How Much Bone Broth Should I Drink Daily?
Drinking bone broth can lead to a number of health benefits, including weight loss, reduced inflammation and joint pain, muscle growth, and enhanced mental clarity. If you've heard the reported benefits of bone broth, you may be thinking, "c Many people drink anywhere from 1-6 cups of bone broth each day to support their physical, mental, and emotional health.
Below, you'll learn how bone broth can help heal your gut lining, thereby leading to a number of other potential health benefits. You'll also learn how much bone broth you should drink daily according to your health goals.
Why Is Bone Broth Good for You?
Bone broth helps heal your gut lining because it contains collagen, the most abundant protein in the body. Bone broth is made from soaking animal bones, herbs, and vegetables in water for an extended period — typically 24 hours or more. This process helps extract beneficial nutrients (like collagen) from the bones, giving bone broth its reputation as a superfood.
Many people refer to collagen as the "glue" that holds your body together. It's found in all the connective tissues within your body, including ligaments, skin, nails, bones, and cartilage. You are born with an abundance of collagen. However, as you age, you lose your body's natural collagen supply.
This causes the deterioration of cartilage (leading to joint pain), skin elasticity (causing loose skin), and tough, brittle hair and nails. Your skin alone can lose as much as 68% of its original collagen as you age (1). However, by drinking bone broth, you can get more collagen back in your diet and possibly reduce the visible signs of aging.
How Does Bone Broth Work?
Bone broth helps to promote longevity and strengthen joints and bones. It can also tighten your skin by improving your gut health. Each of the health benefits associated with drinking bone broth comes as a byproduct of healing your gut lining. Toxins, chronic inflammation, stress, pollution, alcohol, sugar, and poor diet can damage your gut lining, potentially leading to leaky gut syndrome.
These small tears in your intestines allow toxins, food particles, and microbes to "leak" through the walls of your digestive tract and into your bloodstream. As such, you could end up with an autoimmune disease or a number of other health conditions (2).
Leaky gut syndrome can be at the root of a host of other health issues, including IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), a weakened immune system, low energy levels, food allergies and intolerances, hormonal imbalances, and several mental health conditions including anxiety, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), and brain fog (3).
How Much Bone Broth Should I Drink Daily?
The amount of bone broth you drink daily will depend on a number of factors, namely your health goals. Before making any dietary changes, you should always check with your physician to determine a path that’s right for you. For the average person looking to sustain overall health and well-being, two cups (or even a single cup of bone broth) daily is sufficient.
You can drink bone broth straight from the mug as a replacement for your morning coffee, use it in soups and stews, or blend it into your post-workout smoothie. If you’re following a bone broth diet or looking to heal leaky gut or IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), consuming collagen — like the collagen found in bone broth — can help heal your gut lining (4).
You may want to consider drinking anywhere from 1-4 cups per day to help improve your overall gut health. It's important to note that it's not just about drinking bone broth — it's about the type of bone broth you drink. (And no, we're not comparing beef bone broth to chicken bone broth, as one is not better than the other.)
To reduce the risk of contaminants or unwanted ingredients, consume organic, grass-fed bone broth. This broth is made by combining veggies from organic sources and bones from grass-fed animals.
How Much Bone Broth Should I Drink Daily for Different Diets?
For the average person, drinking a cup of bone broth daily can improve their health. However, if you're following a specific diet or have an ailment, you may need to adjust your consumption. Of course, discuss specifics with your doctor first before following these general guidelines.- If you're following the keto diet: Bone broth doesn't contain any carbs, so you can drink multiple cups of bone broth per day without getting kicked out of ketosis. You may want to consume 1-3 cups daily.
- If you're following the paleo diet: Paleo dieters praise bone broth for healing leaky gut caused by the consumption of grains, legumes, and other inflammatory foods. You can consume bone broth liberally, ranging anywhere from 1-3 cups per day.
- If you're intermittent fasting: If you're experimenting with intermittent fasting or trying a bone broth fast, you may want to consume more bone broth than the average person. Bone broth can provide beneficial amino acids and nutrients, even while fasting. Many people who fast drink between 4-6 cups daily.
- If you're trying to heal a chronic health condition: If you're trying to heal leaky gut or other chronic health condition, you may consider drinking six cups of bone broth per day.
Where Can I Get Bone Broth?
You can make bone broth at home using your slow cooker, stovetop, or pressure cooker, such as an Instant-Pot. Even if you've never made your own bone broth, rest easy — it's a very simple process. To make broth, you'll need to collect 2-3 pounds of organic bones, such as chicken bones (chicken feet work incredibly well) or even the carcass left over from a whole rotisserie chicken. You can also make beef bone broth from organic beef marrow bones.
Place the bones at the bottom of a slow cooker, along with a collection of fresh herbs, savory veggies, and salt. Simmering your bones with whole foods like onions, leeks, garlic, bay leaves, or rosemary will make your broth more flavorful. Next, pour enough water to completely cover the bones and vegetables.
Cover your slow cooker and simmer on low for 12-24 hours. Before serving, you'll need to strain your broth, separating the bones and veggies from the hot water. If preparing homemade bone broth seems too tedious, you can always buy pre-made bone broth. Happy Mammoth prepares organic, grass-fed beef broth, and conveniently delivers it to your front door.
This broth combines grass-fed beef marrow bones with an anti-inflammatory blend of herbs and spices, including turmeric, ginger, garlic, and peppercorns to help heal your gut lining. Plus, Happy Mammoth packages 3-5 servings of bone broth in each BPA-free pack. Depending on how much bone broth you want to drink daily, one package could last you up to five days.
Drink a Cup of Bone Broth Daily for a Number of Health Benefits
Bone broth is one of the healthiest foods you can consume. It’s made by soaking bones in water for an extended period, which helps extract health-boosting collagen. Drinking a cup of bone broth daily can help strengthen and repair your gut lining, potentially healing leaky gut syndrome.
Drinking bone broth can also alleviate joint pain, inflammation, autoimmune conditions, seasonal and food allergies, and even brittle hair and nails. For most people, drinking 1-2 cups of bone broth daily is enough. However, if you're following a bone broth diet or treating a chronic health condition, you may want to drink up to six cups of bone broth per day.
As always, speak to your healthcare provider about your unique needs and health goals before changing your diet. You can either make your own bone broth or buy grass-fed, organic broth from a trusted source like Happy Mammoth. You may even want to try a subscription to get this nutritious broth regularly delivered to your home.