadmium, and arsenic.” Frontiers in pharmacology 12 (2021).
- Monro, J. A., R. Leon, and B. K. Puri. “The risk of lead contamination in bone broth diets.” Medical hypotheses 80.4 (2013): 389-390.
- Clark, Kristine L., et al. “24-Week study on the use of collagen hydrolysate as a dietary supplement in athletes with activity-related joint pain.” Current medical research and opinion 24.5 (2008): 1485-1496.
- Nezwek, Trevor A., and Matthew Varacallo. “Physiology, Connective Tissue.” (2019).
- Ogata, Toru, et al. “Effects of glucosamine in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” Clinical Rheumatology 37.9 (2018): 2479-2487.
13. Singh, Jasvinder A., et al. “Chondroitin for osteoarthritis.” Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 1 (2015).
