I think that the fad started around five years ago. My hairdresser was doing a bone broth diet back then.

I too consider it a fad. While you can make broth without using any bones I at least use meat, beef and chicken, with bones to make many soup stocks. Commercial manufacturers may crack or cut the bones for access to the marrow bones are hard and very difficult to disolve. Without disolving any nutrients are only from the surface of the bones.

For those on a low fat diet it may help the absorption of other vitamins and minerals in the diet. It is also fairly high in sodium if you watch that.

That's the sort of question that is better asked in hind site.

Copper bracelets=ward of arthritis

Glucosamine for joints

Apple Cider Vinegar

Cinnamon for diabetes

Turmeric for inflammation

Yoga

CBD oil for pain

Crystals

Mindfulness meditating

Chromotherapy

Detoxes

Juicing

And those are only the most 'common'.

Here's the secret: People really really want an easy way out vs balanced diet; moderate exercise; a faith that follows God. It's fascinating.

"Here's the secret: People really really want an easy way out vs balanced diet; moderate exercise; a faith that follows God. It's fascinating."

A balanced diet is challenging to achieve when you don't have the resources to purchase items or education to read product labels, understanding the RDA and so forth. Few of us are fully proficient at that.

What is moderate exercise? Is it flexiblity, strength, and or aerobic? All of it and yet that is for each individual. Each person's level of moderate exercise is unique.

And a faith that follows God. Sigh. It's evident that people's extremism regarding their interpretation of God is less than healthy. There are a lot of fat, faithful people trundling into their churches on Sunday. Perhaps they're not faithful enough? Although Leslie Sansone, of walking exercise fame, started at her church. She's not too annoying about it.

CBD, in a variety of forms, is extensively researched for its potential and has been successful in anti-seizure applications. It cannot be written off as a fad. Signed a veteran whose husband uses CBD for PTSD. Should my husband just pray to God, over his balanced meal, that his PTSD go away?

Your eschewing meditating and mindfulness? It's the foundation of praying.

And yoga is an ancient practice of mindfulness and meditative. But because it's not rooted in God it's a fad?

I add collagen peptide powder to my oatmeal so I get a dose of protein in the a.m.

https://www.webmd.com/diet/collagen-health-benefits

I think "bone broth" is a health fad, but a fad that has a basis in reality! Two cautions: look at the sodium content of any store-bought broth, stock, or soup. Second, realize that if you bake a chicken or turkey and keep the bones in the freezer until you have enough to fill a stock pot, you can make your own, controlling the salt and other flavorings to your own taste. The more your stock "turns to jelly" in the refrigerator, the more collagen you've gotten from the bones. Tasty and healthy.

Here in Colorado....people are moving away from eating cows. Beef is suddenly cheap. I've seen avacados for $5each! Yoga studios and Pilates is going strong....I think exercise is here to stay. :0)

Yes....I think bone broth is a fad. People are buying environmentally friendly substitutes. ie: Vegan leather, dairy free cheese, conflict free diamonds...

Around 2014 I got into the cross fit trend. I made bone broth then too. It took all day and would try the patience of Job. (See what I just did there? Maybe now I'll live longer.)

When we cook meat with bone in, you get bone broth with the other juices right? Like roast, chicken, turkey and pork.

Isn't bone broth made with the addition of some sort of acid, like vinegar, to extract more minerals and nutrients from the bones? It's more gelatinous and murkier looking than a simple broth. I would consider it a nutritional supplement.

And yes the trend/product has been around for at least several years now.

Arcy, I'll add to Jen K's excellent post that glucosamine was enormously helpful to one of our horses who suffered from arthritis. Before we went that route we tried to talk him into following a balanced diet, getting moderate exercise, and joining a church, but it didn't work.

Yes, I do think the consumption of bone broth is a fad. However, I do believe that bone broth can be nutritious and certainly can be a reasonable part of a diet. I would watch for sodium as already mentioned. The bottom line is that there really isn't a single miracle food that you can consume and suddenly all ailments will be cured. In general less processed foods are going to be healthier, so if you can make your own, that's probably best. Bone broth is also not going to get around other nutritional deficits, so if you're looking to improve health, I'd look at the whole diet.

