Bone broth: homemade preparation, evidence and smart use

Bone broth is a homemade, minimally processed culinary preparation made by slowly simmering bones, cartilage, connective tissue, water, herbs and a little salt.

Main points:

• Delivers natural flavor, gelatin, amino acids and collagen-derived compounds.
• Helps replace ready-made stocks, industrial seasonings, instant soups and ultra-processed culinary bases.
• Reduces reliance on products high in sodium, flavor enhancers, additives and preservatives.
• Works as a base for soups, vegetables, rice, risottos, light sauces and homemade meals.
• Fits into the protocol as a practical routine tool, not as a stand-alone promise.

Where bone broth fits into care

The smartest place for bone broth is in everyday cooking: a simple base that turns homemade food into something more flavorful, nutritious and easy to sustain.

In a clinical-educational context, it can act as a supporting element in strategies for:

• Gut: by favoring light, warm, strained preparations with a lower load of ultra-processed foods.
• Joints and skin: by offering gelatin and collagen-related amino acids, within a diet with adequate protein.
• Weight loss: by replacing industrial bases and supporting more satiating, organized meals.
• Inflammation: by helping reduce ultra-processed foods, excess sodium and additives in the routine.
• Gut barrier and “leaky gut”: by favoring a dietary pattern that engages better with the microbiota, biological barriers and the gut-brain axis.

That’s the safe message: homemade bone broth is best used as a simple food tool to reduce ultra-processed foods, improve homemade preparations, increase collagen-derived compounds, and offer a light, flavorful culinary base with a lower sodium load when prepared without excess salt.

Types of bones and recommended formulation

The choice of bones changes texture, flavor and final composition.

• Joint bones, knee, oxtail, chicken feet and cartilage-rich carcass: good choices when the goal is gelatin formation, since they concentrate more connective tissue and collagen.
• Marrow bones: contribute flavor, fat and palatability.
• Beef short ribs: add flavor and body, and work best combined with joint bones.

The final broth’s mineral content depends on time, acidity, type of bone, animal species, water-to-bone ratio and preparation method. Because of this, broth is a good culinary base, but shouldn’t be marketed as a major, predictable source of calcium or magnesium.

For the best texture and gelatinization, combine:

• 50% joint or cartilaginous bones
• 25% marrow bones
• 25% carcass, ribs, neck, wing or chicken feet

Safe homemade recipe

Ingredients

• 1.0 to 1.5 kg of assorted bones
• Enough water to cover the bones
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
• 1 carrot, optional
• 1 celery stalk, optional
• The green part of a leek or scallion, optional
• Bay leaf, thyme, rosemary or parsley, optional
• Salt only at the end, in a small amount

If you want to intensify the flavor, roast the bones for 30 to 45 minutes at 200 to 205 degrees C before cooking. This step is optional. For patients with gastritis or reflux, the lighter version tends to work better: lightly roasted, strained, and with the visible fat removed after chilling.

How to make it

1. Place the bones in a large pot.

2. Cover with cold water.

3. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.

4. Let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes before heating.

5. Heat until it reaches a light simmer.

6. Reduce to very low heat.

7. Skim off the initial foam from the surface during the first 20 to 30 minutes.

8. Cook slowly: 6 to 12 hours for chicken broth and 8 to 24 hours for beef broth.

9. Strain.

10. Cool quickly in shallow containers.

11. Refrigerate.

12. Once chilled, remove the excess solidified fat from the surface, especially for patients with reflux or sensitive digestion.

13. Use in small portions as a base for soups, vegetables, rice, risottos, light sauces and homemade preparations.

Food safety

The broth should be refrigerated within 2 hours of preparation. To cool it safely, divide it into shallow containers. Keep it in the fridge for 3 to 4 days or freeze it in small portions.

Reheat only the portion that will be consumed.

How to use it in the protocol

Practical use:

• 1 small cup a day, if well tolerated
• or 1/2 cup as a base for soup or vegetables
• start with a small amount for patients with a sensitive gut
• prefer a strained version, without visible fat and with little salt

Broth works best when it becomes the base of a meal: soup with vegetables and protein, rice cooked with homemade broth, a simple risotto, a light sauce, cooked vegetables, or a small mug on days with lower appetite.

Who can benefit and who should be cautious

What the Bone Broth Diet study showed

The 2025 study evaluated adults aged 35 to 65 with obesity, BMI 30.0 to 39.9 kg/m2, metabolically free of serious disease for the protocol. The intervention lasted 56 days and combined two 21-day phases of the Bone Broth Diet, each followed by 7 days of maintenance.

The study design matters:

• Open-label clinical trial
• Single arm
• No control group
• Combined intervention
• Bone broth used alongside 5:2 intermittent fasting, a low-carbohydrate diet, higher protein content, portion control and walking

On eating days, participants had three meals with protein, fruit, vegetables and healthy fats, plus two servings of bone broth as a snack.

On fasting days, they consumed bone broth roughly every 2 hours, totaling seven servings a day. If needed, a small protein snack was allowed.

During maintenance, they used an 80:20 rule: 80% of meals with foods encouraged by the protocol and 20% with foods outside the list.

The prescribed exercise was light physical activity, such as walking, for 20 to 30 minutes a day. In the first week of each phase, exercise wasn’t mandatory, to allow for adaptation.

Main results:

• An average loss of 4.8 kg in the first phase
• An additional average loss of 2.6 kg in the second phase
• A total average loss of 7.7 kg by the end of 56 days
• A reduction in waist circumference
• A reduction in fasting glucose
• A reduction in body fat
• A percentage increase in muscle mass
• Less hunger and less craving for foods outside the protocol
• Sustained satisfaction after meals
• Improvement in quality-of-life domains

The critical reading is simple: the result was favorable, but it belongs to the combined program, not to the broth alone. For the patient, the practical message is stronger this way: bone broth can help when it’s part of a structured routine, with planned meals, enough protein, less ultra-processed food, and daily movement.

Conclusion

Homemade bone broth is a simple, flavorful food tool consistent with InovaSaude’s philosophy: stepping away from ready-made products and back into the kitchen that’s actually possible.

Its best clinical-educational use is replacing ultra-processed bases, reducing excess sodium, improving homemade preparations, increasing collagen-derived compounds, and offering a light base for more organized meals.

It doesn’t need to be treated as a cure to be valuable. When prepared with good technique, little salt, and attention to individual tolerance, broth helps build a dietary routine that’s more homemade, gentler on the gut, and easier to maintain.