The bone broth diet is a popular weight-loss diet. It is relatively straightforward to follow. It makes bold claims: In 21 days, the bone broth diet will help you lose up to 15 pounds, 4 inches, and clear up your wrinkles. The bone broth cleanse is a 21-day diet plan that blends the key elements of the paleo diet with intermittent fasting.
What is Bone Broth?
You may have heard of the bone broth diet before, but you may not actually know what bone broth is! Bone broth is similar to stock in appearance and taste and is made by simmering animal bones and joints in water. Though alike to stock, bone broth is simmered for much longer, expelling as many nutrients as possible. Simmering bones (grass-fed bones are best) with connective tissue and joints, will help to release the collagen from the bones.
The Bone Broth Diet: A Blend of Paleo and Intermittent Fasting
The general basis of the bone broth diet follows 5 days of eating only selected paleo foods, followed by 2 days of fasting with only bone broth allowed. The Bone Broth Diet blends a low-carb, paleo diet with intermittent fasting. For the two-day fast that follows, only bone broth can be eaten. This may sound difficult at first, but the bone broth fast allows you to consume the broth liquid in large quantities. In fact, it is recommended that you drink bone broth an average of 6 times a day, split between 3 meals and two to three snacks a day. It is important to note that it is not necessary to do the bone broth fast for two days consecutively.
Paleo Diet
During non-fasting days, you will need to follow the paleo lifestyle. This includes prioritizing healthy fats, proteins, and fruits! We have outlined a list of essential foods that you can safely indulge in during the bone broth diet. These solid foods can be purchased at most health food stores.
Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting needs to be followed during the five days. Intermittent fasting (IF) is an eating pattern where you alternate between periods of eating and fasting.
Read also: Bone Broth Benefits with Miracle Noodle
Mini-Fast Days
During this time, the general goal is to load up on bone broth whilst minimizing calories. In order to successfully follow the diet during the bone broth fasting period, you will need to consume between 300 to 500 calories per day. Drinking bone broth on an empty stomach will help your body to further absorb key nutrients and can also help to improve your gut health.
The Science Behind Fasting
In general, fasting works on two main detox principles. In fasting studies, overweight and obese humans have shown to have significant weight loss benefits [5]. Two observational studies followed members of the LDS (Latter Day Saints) church who fast as a religious practice. Clinical trials provide evidence for how intermittent fasting (fasting for a daily time period) may help to prevent heart disease. Since bodyweight is so closely associated with insulin resistance and heart disease, researchers designed four pilot studies to determine if fasting produces health benefits independent of weight loss [9]. The most surprising finding was that the results appear to depend on the time of day. Participants who restricted their eating to the middle of the day saw significant health benefits. One fasting study also shows promise for patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) [12]. In this study, a group of IBS patients who did not respond to conventional IBS treatment followed a 10-day fast and five days of re-feeding. Fasting has also been shown to be good for brain health, improving cognition, slowing down age-related cognitive decline, and enhancing functional recovery after a stroke [13].
The Benefits of Bone Broth
There are many reasons and benefits behind doing the bone broth diet. The diet encourages your body to burn fat within just a few days of following the bone broth meal schedule!
Collagen
Grass-fed animal bone broth is filled with collagen - a vital protein required for keeping the skin looking plump and youthful. Collagen is a main building block of the human body and is found in skin, hair, ligaments, bones, and other body tissues. Collagen may benefit gut health, but the research is preliminary. It’s important to keep in mind that bone broth does not contain as much collagen as the dietary collagen supplements used in research [22].
Anti-Inflammatory
The bone broth diet focuses on inflammatory foods, calming your body by reducing the amount of added sugars in your diet. As a result, this diet can help to reduce insulin levels and regulate your blood sugar through the increase of protein and trace minerals content in each meal.
Read also: Benefits and Risks of Bone Broth Diet
Other Benefits
Bone broth is high in collagen, gelatin, and amino acids like glycine and proline. It also contains minerals, including calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc [14].
Gelatin is the jelly-like substance that forms in cooled bone broth. It is essentially cooked collagen. Gelatin absorbs water and may protect the mucous layer of the digestive tract and help repair leaky gut. Gelatin tannate, a combination of tannic acid and gelatin, has been shown to enhance the mucus barrier of the gut and restore the gut lining [23].
Glycine has anti-inflammatory properties, and it enhances the immune system and protects body tissues from injury [25]. As a nutrient, glycine has been used to prevent tissue injury, promote wound healing, improve immunity, and treat metabolic disorders and inflammatory diseases [26].
Glutamine is another amino acid in bone broth which may have gut-healing properties. Animal studies have shown that glutamine protects the gut lining from damage and injury. When you combine the benefits of fasting with the benefits of bone broth, the advantages add up. Drinking bone broth is easier and gentler than most other types of fasting.
