Your knees know it's January before the calendar does. You stand up from the couch, and your hip takes a second to catch up.
Bone broth benefits come mainly from gelatin, the protein long simmering pulls out of bones and joints. Gelatin is rich in glycine and proline, amino acids your body uses to build cartilage collagen and to maintain the cells lining your gut. You get the most from it as a daily habit, not a sick-day fix.
That last part is where most advice goes wrong. Bone broth comes out of the freezer when someone catches a cold, then gets forgotten until the next one. The biology says that's backward.
What Does Simmering Bones Release?
Collagen is the main structural protein in bone, tendon, and cartilage. Hours of heat unwind it, and what dissolves into the water is gelatin. That's why a strong broth sets like jelly in the fridge. The wobble is the point.
Gelatin is heavy in glycine and proline, the raw material your cells use to make new collagen. Most everyday protein is lighter in glycine than you'd guess. In a 2019 study in Frontiers in Nutrition, Rebekah Alcock and colleagues found that 20 grams of collagen protein raised blood glycine to about 683 µmol/L, against 260 µmol/L after the same amount of dairy protein.
Glycine is the amino acid to watch. It's labeled non-essential because your body makes it, but a 2009 analysis in the Journal of Biosciences estimated that you make about 3 grams a day and get 1.5 to 3 grams from a typical diet. By the authors' math, a 70-kilogram adult may run about 10 grams a day short of total glycine needs, collagen building included. They called it a weak link in metabolism. It's a calculation rather than a measured deficiency, but it's the strongest case for putting a glycine-dense food on the menu every day.
Does Bone Broth Help Your Gut Lining?
Your intestinal wall is a single layer of cells sealed together by tight-junction proteins: occludin, claudin-1, and zonula occludens (ZO-1 and ZO-2). Think of them as the mortar between bricks. When the mortar loosens, the wall leaks, a state researchers call increased intestinal permeability.
Glycine appears to help hold that mortar in place. In a 2022 study in Animal Nutrition, researchers chemically stressed pig intestinal cells until tight-junction proteins dropped and the barrier leaked. Glycine reversed those changes through the mTORC1 signaling pathway. A 2021 study in Amino Acids found that weaned piglets on a 2% glycine diet had a stronger intestinal immune barrier and a better mix of gut microbes.
None of that work tested people drinking broth. It maps a mechanism in cells and piglets, and you should weigh it that way. What tips the scale is how little you risk: a daily mug of homemade bone broth is food, and it supplies the amino acid these studies keep pointing to.
Bone Broth Benefits for Joints: What Does the Research Show?
The cartilage in your knees and hips is built largely from type II collagen, made by cells called chondrocytes. In a 2018 study in Amino Acids, lab-grown chondrocytes given extra glycine, proline, and lysine made more type II collagen. Glycine needed the highest concentrations to make a difference, which the authors read as a sign that glycine supply limits cartilage building.
Human trials have used concentrated collagen, not broth. In a 24-week Penn State trial in Current Medical Research and Opinion, athletes with activity-related joint pain took 10 grams of collagen hydrolysate daily and reported less pain walking, standing, lifting, and at rest than the placebo group. A mug of broth delivers less than that, so read the trial as a sign of direction, not a dose.
The study most relevant to your winter routine came from Keith Baar's lab at UC Davis. In a 2017 trial in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, eight healthy young men took 15 grams of vitamin C-enriched gelatin, waited an hour, then skipped rope for six minutes. A blood marker of new collagen production doubled. The design paired gelatin with movement on purpose, because loading is the signal that tells connective tissue to build.
Winter cuts that signal. In an accelerometer study of older adults in Reykjavik, people sat more and did less light activity in winter than in summer. A study of older adults in snowy rural Hokkaido, Japan, found the same pattern during snow season, with women losing more of their higher-intensity daily activity.
Why Drink Bone Broth Daily Instead of Only When You're Sick?
The sick-day reputation has real roots. In a 2000 study in Chest Journal, Stephen Rennard at the University of Nebraska Medical Center found that traditional chicken soup slowed the movement of neutrophils, white blood cells tied to the inflammation behind cold symptoms, in a lab dish. It's a short-term effect, measured outside the body.
Experiencing real bone broth benefits requires consistency, because collagen runs on a longer clock. The Penn State trial ran 24 weeks before differences showed up. A cup during flu season and nothing in between is like watering a garden once a year.
