Bone broth is hugely popular in southeast Asia, where millions of people drink it daily. When I started doing the same, it helped me lose 4 stone in weight. My skin began to glow, my hair grew longer and glossier than it had been in years, and the digestive niggles Id struggled with for ages gradually disappeared.
Bone Broth Is So Good For Your Health
Bone broth is a daily drink I’d never now be without. Rich in collagen, it helps keep hunger at bay while providing the building blocks needed for healthy skin, joints, bones, gut and other internal organs. I add a shot of extra virgin olive oil and the combination has helped transform my health – and my life.
When, at the age of 60, I found myself 4 stone overweight, I knew something had to change. I began researching countries where people seem to be much healthier than us. Japan’s obesity rates are around five times lower than in the UK, which made me curious about the dietary patterns that might help explain the difference.
I discovered that bone broths have been part of the traditional Japanese diet for centuries, forming the base of everyday meals from miso soups to slow-simmered stews and noodle dishes. And it’s this rich source of protein, minerals, vitamins and polyphenols that helps keep appetites low and weight down as well as stimulating tissue repair throughout the body.
When chicken and beef bones are simmered for prolonged periods of time, together with herbs and vegetables, nutrients seep out to form a nourishing, tasty broth that’s both fragrant and deeply savoury.
Bone broth is a rich source of collagen and provides minerals such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and iron, plus vitamins – folic acid, A and K – together with powerful antioxidants called polyphenols. These polyphenols may help suppress inflammation and oxidative stress, with some acting through pathways similar to those targeted by anti-inflammatory drugs.
The prolonged cooking does something special to the collagen molecules present – it hydrolyses them, breaking them down into smaller peptide fragments and amino acids which are easily absorbed.
This easily digested protein has a satiating effect, helping to curb your appetite so you feel fuller for longer. The protein also stimulates your metabolism so you burn more energy than when eating carbohydrate, making it the perfect food for supporting a healthy weight loss diet.
Research shows that bone broth helps to reduce joint pain, strengthen bones, improve gut health and improve signs of skin ageing.
Because making bone broth properly takes several days of time and effort, I’ve helped create an easy-to use version in the form of a powder – Aeon’s Nature’s Gift Bone Broth.
Just pour a sachet into a mug and add boiling water to obtain all the benefits.
Bone Broth Stimulates Collagen Production
Bone broth is a concentrated source of collagen – your body’s main structural protein. Collagen acts like a glue, holding just about everything in your body together, from tendons, ligaments and cartilage, to bones, blood vessels and skin. It also helps support the integrity of the gut lining.
The main amino acids in collagen are glycine, proline, hydroxyproline, and hydroxylysine — and the last two are rarely found in other human proteins. When these amino acids and collagen-derived peptides enter your circulation, they provide the building blocks for collagen production, and some studies suggest their presence may act as a signal of increased collagen turnover, helping stimulate new collagen synthesis.
Bone Broth Supports Weight Loss
All proteins are made from building blocks known as amino acids. Your body can break down and use 20 different types of amino acid from food, each requiring its own metabolic pathway for processing. Compared with carbohydrates and fats, burning protein for fuel is relatively inefficient, generating significant amounts of heat in the process – a phenomenon known as diet-induced thermogenesis.
In fact, around 20% to 30% of the calories obtained from eating protein are lost as heat during digestion, compared with around 5% to 10% for carbohydrates, and less than 3% for fats. This thermogenic effect gives protein a metabolic advantage when it comes to supporting weight loss.
Protein also influences the release of intestinal hormones linked with satiety, helping you feel fuller more quickly, so you tend to eat less overall. At the same time, protein-rich foods help to stabilise blood glucose levels and generally produce a lower insulin response than refined carbohydrates. This is important, because insulin is the body’s main fat-storing hormone.
All these effects mean that bone broth, which is naturally rich in protein makes a satisfying, nutrient-dense addition to meals or snacks when trying to manage weight.
I drink mine every morning with an added shot of extra virgin olive oil.
Bone Broth Helps Plump Up Your Skin
The collagen in bone broth helps to build plump, well-hydrated, elastic and youthful-looking skin. This is particularly helpful before and after the menopause, when levels of oestrogen hormone fall. Normally, oestrogen stimulates the natural production of collagen, and as levels of the hormone fall, so does the amount of collagen in your skin – by as much as 30% in the first five years after menopause. The collagen that’s already present also becomes increasingly matted and tangled. As a result, your skin loses its resilience, elasticity and hydration.
Women over 65 can therefore have up to 75% more wrinkles than men of the same age.
