Drink Keto Bone Broth to Crush Inflammation (+ Recipe)

Jump to recipe

Ever wonder why you’re told to eat chicken soup when you’re sick?

Soup — when made from scratch — uses bone broth as a base. Bone broth is an excellent way to get added nutrients, boost your immunity, and reduce inflammation.

It’s made by simmering animal bones with water, fresh herbs and acid (typically apple cider vinegar) for a long period of time (sometimes an entire day).

You can make broth from the bones of virtually any animal, although chicken bone broth and beef bone broth are the most popular. The simmering process extracts the beneficial collagen — what makes bone broth so nutritious — from the animal bones.

Below, you’ll learn why bone broth, and the collagen in it, is so beneficial for your health. Plus, there’s a keto bone broth recipe you can use to make bone broth at home.

• What Is Collagen?
• The 3 Key Health Benefits of Bone Broth
• How to Make Bone Broth at Home

What Is Collagen?

Collagen comes from the Greek words kolla (meaning “glue”) and -gen (meaning “creating”). Collagen is quite literally the glue that holds your body together, forming all connective tissues in the body.

Collagen is a type of protein, one of over 10,000 in the human body. It’s also the most abundant, accounting for 25–35% of the total protein[*].

Collagen helps rebuild joints, tendons, cartilage, skin, nails, hair, and organs.

It also supports gut health, wound healing, and immunity.

Despite being so important, you lose 1% of collagen per year, and production starts slowing down at age 25[*].

That’s why it’s important to replenish collagen through food and high-quality collagen supplements.

Bone broth is rich in collagen, but that’s just one of its benefits.

The 3 Key Health Benefits of Bone Broth

This liquid superfood provides 3 important health benefits that help you be healthier, whether you’re keto or not:

#1: Bone Broth Helps Heal Leaky Gut

Leaky gut syndrome is an uncomfortable, sometimes painful condition where your digestive tract becomes inflamed and damaged.

Small holes develop in your stomach lining, causing nutrients and toxic substances to “leak” back into the bloodstream. Rather than being absorbed, vitamins and minerals pass right through your system.

This causes uncomfortable side effects like bloating, fatigue, upset stomach, diarrhea, constipation and malnutrition. Bone broth, which is an incredible source of collagen, is one of the best natural ways to treat leaky gut.

Studies show patients with IBS (one of the most common symptoms) tested low for collagen IV[*].

The collagen in bone broth can help heal your gut tissues and reduce the inflammation that happens during leaky gut.

#2: Collagen Helps Preserve Your Memory

There are 28 known varieties of collagen.

Collagen IV is a specific type that may prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s. Collagen IV appears to form a protective layer around your brain against a certain amino acid called amyloid-beta protein, believed to be the cause of Alzheimer’s[*].

#3: Collagen Helps Grow Healthy Skin and Nails

As you age, your skin loses its elasticity and wrinkles start to form.

Taking collagen can help slow down that process. Collagen is the protein responsible for keeping your skin youthful and tight, and supplementing in the right doses can help maintain that elasticity.

One recent study done on women ages 35–55 showed that those who took collagen had noticeable improvements in their skin elasticity[*].

Collagen can provide similar benefits to your nails, preventing them from becoming brittle or breaking.

In one study done over a 6-month period, 25 participants were given collagen supplements and noticed the following[*]:

• 12% increase in nail growth
• 42% drop in broken nails
• 64% overall improvement in formerly brittle nails

How to Make Bone Broth at Home

Before you dive into the broth-making process, here are a few common questions beginners have about broth:

FAQ #1: What’s the Difference Between Broth and Stock?

There is almost no difference between stock, broth and bone broth (yes, bone broth and broth are two separate things). Of the three, bone broth and stock are the most similar.

All three use similar ingredients (water, bay leaves, acid and bones). The two primary differences are:

• The cooking time
• The amount of meat left on the bones

Regular broth uses meaty bones (such as an entire chicken carcass) to make chicken broth, while chicken stock and chicken bone broth require bones with very little meat (such as chicken feet).

Broth is also cooked for far less time than stock or bone broth. Broth simmers for an hour or two, stock for six hours and bone broth for 24 hours.

FAQ #2: Is There Any Way to Shorten the Cooking Time?

The recipe below simmers an entire carcass (from a leftover roast chicken) in a slow cooker for one to two days. If you don’t own a slow cooker, you can make bone broth in a Dutch oven on the stovetop. But, to speed up things considerably, you can use an Instant Pot or pressure cooker.

If you have zero time to cook with any appliance, stock up on Kettle and Fire bone broth. That way,  you’ll have it ready in a pinch.

FAQ #3: What Kinds of Bones Should I Use?

You can use any kind. If you’re making beef broth, save the leftover bones from a grass-fed, bone-in ribeye. If you’re roasting an entire chicken, save the carcass.

Drinking Bone Broth Is a Great Way to Heal Your Body

No matter what your goal is on the keto diet — weight loss, fat loss or better concentration — everyone should aim to be as healthy as possible.

One of the easiest ways to do so is by supplementing with bone broth.

There are plenty of keto recipes that use bone broth in various soups and stews. Or, try drinking bone broth straight from the mug. However you choose to consume it, do yourself a favor and try this recipe or pick up some online.

Print