FWIW, not everyone shares the same faith and beliefs.

I think it is a bit of a fad, but like many fads, if done in moderation, it is not harmful. It's likely not a miracle drug/food but if you like it, it can be a component of a well balanced diet. I would not pay exorbitant amounts for the product because again, it is not a miracle. However, when people are ill or have digestive issues, I think a good, nutrient dense broth is an excellent way to get nutrition that can be absorbed relatively easily.

Arcy, there are some on your list whose efficacy is backed by research.

Jen K, thank you for that wonderful post!

Bone broth has been a thing for thousands of years. Prehistoric folks boiled bone soup, Chinese drank it like medicine- as did the Egypitians and Jewish folks, Victorians sipped it as a tea. Americans being excited to see it being sold as a commercial product is a new thing.

Some resteraunts and schools make it on the regular and have for a long time, but tend to call it stock instead of bone broth. Because bone broth is just a kind of stock. Acid isn't actually necessary in bone broth, but it does often use more bones and a longer cooking time. If you have a good stock that is jello- you have extracted the collegen as good as a bone broth.

And in moderation. Like most commercial stock and broth products, bone broths can be high in sodium. Or otherwise not as nutritous or healthy as a homemade product. And some manufactuers are more interesting in riding the new excitement and labeling more than creating a good product. So it don't hurt to read the labels. Or make your own :)

My mother suffered from congestive heart failure (among many things) for years before her death. She ate Campbell's chicken noodle soup every day for lunch and was in and out of the hospital. I started making broth (which took all day) and making soup for her and her health improved markedly. Over time she missed Campbell's though. I use a pressure cooker to make chicken and vegetable broth now.

My paternal grandfather almost lived on V-8 vegetable juice. I have no idea how he made it to 100 drinking that stuff!

Any single food touted to have special health effects is a fad. Instead of looking for magical unicorn dust properties in food, just eat a varied diet.

My dogs like it. I've never tried it. However I'm a vegetarian atheist so I guess that means I'm probably going to die soon anyway.....

I guess you could call it a fad. It has always been a staple in our house. During the Great Depression, my grandmother made bone broth every day. The butcher shop where my uncle worked would give him free bones which he would take home to my grandmother. She would add whatever vegetables and herbs she had on hand and make bone broth which became soup every night for dinner. That is how she kept her family of 11 from starving. She also felt that her soups made this way kept her family healthy.

My mother carried on the tradition by once a week making a homemade bone broth and turning it into soup. Mom made the most delicious beef marrow bone soup. The depth of flavor and silkiness of the broth was sublime. She taught me how to make a rich, gelatinous bone broth but even though I have her recipe, I cannot duplicate her beef marrow bone soup.

I save and freeze bones until I have enough to make a pot of broth. Sometimes I turn it into soup and other times I just use it for sipping. I love to sip hot chicken bone broth with a squeeze of lemon and extra garlic. If I feel a bit under the weather this always perks me up.

If you are looking to up your collagen consumption, you'd be much better off taking a collagen supplement such as Vital Proteins collagen powder. It's even available at Costco.

I have to chime in that glucosamine, even though it hasn't been proven to be effective in studies (although some will say there is a "trend" toward effectiveness that doesn't meet the threshold) certainly helps my knees - to the point that I can skip taking it for periods of time. Sometimes studies, because of their design or method of analysis, just can't capture the subset of people that it does help.

moosemac you probably will never duplicate the same broth. The age that cattle can be slaughtered for human consumption has changed because of Mad Cow Disease. Now cattle are slaughter at a maximum of 24 months and even that old is very rare.

Thanks for the information.

I never heard of it but in the past I made bone broth for my dogs. It was recommended by a top breeder of Rottweilers. We had three Rotts which we competed in Obedience and Confirmation.

Being large dogs with fairly low life expectancy, it was popular around the dog circuit.

