Is Bone Broth Good for You? Benefits, Evidence and Side Effects
What is in a mug of bone broth, what the research supports, where the claims run ahead of the evidence, and the side effects worth knowing about.
In this guide
Bone broth is good for you in the way a protein-rich food is good for you: a mug gives you a useful amount of protein, mostly as collagen, for very few calories. The bigger claims made for it, about the gut, skin and joints, rest mainly on studies of what is in it rather than on studies of broth itself.
The short version
- Bone broth is a low-calorie source of protein, mostly collagen.
- The skin and joint research was done on collagen supplements. A broth with a similar amount of collagen supplies the same amino acids.
- The gut research is promising but early, and mostly not in people.
- It is not a good source of minerals.
- Watch the salt in shop-bought broths.
We sell bone broth, so we have every reason to oversell it. This page tries not to. It sets out what is in a mug, what the research supports, where the claims run ahead of the evidence, and the side effects worth knowing about.
What is in bone broth
Protein
Harvard Health puts a cup of bone broth at about 8 to 10g of protein, against 2 to 6g for most broths and stocks (Harvard Health). Dried broth is more concentrated. A 15g serving of our powder has 14.3g of protein and 58 calories.
Collagen amino acids
Most of that protein is gelatin, which is cooked collagen. It is rich in glycine, proline and hydroxyproline.
Not much in the way of minerals
Broth is often called mineral-rich, but when researchers measured it, calcium and magnesium came to less than 5% of the daily recommended amount per serving (Hsu and colleagues, 2017).
Salt, sometimes a lot
Some shop-bought broths have more than 450mg of sodium a cup, according to Harvard Health. Unsalted broths and plain powders have very little. Ours has about 5mg a serving.
One limit to know about. Collagen is low in some essential amino acids, tryptophan in particular. Bone broth should add to the protein you already eat, not replace it.
What the evidence supports
Protein and fullness
Firmest evidence
This is the firmest ground. Protein contributes to the growth and maintenance of muscle mass, and a review of feeding trials found that higher-protein meals leave people feeling modestly fuller (Leidy and colleagues, 2015). A mug of broth is an easy way to add around 10g of protein to your day for very few calories.
Skin and joints
Tested on collagen supplements, not broth
The trials here used collagen supplements, not broth. A pooled analysis of 19 randomised trials found that hydrolysed collagen taken for 90 days improved skin hydration, elasticity and wrinkles compared with placebo (de Miranda and colleagues, 2021). A 24-week trial in athletes found less activity-related joint pain with 10g of collagen hydrolysate a day (Clark and colleagues, 2008).
Whether broth does the same depends on how much collagen is in yours. A 2019 analysis found that typical bone broths supplied significantly less of collagen's key amino acids than a 20g dose of collagen supplement, and that the amount varied widely from one recipe to the next (Alcock and colleagues, 2019). We go through this in detail in bone broth vs collagen.
The gut
Early evidence, mostly not in people
This is the claim people most want to be true, and the evidence is early. In 2025, gastroenterologists at the Mayo Clinic reviewed the animal and human studies on the nutrients found in bone broth, including glutamine and glycine. They concluded that these may support the gut barrier, and they called for more research (Matar and colleagues, 2025). In one study, mice given bone broth before colitis was induced showed less inflammation and less tissue damage (Mar-Solís and colleagues, 2021).
We have not found a clinical trial of bone broth itself in people. That is a reason for interest, not a proven effect. There is more on this in our page on bone broth for your gut.
Sleep
Small trials of glycine, not broth
Glycine is the most abundant amino acid in bone broth. In small Japanese trials, 3g of glycine taken before bed improved how people rated their sleep, and reduced next-day fatigue after short nights (Bannai and colleagues, 2012). The researchers worked for a company that makes glycine, and the trials tested pure glycine, not broth. For scale, a serving of our powder contains 3.1g of glycine.
Where the claims run ahead of the evidence
- "It heals a leaky gut." The early research on the gut barrier is encouraging, but no human trial of bone broth has tested this yet.
- "It detoxes you" or "boosts immunity". There are no trials of broth showing either.
- "It melts belly fat." No food targets fat in one place. Broth is filling for very few calories, and that is as far as it goes.
- "It is full of minerals." The measured amounts are small.
Side effects and who should be careful
- Salt. Check the label on ready-made broths, especially if you have been told to watch your blood pressure.
- Lead. Bones can store lead. A small 2013 study found between 7 and 9.5 micrograms of lead per litre in chicken bone broths, against 0.89 in the tap water they were made with (Monro and colleagues, 2013). A larger analysis in 2017 found a few micrograms per serving and judged the risk to be minimal (Hsu and colleagues, 2017).
- Feeling off after drinking it. Some people report headaches, flushing or an upset stomach after long-simmered broths, which is often put down to histamine or glutamate. This comes from individual reports, not trials. If it happens to you, try a smaller amount or stop.
Medical diets. If you have been told to limit protein, purines or sodium, for example with kidney disease or gout, ask your doctor first.
Is it safe to drink bone broth every day?
For most healthy adults, a mug a day is simply a serving of protein-rich food. Keep an eye on the salt if you buy it ready-made, and keep eating other sources of protein.
What kind of bone broth is healthiest?
The one with the most protein and the least added to it. Check four things:
- Protein per serving More protein means more of the bone actually made it into the broth.
- Salt Lower is better. You can always add your own.
- The ingredient list Bones, water and perhaps vegetables. Be wary of yeast extract, flavourings and sugar.
- Where the bones came from Look for a named source and, if you need it, certification such as halal.
The same checks apply to liquid and powder. Ours is a grass-fed beef bone broth powder with two ingredients, beef bone broth and hyaluronic acid. If you would rather make your own, here is how to make bone broth.
Sources
- Harvard Health Publishing. Savoring the benefits of bone broth: worth a taste? 2025. Harvard Health
- Hsu DJ, Lee CW, Tsai WC, Chien YC. Essential and toxic metals in animal bone broths. Food Nutr Res. 2017;61(1):1347478. PubMed
- Leidy HJ and others. The role of protein in weight loss and maintenance. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015;101(6):1320S-1329S. PubMed
- de Miranda RB, Weimer P, Rossi RC. Effects of hydrolyzed collagen supplementation on skin aging: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Dermatol. 2021;60(12):1449-1461. PubMed
- Clark KL and others. 24-week study on the use of collagen hydrolysate as a dietary supplement in athletes with activity-related joint pain. Curr Med Res Opin. 2008;24(5):1485-1496. PubMed
- Alcock RD, Shaw GC, Burke LM. Bone broth unlikely to provide reliable concentrations of collagen precursors compared with supplemental sources of collagen used in collagen research. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2019;29(3):265-272. PubMed
- Matar A, Abdelnaem N, Camilleri M. Bone broth benefits: how its nutrients fortify gut barrier in health and disease. Dig Dis Sci. 2025;70(6):1951-1961. PubMed
- Mar-Solís LM and others. Analysis of the anti-inflammatory capacity of bone broth in a murine model of ulcerative colitis. Medicina (Kaunas). 2021;57(11):1138. PubMed
- Bannai M and others. The effects of glycine on subjective daytime performance in partially sleep-restricted healthy volunteers. Front Neurol. 2012;3:61. PubMed
- Monro JA, Leon R, Puri BK. The risk of lead contamination in bone broth diets. Med Hypotheses. 2013;80(4):389-390. PubMed
This article is general information and not medical advice.
Kristian started reGrounded to make nutrition the way people ate before supplements: real food, short labels and nothing added to hide a problem. He writes these guides to set out what goes into each product and what the research does and does not show.
