Bone broth is a nutritious liquid that contains brewed connective tissues and bones. Bone broth can be prepared using tissues and bones of many types of animals such as chicken, fish and cow bones.
Moreover, bone broth is rich in a wide range of other important minerals and nutrients derived from these bones and tissues. This makes bone broth a healthy dietary supplement for most people.
Drinking bone broth has been shown to be beneficial for the digestive system and joints, among other things. Simmering bones and connective tissue in water helps break down tissues, as well as release nutrients from the bones and bone marrow.
The result is a nutritious, flavorful broth. Here are some of the main reasons why you should include bone broth protein powder in your diet:
1. Bone broth helps to protect your joints naturally
Bone broth protein is rich in gelatin, which is converted to collagen in the body. Collagen is particularly important for your bones and joints.
Continual use of the joints tends to break down or shrink cartilage in our joints. This adds more stress to our joints, which become damaged due to the added pressure.
According to a 2017 study was published in the journal Sports Medicine, supplementation with gelatin increased the amount of collagen in tissues in both animal and laboratory studies. This helps protect joints from excessive stress. Therefore, consuming bone broth is a good way of protecting your joints by adding gelatin to your diet.
2. Helps fight osteoarthritis
Since bone broth and bone broth protein powder contains several compounds that help improve joint health, it is also helpful for people who have osteoarthritis.
The Nutrition Journal published a study in 2016 that explored the effects of collagen on people who have symptoms of osteoarthritis in the knees. The type 2 collagen used in eth study was obtained from connective tissues of chicken bones.
The results show that type 2 collagen helps improve the symptoms of osteoarthritis such as poor physical function, stiffness, poor circulation, and even pain. Therefore, consuming bone broth is an easy to deliver collagen and other helpful nutrients and minerals, to the body.
3. It is rich in nutrients
Bone broth is highly nutritious. In addition to being rich in nutrients and vitamins, including magnesium, calcium, and phosphorous, brewing connective tissue into the broth can provide the body with various natural compounds from the tissue and cartilage.
Bones and tissue are also rich in collagen and cooking turns it into gelatin, which provides the building blocks of protein (amino acids). However, it’s not possible to tell the exact amount of nutrients that will be in your home-made bone broth because it depends on the quantity and type of tissues and bones that go into it.
Therefore, it might be good to include a wide variety of bones and tissue to get the best quality of bone broth with the highest amount of minerals and nutrients. Bone broth contains a wide variety of nutrients including manganese, iron, selenium, zinc, vitamins A and K, and fatty acids. Adding other ingredients such as vinegar and vegetables may also increase the amount of nutrients in your bone broth.
4. Helps heal the gut and reduce inflammation
Studies show that people with leaky gut syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease my benefit from including none broth in their diet regimen. Bone broth also contains nutrients such as glutamine, which is very promising especially for gut health and digestion.
According to a 2017 study, glutamine supplementation is very helpful in healing the intestinal barrier in both animal and human models. This may be helpful with conditions that irritate the intestinal lining and interfere with the intestines’ ability to digest and absorb food, such as leaky gut syndrome.
A 2017 study published in the journal Nutrients shows that people suffering from inflammatory bowel disease have a low level of some essential amino acids. This shows that including more amino acids in their diets can help with the symptoms of such conditions. Consuming bone broth on a daily basis is a good way of getting anti-inflammatory amino acids into your body.
5. It helps improve sleep
Bone broth is rich in several amino acids that have been shown to improve sleep. According to a 2015 study published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, glycine is an effective and safe therapeutic option for improving sleep. Studies show that people who include foods that contain glycine in their diet feel that they sleep better and tend to have less fatigue.
Drinking bone broth before going to sleep can help provide the body with this glycine.
6. It supports weight loss
Studies show that bone broth and bone brown powder is rich in protein, which supports calorie restriction and keeps the body feeling fuller for longer, hence supporting weight loss.
According to a 2017 study published in the Journal of Renal Nutrition, a cup of chicken bone broth is higher in protein compare to the average cup of chicken broth.
Consuming bone broth or bone broth powder supplements, is a beneficial way of adding more protein to your diet and feeling more satisfied with meals without consuming a large number of calories.
The bottom-line
Bone broth contains a wide variety of readily available minerals and nutrient that have been shown to be beneficial for joint health as well as keeping the body working optimally. When making bone broth yourself, it might be beneficial to add vegetables and spices such as thyme or sage to give your broth more flavor.
You can also add salt to make it more palatable. Moreover, after making a batch of bone broth you can store it in small containers in your freezer. Be sure to heat these containers as needed to make the broth last longer.
Although there may be some benefits of bone broth we are yet to uncover, in the meantime, we know that it’s a highly nutritious drink that supports many of the body’s functions.
