Guide to the Bone Broth Diet

The Bone Broth Diet claims that it will help you “lose up to 15 pounds, 4 inches, and your wrinkles — in just 21 days.”

This is a bold claim, made by the author. 

Googling shows that celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Halle Berry, Mark Wahlberg and many A-listers are trying the bone broth diet.

Why? It's the latest fad diet ripping through Hollywood. 

Does the Bone Broth Diet Plan work for weight loss? What do I think of it?

Read on to find out. 

First quick disclaimer: I make my own delicious and nutritious bone broth that is the perfect complement to your bone broth diet meal plan.

What is the Bone Broth Diet Plan?

The Bone Broth Diet Plan is a blend of intermittent fasting, keto, paleo and bone broth. It consists of a specific weekly eating and fasting schedule.

The bone broth diet consists of a 21 day diet plan.

The goal of the diet, much like any other is to lose weight. Specifically, this plan claims you can lose up to 15 pounds, 4 inches off our waist in 21 days.

This is quite a claim!

How it works: The 5:2 Intermittent Fasting approach

While on the bone broth diet plan, you eat a balanced diet with mainly paleo and keto foods for 5 days of the week. You then fast with bone broth for the remaining 2 days. 

The key is to do your fasting on 2 non-consecutive days per week. This will naturally create a large caloric deficit in your weekly total.

If you are in a caloric deficit, you will lose weight based on the laws of thermodynamics. The thing about intermittent fasting is that it is an 'easier' way to create this deficit.

You’ll complete this program for 3 weeks. You can add time to extend the bone broth diet if you have additional weight to lose.

Benefits of Bone Broth

Bone broth is an ancient superfood made by simmering meaty bones, along with aromatics. The end result is a collagen rich, high protein broth that is full of electrolytes and minerals.

Bone broth makes for the perfect blend of collagen protein and amino acids to support your fasting.

Health benefits of it include (read this for the complete list):

Possible Weight Loss Assistance

Gelatin and protein found in bone broth is shown to help you feel more full. This helps you eat less throughout the day (1).

Moreover, it is a low calorie food at 30-50 calories per cup. The combination of protein and low calories makes bone broth the perfect diet staple.

Gut Health

Protein (plus amino acids glycine) improves your gut health by decreasing inflammation in your digestive system.

Learn about Bone Broth and Gut Health here.

Skin Health (Hair, Teeth, Nails)

Bone broth is 90% collagen. Collagen helps build your skin cells. Read more on bone broth for healthy skin. 

But there is more to bone broth that just collagen. Here are a few other things in bone broth that nourish your skin.

1. Hyaluronic acid - naturally found in many parts of your body, hyaluronic acid helps your skin hold onto moisture and water.
2. Glucosamine - helps to encourage the production of hyaluronic acid in your body. This helps to accelerate wound healing, improve skin hydration, and decrease wrinkles.
3. Glycine - an amino acid that is crucial to collagen production. Glycine makes up one third by weight of bone broth.
4. Proline - an amino acid, which helps wounds and promotes healthy skin.
5. Potassium - an electrolyte that helps keep your skin moisturized.
6. Magnesium - an antioxidant that helps your body fight infections and keep you healthy.

Decrease Aches and Pains

Bone broth is full of glucosamine, chondroitin, glycine and collagen. These are all potent compounds used to treat arthritis and joint pain. 

Increased Hydration

Bone broth provides a natural source of many electrolytes. These include potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, chloride and sodium. 

Bone Broth Diet Benefits

This diet plan can have many health benefits for you. The diet is simple and easy to follow, which is good for you as well. Here are a few specific benefits:

1. Provides a steady source of bone broth and collagen protein daily.
2. Gets you eating more whole foods, vegetables.
3. Cuts out sugar, refined carbohydrates and industrial vegetables / seed oils.
4. Is anti-inflammatory.
5. Gives you a good introduction to fasting.