I cooked large pots of beef bones with lots of vegetables and fed it to my dogs. I never tasted it nor had any desire to. My dogs never developed joint issues and were completely active throughout their lives. Have no idea if it was due to the bone broth.

Now, I have heard from some friends that its an excellent way to increase protein and collagen. My son works out daily at a gym plus plays basketball. He mentioned it to me because I lost a lot of weight after the death of my husband last years. Both my kids are worried about my weight loss (as am I) and I have been trying to gain back some weight.

A friend mentioned it the other day that she makes her own bone broth and drinks a cup daily to help her skin and she feels it is working.

I wondered whether this is some new fad for is there something to it.

I figured I'd check here to see if anyone had opinions about it. I think I will probably continue to increase my caloric intake the usual way and skip the bone broth.

Thanks everyone!

Jane

Jane, nice follow up post. It's good to know we were all "heard" :-) Best wishes as you continue to look after your health!

I prefer chicken or turkey bone broth. I did Keto and drank bone broth almost daily with my lunch (two scrambled eggs mixed with butter and heavy whipping cream that I microwave) and a couple slices of bacon.

Having said that: if you make home made soup, you've pretty much had bone broth. It's just the broth you make from the bones of the animal but you add meat and vegetables. I grew up on home made soups and still make them. I just don't make simple broth anymore. Although....................... I'm going to get back to it in the new year. Also: DO NOT REMOVE THE FAT FROM THE TOP WHEN IT COOLS! You need that fat! It'll melt back into the broth. So many people remove it. Nope. Don't do it!

WittyNick, if I didn't remove the fat from the top of homemade soup, I'd be very sick. And if I ate eggs with heavy cream and bacon every day for lunch, I'd probably be dead. We're all different.

I make all my own broth and stocks. The reason I do is to let them cool before freezing. That is so I CAN remove the fat. It hurts both our stomachs.

Mostly chicken, but also beef and shrimp. I don't use an actual recipe. I just save onion ends, onion peels, carrot peelings, celery pieces. garlic pieces, chicken skin and bones, etc. I keep them in the freezer and when I have enough, I cover with water and simmer. Cool and skim the fat. Sometimes I save the fat to use for browning.

Home-made bone broth is flavorful and you can decide how much sodium to put in. Bone broth does provide proteprotein and collagen benefits but you can also conveniently add collagen powder in your soups, juices, oatmeal, dishes…

Sherry, I always removed the fat for the dogs. When I make a stew for people, chicken/beef, I also remove the fat.

I also chill and take off the fat cap. I usually save it and use it for various cooking things. Depends a bit on how clean the fat is, and how much I need it in hand at the time. Sometimes it goes out into the dish for the feral kitties.

Assigning magical properties to foods or actions is always fraught with myth, misinformation and much wishful thinking.

What matters is not what you eat or do in any one day or time or meal. It is about the overall habits of last month or last year. It is accumulative.

I tried making bone broth and it was just awful stuff. These were bones from organic meat.

If you want gelatin from the bones , just get some KNox gelatin . That is derived from bones. If you want the marrow from the bones you are going to have make sure that he marrow is exposed so that it will cook out.

I dont find much use for the carcass of the animal stewed or boiled up. Still if we were hungry and in search of food, I would be grateful to have such.

I am one who has moved away from beef. I just dont care for it much, anymore. It is not a political position or a self congratulating proclamation, just a preference when it became apparent to me that the quality of it has gotten so iffy. And, not to be denied, there IS the environmental issue. It is a personal preference to not buy it and I dont think I am missing much.. If at a picnic or dinner party, I will enjoy it with the rest of the crowd, but I just dont buy it to cook at home. Sometimes you go along to get along.

Bone broth surely has some nutritional value but probably not as much as some want to believe.

I routinely make stock from chicken or turkey bones and find a lot of value in it, personally, because it makes great soup! I have on occasion drank just the broth, and find it fine, but prefer it in soup. I would never purchase Knox gelatin to drink - nothing about it appeals to me.

