Bone broths are a traditional food that humans have been consuming for thousands of years.
Many people either choose to make homemade bone broth or buy pre-made bone broth products to consume on a regular basis for different health reasons.
We take a deeper look into what makes having bone broth in our diet so good for our health.
What is Bone Broth?
Bone broth is an animal based liquid health drink made from slow-boiling animal, or fish meat and bones, often with added vegetables, herbs and spices.
Bone broth is also different to stock, which is made using a higher proportion of bone to meat.
The Benefits of Bone Broth
1. Contains Lots of Nutrition
Since bone broths are made using simmered bones, bone marrow and meat from beef, chicken, pork, lamb and fish you can get access to all the essential vitamins, minerals and amino acids found in these different sources of bones and animal meats.
You’ll also get some meat protein, gelatin and collagen in a bone broth. If you add some vegetables into the bone broth, this would be another healthy source of nutritional needs.
There has been concern from some having increased exposure to heavy toxic metals from bones. The risk of ingestion of excess heavy metals found in bone broth are minimal, because the levels were in the ranges of a few μg per serving.
2. Supports Healthy Digestion
Many people drink bone broths when they suffer IBS, leaky gut syndrome, Chron’s, Ulcerative Colitis or other inflammatory bowel conditions.
People who suffer inflammation of the bowel may benefit from having increased amounts of amino acids to help act as an anti-inflammatory.
Bone Broths contain many amino acids, which could be a reason why gut symptoms can be helped when drinking regular bone broth.
3. Supports Healthy Skin
Since bone broth contains collagen, it is thought to help support the maintenance of healthy skin.
Drinking bone broth can also help aid levels of hydration and reduce any dehydration symptoms, which would affect the elasticity of skin.
4. Helps Our Keep Joints Healthy
The cartilage, tendons and ligaments of small and large joints needs collagen in order to repair from damage caused by stress on the joint.
Consumption of collagen and gelatin can help aid in joint recovery from stress, including osteoarthritis, by promoting collagen synthesis in the body. Taking gelatin with vitamin C will amplify collagen synthesis.
However, there is some concern the amount of amino acids found in bone broth might not be enough vs collagen supplementation.
5. Help Improve Sleep
Glycine is an amino acid that helps to aid sleep. Glycine has sleep promoting properties and is an amino acid that is also found in various bone broth recipes.
This could be a reason why drinking a bone broth in the evening can help some fall asleep more easily and have a better nights rest.
6. Aid in Weight Loss Diet
Controlling insulin resistance and amount of calories eaten per day are methods used to control excess weight gain.
Bone broth recipes tend to use low-carb and keto-friendly foods that have a good amount of protein to help satiate appetite.
The fat in the bone broth and salt will also aid in making you feel full when on a weight loss plan.
7. Helps Alleviate Symptoms of a Cold
Chicken soup has been studies due to the old wife’s tale that it can cure the common cold.
Chicken soup has been found to help improve the symptoms of a cold. Also chicken soup with added vegetables may have beneficial medicinal activity for upper respiratory tract infections like common colds and flu.
Lastly drinking a hot drink like a chicken bone broth can aid in improving nasal mucous velocity and can be a good drink to help manage fluid intake if a person has an upper respiratory tract infection.
