Last week I was flipping through gram and there it was….a blogger (not a dietitian, not a physician, not a nurse, not a nurse practitioner, nor a physician’s assistant) posted a picture of herself sipping a cup of hot bone broth. This lifestyle blogger told her following of 32,500 that bone broth was going to prevent you from getting a cold and or flu this winter. 106 likes and 6 comments. It took great restraint NOT to comment. Y’all, she has been so misinformed.
So here is the 411 on bone broth. Let’s back up for a hot sec. Broth is made from vegetables, meat and bones (sometimes roasted before), water, herbs, spices (salt, pepper, etc) and is simmered on low heat for 1-2 hours. The solids are removed and the liquid is strained and all that remains is the broth. Stock is water simmered with vegetables and bones and is cooked for 4-6 hours. Bone broth is roasted bones (with sometimes meat and vegetables) cooked for 24 hours then strained and seasoned. Nutrient breakdown varies from homemade and packaged broths.
There are many benefits to bone broths. It can warm you up when you are cold. It can help you replace your sodium loss if you were exercising in the cold. (Check out the next cold weather NFL game…you will see some players sipping broth!) But, after warming you up and replacing any sodium that was lost, that is about all of the health benefits. There are no peer reviewed, respected studies to date that bone broth provides any significant health benefits.
So sorry, sweet Paleo devotees. Bone broth is just another trend.
Follow science, not trends.
Cheers,
Caroline