Dose matters too. A 2019 study in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism by the Alcock team found that bone broth delivered significantly less glycine and proline than the 20-gram collagen doses used in research, and that amounts swung widely from recipe to recipe. You could read that as a reason to skip broth. The better reading is that an occasional cup won't move much, so make it strong, make it yourself, and drink it every day.
How Do You Make Bone Broth at Home?
Aim for broth that turns firm when cold. If it pours like water straight from the fridge, you didn't pull enough gelatin, and joint-heavy parts are the fix.
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Choose collagen-rich parts. Use 3 to 4 pounds of bones from pasture-raised animals, at least a third of them joints: chicken feet, wings, and necks, or beef knuckles and oxtail.
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Roast beef bones. Roast them on a stainless steel sheet pan at 400°F for 30 to 40 minutes, until browned but not charred. Chicken parts can go in raw.
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Cover and acidify. Put the bones in a stainless steel or enameled cast-iron stockpot, cover with about 4 quarts of cold filtered water, add 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, and let it sit 30 minutes.
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Hold a bare simmer. Heat slowly until a bubble breaks the surface every few seconds, and skim the foam during the first hour. A slow cooker on low works if you'd rather not run a burner overnight.
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Add vegetables late. Onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and parsley go in for the last 2 to 3 hours.
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Strain and chill promptly. Strain into wide glass jars, leaving an inch of headspace for any you'll freeze. Michigan State University Extension, citing USDA, puts refrigerated leftovers at 3 to 4 days and frozen at 3 to 4 months.
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Drink it daily. Warm 1 to 2 cups and add a squeeze of fresh lemon. Vitamin C is required for collagen synthesis, which is why the UC Davis team paired it with gelatin. On days you move, drink it about an hour before a brisk walk, a few flights of stairs, or a few minutes of jumping rope if your joints handle impact.
Bone Broth FAQ
How long should you simmer bone broth?
Simmer chicken bones for 12 to 24 hours and beef bones for 24 to 36 hours. A 2017 study in Food & Nutrition Research found that cooking past 8 hours extracts significantly more minerals, and lowering the pH with acidic ingredients like apple cider vinegar increases calcium extraction about 17-fold. However, because total mineral levels remain under 5% of daily needs per serving, bone broth should be made primarily for its gelatin and amino acid content rather than as a primary mineral source.
Is there lead in bone broth?
Bone broth contains minimal trace amounts of heavy metals like lead and cadmium. While a small 2013 report in Medical Hypotheses noted that chicken broth made from organic bones contained higher lead levels than the water used to make it, a broader 2017 study in Food & Nutrition Research measured heavy metals across various bone types and long cooking times, concluding that lead levels were minimal and safe for consumption.
What are the best bones for making nutrient-dense bone broth?
The best bones for bone broth are collagen-rich and joint-heavy cuts from pasture-raised animals. For poultry, use chicken feet, wings, necks, and carcasses. For beef or bison, choose knuckle bones, joint bones, oxtail, and marrow bones. Incorporating at least one-third joint bones ensures maximum gelatin extraction, giving the cooled broth its characteristic firm, gel-like texture.
How should homemade bone broth be stored and frozen?
Store fresh bone broth in airtight glass containers in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. For longer storage, freeze broth in glass jars or silicone molds for up to 3 to 4 months, leaving at least an inch of headspace at the top of glass containers to allow for liquid expansion as it freezes.
When is the best time to drink bone broth for joint and gut health?
Drink 1 to 2 cups of warm bone broth daily for optimal, long-term benefits. To support joint cartilage collagen synthesis, consume broth paired with a source of vitamin C (such as a squeeze of fresh lemon juice) approximately one hour before engaging in physical activity or joint-loading exercise.
Start Your Bone Broth Routine This Weekend
Buy 4 pounds of chicken feet and backs, start a pot Saturday morning, and have jars in the fridge by Sunday night. Drink a mug every day through March, with lemon and a few minutes of movement. Then subscribe to the free Mercola newsletter to get the next piece in this winter series.
This article is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. It isn't intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you have persistent joint pain, digestive symptoms, kidney disease, or a condition that requires limiting sodium or protein, talk with a licensed healthcare provider before changing your diet.