Chicken broth can be a simple meal to warm your bones on chilly days. Endurance athletes who compete for many grueling hours are given chicken broth to help replace some of the lost sodium through sweat. Chicken broth also makes a savory base for soups, stews, and grits. Although chicken broth provides a lot of flavor, you won’t find much nutrition aside from 859 milligrams of sodium, which is 36% of your daily sodium limit.
Drinking chicken broth every day won’t add much to your health, but chicken bone broth just might. Depending on your brand of chicken bone broth, you could get 7 grams of protein in a single cup with 389 milligrams of sodium. “While both regular chicken broth and bone broth provide hydration, some nutrients, and a nice flavor boost to dishes, bone broth typically offers more significant benefits, especially when it comes to collagen content,” says Steph Grasso, MS, RD, at GrassoFed, LLC, who can be followed online on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
The collagen and amino acids in chicken broth just might help improve your skin as you age. While chicken broth is simmered for a few hours, chicken bone broth is simmered for at least 12 hours. “This slow simmering process helps extract not just collagen, but also other beneficial nutrients, gelatin, and minerals from the bones, all of which contribute to improved skin texture and overall condition,” Grasso said.
What aging does to your collagen production
Collagen isn’t just about skin health. About 30% of the protein in your body is collagen protein, making up not just the skin but also your muscles, bones, and connective tissues. As you age, the quality of your collagen begins to decline, and you also produce less. Declining collagen production might show up as weakening muscles, muscle aches, stiff joints and tendons, and yes, wrinkled skin.
Taking in more collagen in the form of bone broth or collagen peptides doesn’t necessarily equate to more collagen in your body, however. Your body has to break down the collagen protein into the amino acids that are building blocks for protein synthesis. Grasso says that the collagen in bone broth has amino acids like glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline that boost your body’s collagen production. “These amino acids also help with wound healing and skin repair, making bone broth a great addition to anyone’s diet for healthier skin,” she said. Other nutrients you’ll need to take in for improved collagen production are vitamin C, copper, and zinc.
What collagen can do for your health
Bone broth and other collagen supplements often promise a lot of health benefits, such as helping you lose weight, but there isn’t much scientific evidence that supports collagen supplementation on skin health. Keep in mind that many supplement companies will fund some of the research studies shown on the label. However, bone broth shows some promise in other areas of your health.
Certain nutrients in chicken-vegetable bone broth might help older adults slow the progression of osteoporosis. A 2024 article in the Journal of Food Science found that chicken-vegetable bone broth has chondroitin sulfate and hyaluronan that might reduce the breakdown of bone. The researchers found that rats who consumed chicken-vegetable bone broth had improved bone density compared with rats who drank water.
Bone broth might also reduce inflammation in your gut, according to a 2021 article in Medicina. This study gave lab mice bone broth before inducing them with ulcerative colitis. The bone broth reduced tissue damage in their colons and inflammatory markers while also increasing anti-inflammatory markers.
Making chicken bone broth at home
Grasso says making homemade chicken bone broth allows you to control your ingredients and make good use of leftover bones and vegetable scraps from your meals. To make homemade chicken bone broth, fill a large pot with a gallon of water and add at least 2 pounds of animal bones. For added flavor, add vegetables and herbs.
Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer for at least 12 hours. The longer you simmer the chicken bone broth, the better. Once you’ve simmered the chicken bone broth to your liking, strain the mixture and freeze one-cup servings. If you don’t store homemade bone broth properly, you risk bacterial contamination.
If you don’t want the hassle, Grasso says it’s fine to buy chicken bone broth at the store. “Just make sure to choose brands that are free from additives and specify that they simmer their broth for at least 24 hours to maximize the health benefits,” she said.
While it’s fine to drink chicken bone broth every day, limit yourself to a one-cup serving. Animal bones could have lead and other heavy metals that could seep into your bone broth.