I don't think anyone is ascribing magical powers to broth, however, many people do swear by drinking broth for various reasons. If it works for them, great! We have had dogs that greatly benefitted from collagen supplements and it stands to reason that people can benefit from it, too.

Jane, I don't think there is a downside to drinking a cup of homemade broth daily, so it couldn't hurt to try if you are interested in exploring it. I would personally rather get additional calories that way vs increased sugar or peanut butter intake (not to say that's your plan!!).

To those who make vegetable broth, have you considered that fact that outer peels of those vegetables may not be as wholesome as you might expect? I am quite happy to remove and compost those outer skins .I see them as the natural packaging and I dont eat outer packages. That has been exposed to all kinds of people and places and chemicals that were used to keep the bugs and vermin away in the process of getting them from the grower to the grocery store where most of us shop.

If you grow your own vegetables, that is a different situation.

It is not just field chemicals, they also have been subjected to packaging faciliites and transport modes that were probably treated with various sprays of stuff. You can cook enough to rid them of most bacteria from the hands, snot and spittle of those who picked and packed , but not the other pollutants. When a preservative is used in packaging it is not required to disclose as it is not part of the actual vegetable or food.

Many of the bags of vegetables at Costco have been subjected to some manner of processing that even prevents them from rotting in the fridge in a normal manner. I have quit buying many of them. Not that what is in the grocery store has any guarantees, either .

I buy all summer at a local venue. It may not be organic, but I see it growing right there in the fields and the people who are busy in the storefront are the very ones who are doing the harvesting. It is a small family run business. When it is not summer, the choices get more limited and I find myself at the local Asian supermarket that I feel has better selections than most white bread grocery stores.

Not worried about what's on the outside of my carrots or onions. considering people eat bologna and don't bat an eye at that. ;) I'm making my broth this afternoon. I use my electric turkey roaster and let it simmer all night.

I am making what Italians call, Brodo di carne. I have beef shanks in my pot with a large onion stuck with a few cloves, carrots, juniper berries, Bay leaves, salt and pepper. In a few hours I will remove the meat and chop it, add diced carrots, celerey and pastina. The aromatics I used to make the broth will be discarded. This is one of my favorite soups. It's the chicken soup of my part of Italy.

I do have to wonder if people are not aware that most foods contain sodium and it is an essential to our health.

Too little like my father who was following my mother's no salt, low sodium diet and ended up in the hospital with seizures. Too much can cause problems but it depends on your body. I have high blood pressure but it is or at least was not related to salt intake. Some doctors used to do a test for patients with HBP where the blood pressure was taken, a saline solution or biscuit was eaten and blood pressure taken periodically for a couple of hours. While salt has sodium having sodium in a food does not mean it has added salt.

Interestingly, I read something this morning about new research into sodium vs. potassium and cognitive decline...

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/too-much-sodium-not-enough-potassium-may-lead-to-cognitive-decline

And I compost most of my scraps & peels too, even tho I buy exclusively organic and grow my own stuff too. I used to make stock with those peels and skins, but nowadays I prefer a very simple stock without all those vegetables to muddy the flavor, since I generally use a lot of spices and seasonings when I roast meats, which gives stock plenty of flavor.

I have been putting a scoop of ”Collagen Peptides+Bone Powder Broth” in my tea each evening hoping it will help my knee pain. i have only been using it a little over a week so its still too early to see how it does. i also take glucosamine..

I purchase a good chicken bone broth to add to my elderly cat’s diet. There is no question whatsoever that it has benefitted him since the physical changes have been obvious to all who know Paco. It was suggested to me years ago that I use bone broth as one of the liquids I drink during my food fasting days for a colonoscopy prep.

CBD oil has been of major benefit to me, especially for joint pain (knees) and sleep issues. I always mention that I’m taking it prior to a medical procedure and the medical staff never fail to ask me how it’s helping, where I get it, and other details about the product. Most are interested in it for themselves.

I have to say that I found Arcy’s post lacking in reason, experience, and information.