Why is everyone talking about bone broth? An expert weighs in

“My concern around bone broth is the concept that this one food can fix all things.”

Gwyneth Paltrow has had some pretty controversial health takes over the years, from bee venom therapy to vaginal steaming. More recently, she shared the details of her paleo diet with Dr Will Cole, host of The Art of Being Well podcast, and revealed that she drinks bone broth “for lunch a lot of the days”.

When I first heard about bone broth, I didn’t really know much about it outside of it being something my mum has probably been prescribed by her Chinese medicine doctor. 

Kickstart your wellness journey over at our Health section.

Bone broth is essentially a soup that’s made of animal bones and connective tissues that have been simmered down in water. It’s known to be rich in various vitamins, as well as collagen.

I was a little sceptical about whether a broth is nutritious enough to replace a meal, so I spoke to Julie Forrester, a naturopath who holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences and is doing her Master’s in Advanced Naturopathic Medicine, to answer some of my burning questions.

Hi Julie! Would you encourage your clients to incorporate bone broth into their diets?

When it comes to diet, the main aim is to have a broad range of foods and [to be] switching it up all of the time. I wouldn’t prescribe one thing long-term so much as incorporate it in a… diet plan. 

Occasionally, [I would suggest it] if it was something that particularly resonated with a patient, and they had a requirement for it. For example gut healing, [a need for] collagen, joint difficulties, tendon or ligament issues or stability issues. It’s quite good as a nutritive for people who are convalescing and can’t really digest solid foods or proteins particularly well.

If you start regularly consuming bone broth, how soon can you expect to see the benefits?

I would expect it to be over time, but it does depend on what the issue is. For example, if they’re convalescing, it might take one to two months. [Mostly] it’s something that is incorporated from time to time.

What do you recommend people pair bone broth with for a balanced meal?

It depends on the person, [because with] naturopathy we are treating holistically with all of their… symptoms… and intolerances [in mind]. I would suggest pairing it with vegetable stew, or steamed vegetables to get a broad range. Then maybe some whole grains. [Ultimately] it depends on the person and what their underlying constitution is, what conditions they have or don’t have… you really can’t say that one thing is good for everybody no matter what it is.

Do you have any concerns about bone broth?

My concern around bone broth is the concept that this one food can fix all things, and that’s really not the case. It does also very much depend on the quality of the bone broth. I would highly recommend if you were going to [make it yourself] that you ensure you’re using grass-fed, organic bones to do that because when you think about it, it’s a very concentrated food.

It takes a number of cows [to make bone broth], and if all of those cows are subsisting on foods that have pesticides or if they’ve got growth promoters which are actually antibiotics, those sorts of things can get really concentrated. Making sure your bone broth is always organic and grass-fed is really important.

Do you have any suggestions for vegetarian alternatives?

In terms of collagen, there are some marine collagen options… [but] they don’t show the same kinds of results as the hydrolysed bovine collagen. If you eat a broad-based diet, you can get all of the amino acids you need, it’s just a matter of incorporating things like legumes and rice within the same day… so you get the full range of amino acids. 

You might supplement with something like miso, which has that umami flavour and lots of nutritive qualities. It doesn’t have the same properties as bone broth, [but it has] a lot of good things in it.

Do you have any brand recommendations for quality bone broth?

Best of the Bone, Cherry Tree or Nutra Organics.

You can find out more about bone broth here.