Different Approaches to Bone Broth Fasting
At its most basic, bone broth fasting means that you drink bone broth instead of eating solid food. However, there are several different ways to approach a bone broth fast.
Read also: Bone Broth Fasting: A Detailed Look
Gut Reset
A gut reset is a fast that’s designed to give your gut a complete break from the work of digesting food. This can be very useful if you experience an inflammatory flare. During a 2-3 day bone broth fast, you can drink as much bone broth as you like, along with herbal tea and water. Coffee is not recommended, as it can irritate your gut.
Intermittent Fasting with Bone Broth
Intermittent fasting is the most-studied fasting method. Also known as time-restricted eating, intermittent fasting involves restricting your caloric intake to a specific period of time. How does bone broth fit into intermittent fasting? Technically, drinking bone broth means that you are consuming calories, so it does break that intermittent fasting rule. Bone broth is a great choice to help ease your transition into intermittent fasting. It’s also the best option for managing hunger or cravings during the fasting period.
The 21-Day Bone Broth Diet
The 21-day bone broth diet is a modified intermittent fasting diet that includes two days of bone broth fasting and five days of a low-carb, paleo diet plan. The diet was popularized by Dr. Kellyann Petrucci in her book, Dr. This 21-day Bone Broth Diet is intended to support weight loss and improve metabolic and cardiovascular health.
Alternate Day Fasting
Alternate day fasting involves one day of fasting and one day of healthy eating that’s unrestricted in calories. In this case, bone broth may be used to support a gentler approach to fasting days. The great thing about bone broth fasting is it cuts down on your food preparation time.
Tips for a Successful Bone Broth Fast
If you are new to fasting, don’t start with the most challenging fast. Try intermittent fasting with a 10- or 12-hour eating window. If you are fasting to lose weight, go easy with your fasting. Long periods of extreme fasting can increase stress hormones and lead to binge eating [34]. Some research also suggests that intermittent fasting can lead to lean muscle mass loss [35]. This is a factor that should be taken into account when considering using intermittent fasting as part of a digestive reset protocol. As you transition into fasting, you may find that you go through periods of feeling hungry.
Making Your Own Bone Broth
Homemade bone broth is easy to make. Starting by finding a source of high-quality bones. Free-range, organic poultry, and grass-fed beef are available at specialty grocery stores, butcher shops, and farmers’ markets. To increase the collagen and gelatin content of your bone broth, choose cuts with lots of cartilage and connective tissue. This includes whole chicken carcasses and beef knucklebones. This recipe is for chicken or beef bone broth. Place bones in a large pot or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Place bones in a pressure cooker. Add water until bones are completely covered. Set the pressure cooker to 120 minutes.
Convenience Options
For convenience, you can buy prepared bone broth on Amazon or in your local grocery store. Proper Good offers a range of bone broth-based liquids and soups to choose from at affordable prices. The packs are a cupboard and travel friendly, and can be cooked in under 2 minutes. Gourmend Foods is committed to crafting high-quality, certified low FODMAP ingredients and seasonings to make your cooking journey both easy and delightful.
Bone Broth Recipes
This warmingly delicious french onion soup is freezer friendly, so it's great if you prefer to prepare meals in advance! The soup uses a basis of organic beef bone broth and uses garlic and onion to flavor.
Chicken soup is a classic hearty meal that is as cozy as it is delicious. This recipe is sure to boost your immune system due to its nutritious qualities and anti-inflammatory properties. Using a base of organic chicken broth, you just need to add the vegetables, meat, and seasoning before leaving to cook for 4 to 5 hours.
If you are sick of drinking bone broth in liquid form, this quinoa salad bowl is the recipe for you! Change the Butternut Squash Soup for one of our bone broth pouches, the quinoa absorbs the bone broth making a beautifully textured topping for your salad.
Bone broth recipes are not just for lunch or dinner! These overnight oats use the subtle flavor of chicken bone broth to prevent a savory tasting dish, and just like the quinoa salad bowl, the broth is absorbed into the oats.
Potential Drawbacks
For those who are histamine intolerant, bone broth may not be such a good idea as it is a higher-histamine food.
Relying only on bone broth to lose weight isn’t a balanced approach. While bone broth is low in calories and rich in nutrients that support digestion, it doesn’t provide all the essential macronutrients your body needs. Losing 10 pounds in 3 days on a liquid diet is possible but usually involves mostly water weight rather than fat loss. Such rapid weight loss is typically not sustainable or healthy long-term.
Bone broth is generally safe and nourishing but can be high in sodium if not chosen carefully, which might be a concern for some. Also, it’s important to ensure the broth is made from quality ingredients without additives or preservatives.