Bone Broth & Bone Health

Can bone broth help prevent osteoporosis?

Photo by Nino Liverani on Unsplash

Roughly 54 million Americans have either osteoporosis or low bone mass by the time they turn 50 years old. Out of these millions of people, 80% are female - making this disease a fundamental issue in women’s health. Factors such as cancer, gastrointestinal diseases, and simply aging (yes, we mean the ‘M’ word here) can all make bones become more brittle. The good news is that you are never too young or old to start taking care of your bones! Maintaining a healthy diet and eating plenty of foods - like bone broth - containing gelatin, vitamins, and minerals is the #1 way to prevent osteoporosis. And for all of our athletes out there - even help speed up the healing process of a bone fracture.

How exactly can bone broth help my bones?

Consider this: 65% of the mineral mass in bones are calcium and phosphorus. When you gently simmer bones for over 24 hours like BRU does, you naturally extract these minerals from the bones to the liquid form of bone broth.  Not only is bone broth rich in calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin D, potassium, zinc, manganese, copper, boron, iron, vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin C, and B vitamins, but it is a highly concentrated form of gelatin.

Gelatin contains collagen, which is one of the materials that make up cartilage and bone. Many doctors prescribe collagen supplements for arthritis, joint pain, and osteoporosis because of the benefits gelatin can provide for inflammation and associated pain. In one research study, people taking gelatin (around two grams daily) experienced less inflammation, reduced pain in the joints or muscles, better recovery, and even improved athletic abilities compared to those taking a placebo. In this scenario, bone broth is nature’s drinkable bone-strengthening supplement.

So why not just take a supplement?

Taking a supplement is a viable option to ensure you receive necessary vitamins and minerals, especially if it has been advised by a doctor. But it is important to recognize that your body is like a machine, and it has been expertly designed to extract minerals and vitamins from natural sources of food. Like bone broth, whole foods are complex forms of nutrition containing a mixture of micro and macro nutrients to help your body stay healthy.

And who can say they prefer to swallow a supplement over eating a delicious meal? Bone broth doesn’t have to be just boring bone broth. Adding fresh-pressed vegetable juices and spices to create new flavors, or making a brothy soup, or even inventing new smoothies all offer exciting ways to drink bone broth. We even recommend adding a Tablespoon of coconut oil to your BRU beverage so that you are more satisfied and nourished. Call us crazy, but we will take sipping on a steamy and gut-cleansing mug of bone broth over taking a pill any day.

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Wait. Is coconut oil/fat good for my bones?

Sort of. Gone are the days of fat being bad (thank God.) Adding a tablespoon of saturated fat, like grass-fed butter or coconut oil to your bone broth beverage can help your body absorb antioxidants and minerals more efficiently. Take vitamins A, D, E, and K. Consuming these vitamins without enough fat “is like putting gas in the car but not having anyone in the driver's seat.”

A healthy amount of fat can increase energy, fight off dangerous levels of LDL (a.k.a- bad cholesterol), and of course, make your food taste better. Adding grass-fed butter to your meals is a staple in the Paleo diet, and has become ever so popular with Bulletproof. Not only can you customize your bone broth beverage and get a luscious texture from this addition, but your body has a higher chance of acquiring the benefits from of all those whole foods you worked so hard to prepare and eat. A win, win for your taste buds and bones!

Bring awareness!

Although May is officially National Osteoporosis Awareness Month, every month is the perfect month to increase bone health. So, whether you are a casual drinker or a daily consumer, BRU encourages you to ‘bone up’  against osteoporosis with a cup of liquid nourishment.

Rebuild from inside.

-The BRU CRU