Bone broth is a liquid containing brewed bones and connective tissues. To make bone broth, people use cow, chicken, and even fish bones. Drinking bone broth may be beneficial for the joints and digestive system, among other things. Bone broth also contains other important nutrients, especially minerals, derived from these tissues. This may make bone broth a beneficial dietary supplement for many people.

Simmering the bones in water with some vinegar helps release nutrients from the marrow within the bones, as well as break down other tissues into the water. The result is a flavorful, nutritious broth.

Bones themselves are rich in vitamins and nutrients, including calcium, magensium, and phosphorus. Also, brewing connective tissue into bone broth provides the body with natural compounds from the cartilage.

Tissues and bones also contain collagen. Cooking collagen turns it to gelatin, which provides the body with amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins.

It is not possible to say how much of any nutrient will be in a particular batch of bone broth, since this largely depends on the type and quantity of the bones and tissues that went into it.

However, it may be best to include many different types of bones and tissues for the highest amount of nutrients.

Bone marrow is rich in nutrients such as:

• iron
• vitamins A and K
• fatty acids
• selenium
• zinc
• manganese

It helps reduce inflammation and heals the gut

Some amino acids present within bone broth may also be helpful for digestion. An amino acid called glutamine seems very promising.

As a 2017 study in the journal Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care notes, glutamine supplementation helps heal the intestinal barrier in human and animal models. This may help with conditions such as leaky gut, which irritates the mucosal lining in the intestines and interferes with the body’s ability to digest food.
People with inflammatory bowel disease tend to have lower levels of some amino acids in their bodies. For these people, getting additional amino acids into their diets may help with some symptoms of the condition. Drinking bone broth daily may be a simple way to get anti-inflammatory amino acids into the body.