Increasing your intake of collagen – for example by drinking bone broth – helps to reduce this effect. When a group of women with visible signs of skin ageing took a collagen source for 12 weeks, their wrinkle score improved by 35% compared with those taking a placebo. The elasticity of their cheeks also increased by 20% with visible improvements in hydration, radiance and skin firmness.
Bone Broth Helps Soothe Your Joints
Collagen forms an important part of the cartilage protecting the ends of your bones in mobile joints such as your hips and knees. When this cartilage starts to wear and break down, inflammation sets in, leading to the degeneration associated with joint pain and stiffness in osteoarthritis. Taking a collagen sources such as bone broth helps to stimulate the repair of old cartilage and the production of new cartilage.
In a randomised double-blind trial involving 250 people with knee osteoarthritis, those taking 10 g hydrolysed collagen daily for six months experienced significant improvements in joint pain and comfort compared with placebo.
Bone Broth Helps Build Your Bones
Collagen forms the main structure of your bones, providing the scaffolding on which minerals such as calcium, phosphorus and magnesium are laid down. That’s why loss of oestrogen at the menopause, which reduces collagen production in your bones, is one of the key factors leading to reduced bone mineral density and osteoporosis. Most people focus on calcium – but without collagen, dietary calcium has nowhere to go. Adequate collagen may help provide the structural framework needed for bone mineralisation.
In a study of 131 postmenopausal women who took 5 grams of collagen peptides daily for 12 months, bone mineral density in their spine and hip increased significantly. In those taking a placebo, however, bone mineral density continued to fall. Blood tests also showed changes consistent with increased bone formation and reduced bone breakdown.
Bone Broth Can Soothe Your Gut
Collagen is an important part of the digestive tract lining, helping to support the intestinal barrier that keeps unwanted substances from passing into the bloodstream When this barrier becomes impaired – sometimes called ‘leaky gut’ – it may contribute to bloating, stomach cramps, food sensitivities and symptoms that overlap with irritable bowel syndrome.
Collagen provides amino acids such as glycine, glutamine and proline that help support the intestinal lining and a healthy gut barrier. Emerging evidence also suggests these amino acids may help to promote a healthier balance of digestive bacteria (the gut microbiome). Research is also beginning to show that dietary collagen may help improve the integrity of the intestinal barrier and reduce inflammation in the gut wall.
A recent study found that taking 20g collagen daily for six weeks improved digestive symptoms in otherwise healthy women, with 93% reporting a reduction in symptoms such as bloating. More research is needed to confirm these findings.
Bone Broth Helps Maintain Your Muscle Mass
Like your bones, your muscles gradually lose mass with age. After the age of 40 your muscles can decline by as much as 8% per decade, so that by the age of 70 you may have lost around a quarter of the muscle you had in your younger years. Known as sarcopenia, this age-related muscle loss contributes to weakness, poor balance and an increased risk of falls.
The good news is that muscle can be rebuilt through resistance exercise such as weight training, and emerging evidence suggests that this effect may be enhanced by increasing dietary collagen intake.
In one study, 53 older men with sarcopenia (average age 72 years) followed a supervised resistance-training programme three times a week for 12 weeks. Those who also took 15 grams of collagen peptides daily experienced significantly greater gains in muscle mass, quadriceps strength and bone mass than those taking a placebo. They also lost more body fat over the course of the study.
Good Intakes of Vitamin C Are Key
Vitamin C is essential for collagen production. It helps convert the amino acid proline into hydroxyproline – a key step that allows collagen strands to twist around each other forming strong triple-helix chains. Without adequate vitamin C, collagen formation becomes impaired, which is why a good intake is important for supporting the collagen-building effects of bone broth.
Traditional cuisines often combine collagen-rich broths with foods naturally rich in vitamin C. In Vietnam, for example, bone broth soups are commonly served with generous squeezes of lime juice and fresh herbs. In Japan and Korea, broths may be accompanied by fermented vegetables, seaweed, chillies or pickled foods that add both flavour and supportive nutrients. Together, these combinations create meals that are not only nourishing but also help support the body’s natural collagen synthesis.
Because making traditional bone broth properly can take days, I helped create a convenient powdered version: Aeon’s Nature’s Gift Bone Broth.
Each serving provides over 11 g collagen protein in just 51 calories, together with added vitamin C sources, magnesium and biotin to support collagen formation, skin, hair, nails and muscle function. Simply add hot water to make a nourishing savoury drink.
For more information about Aeon’s Nature’s Gift Bone Broth, visit www.aeons.co.uk
