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Bone broth

Also known as Beef stock, Long-simmered stock, Broth

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Animal bones and connective tissue simmered for many hours, which hydrolyses collagen into gelatin and gives the cooled liquid its set. Composition varies enormously with bones, ratio and simmer time, so it is one of the least standardised foods in any database.

Gut & Digestive HealthJoint HealthSkin Health

Potential health benefits

Best supported: Insufficient

Ordered by how well the human research supports them — strongest first. A rating describes the state of the evidence, not how impressive the food is. How we rate evidence.

Digestive comfort

Gut & Digestive Health
Insufficient evidence

Evidence is limited for bone broth affecting gut symptoms or gut barrier function. Claims about repairing the gut lining rest on laboratory work with isolated amino acids such as glutamine, not on human trials of broth.

Insufficient evidence. Not enough human research to say anything useful yet.

4 sources

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Joint comfort

Joint Health
Insufficient evidence

Evidence is limited for bone broth improving joint comfort. Trials of standardised collagen peptide supplements exist, but they use defined doses of hydrolysed collagen, and no controlled trial has tested bone broth as a food for joint outcomes.

What may be going on: Collagen is digested to amino acids and small peptides rather than delivered intact to cartilage, and the broth version is neither dose-standardised nor comparable to the tested supplements.

Insufficient evidence. Not enough human research to say anything useful yet.

4 sources

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Skin structure and hydration

Skin Health
Insufficient evidence

Evidence is limited for bone broth affecting skin. The popular claim borrows from collagen peptide supplement trials, which use a measured daily dose of a specific hydrolysate; bone broth itself has not been tested for skin endpoints.

Insufficient evidence. Not enough human research to say anything useful yet.

2 sources

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Ask about Bone broth

Ask about Bone broth

Answers are written only from the entries on this page — the same nutrients, compounds, claims and citations you can read above. Nothing is added from outside the database, and every answer lists what it was built from.

AI explanations are not switched on for this site, so there is nothing to ask here. Everything above is read straight from the database and does not need them.

Key nutrients

Nutrient content per 100 grams
NutrientAmount% DV
Macronutrients
Calories13 kcal1%
Protein1.97 g4%
Total fat0.09 g0%
Carbohydrate1.2 g0%
Fibre0 g0%
Total sugars0.54 g—
Water95.9 g—
Fats
Saturated fat0.035 g0%
Monounsaturated fat0.043 g—
Polyunsaturated fat0.0050 g—
Cholesterol0 mg0%
EPA (omega-3)0 g—
DHA (omega-3)0 g—
DPA (omega-3)0 g—
Linoleic acid (omega-6)0.0040 g—
Vitamins
Vitamin A0 µg0%
Vitamin C0 mg0%
Vitamin D0 µg0%
Vitamin E0.01 mg0%
Vitamin K0.1 µg0%
Thiamin (B1)0.033 mg3%
Riboflavin (B2)0.091 mg7%
Niacin (B3)0.872 mg5%
Vitamin B60.055 mg3%
Folate2 µg1%
Vitamin B120 µg0%
Choline4.8 mg1%
Minerals
Calcium8 mg1%
Iron0.27 mg2%
Magnesium7 mg2%
Phosphorus31 mg2%
Potassium185 mg4%
Sodium198 mg9%
Zinc0.17 mg2%
Copper0.05 mg6%
Selenium1.2 µg2%
Other measured compounds
Beta-carotene0 µg—
Alpha-carotene0 µg—
Lycopene0 µg—
Lutein + zeaxanthin1 µg—
Caffeine0 mg—
Ash0.7 g—

Nutrient values are per 100 g of the USDA reference entry named on this page and vary with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.

Source record: Soup, stock, beef, home-prepared (USDA FoodData Central, FDC ID 172883).

% DV uses the FDA Daily Values for adults and children aged 4 and over. A dash means no Daily Value has been established for that nutrient.

How preparation changes things

Only effects with real support are listed. If a preparation method is missing, it is because nothing dependable is documented — not because it makes no difference.

  • boiledIncreases gelatin

    Extended simmering hydrolyses collagen from bone and connective tissue into gelatin, which is what makes a good broth set when chilled. Longer simmering extracts more, up to a point.

Things to know

Allergies, interactions and intake concerns. Every food gets this section — a reference where everything is uniformly good is not a reference.

  • Too much

    Sodium in commercial broth

    Shop-bought broths and stock concentrates are frequently high in sodium, and a single mug can supply a substantial share of a day. Home-made unsalted broth is a different product from a bouillon cube.

  • Worth knowing

    Lead and heavy metals

    Bone is where lead accumulates in an animal, and small studies have measured detectable lead in bone broths. Reported levels are generally low, but the finding argues against treating broth as a daily staple in large volumes.

  • Worth knowing

    Highly variable composition

    Protein, gelatin and mineral content differ several-fold between recipes, so any USDA figure attached here is a rough stand-in rather than a description of a specific batch.

  • Worth knowing

    Histamine in long-simmered stocks

    Long cooking and slow cooling favour histamine formation, which some people with histamine intolerance report reacting to. The clinical evidence base for histamine intolerance itself is thin.