How to Execute the Bone Broth Diet Plan

Foods to eat while on the bone broth diet include:

• Meat, fish, poultry
• Non-starchy vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, eggplant
• Greens like spinach, kale, swiss chard
• Healthy fats like avocado, olive oil, macadamia nuts 
• Bone Broth

Foods to avoid while on the bone broth diet plan:

• Sugar
• Refined carbohydrates: baked goods, white flour, pasta, etc
• Vegetable oils: canola, grapeseed, safflower, soy
• Dairy
• Grains
• Legumes
• Alcohol
• Artificial sweeteners

Click here for a review of the top 6 bone broths for 2023.

The list above basically outlines the paleo diet. You may not need to remove all of these while on the bone broth diet.

The idea is that you are removing all inflammatory foods and junk that is not really giving you nutritional benefit. 

Five days per week you eat according to the food list above.

Two days per week you fast with bone broth. Meaning you consume no calories or food except for bone broth.

Bone broth helps with your fasting because it keeps you full and satiated. It also ensures you are getting adequate electrolytes during your fast.

One of the issues with fasting is that your body depletes electrolyte stores. Bone broth is the perfect food to give you stable energy throughout the day.

The Secret to Success on the Diet

Many dieters come out of the gates losing weight. Only to put it back on once they stop the diet or cleanse.

This meal plan may not be easy to stick to in the long-term. Why? Because any activity that restricts your lifestyle is a shock to your routine and mental framework.

You may experience success in the short term in the form of weight loss. That is great!

But many dieters go on to gain the weight back on after months or years. The secret to keeping the weight off is building new habits that you can incorporate into your daily life.

The key is that these habits must be sustainable. Translation: Don't bite off more than you can chew while doing this diet plan. Start very conservatively so you set yourself up for success.

Bone Broth Diet Meal Plan, Recipes, Schedule

Step 1: Choose a 21 day period to execute your bone broth diet.

It is best to choose a period where you do not have other life stresses. The reason is that dieting and fasting is a stress on your body. As are exercise, deadlines, work stress and family issues.

Your body can only handle so much stress at once. You need to have an empty plate to succeed with the bone broth diet.

This is known as 'Allostatic Load.' You only have so much stress that your body can cope with. And your body treats all stress the same. So ensure you are balancing other areas of your life before you try the bone broth diet plan.

And definitely ensure you are getting enough sleep while dieting.

Step 2: Pick 2 non-consecutive fasting days per week.

These are the days you build the rest of your week around. These should be low activity days where you do not exercise. 

You should not have hectic work or life schedules on these days as well. If you feel anxious while not exercising, then do very low intensity activities such as yoga, walking, meditation and work around the house.

These activities will burn calories but keep you in a very low heart rate zone and do not cause more stress on your body.

Your body is already dieting and losing weight, you do not want to burden it with extra stress and activities that deplete your calories more than they already are.

Step 3: Stock or prepare the right foods, remove the others.

This is an under looked area of the bone broth diet...or any diet. Your priority before you begin any diet to set yourself up for success.

You won’t succeed on any diet if you have Ben and Jerry’s ice cream staring at you every time you open the freezer. I don’t care what sort of monk you are.

Remove any triggering foods for you that don’t fit the protocol. Or place them all in your storage locker… somewhere not in the kitchen and not in eye view. 

It is a good idea to have lots of healthy fats around your house. These include avocados, olive oil, macadamia nuts, walnuts and fatty cuts of meat.

A few suggestions to make your bone broth diet plans easier:

1. Consider getting meal prep or delivery services if you have means to do so.
2. Batch cook meals ahead of time.
3. Decide some easy on-the-go meals. Read below for some great diet friendly recipes.
4. Stock your freezer with bones if you want to make broth.
5. Do not combine these diets with any other sort of cleanse.

Sample Weight Loss Plan: Daily Schedule

Bone Broth Diet Book Recipes

16 Delicious Bone Broth Recipes E-book

Anti-inflammatory Smoothie Bowl

Keto BBQ Sauce 

Vibrant Summer Quinoa Salad

Lemon Tahini Dressing (Dairy Free)

Creamy Gazpacho That You’ll Actually Like

Sugar Free Gummy Bears

Thick and Creamy Overnight Oats

High Protein Chia Pudding

Healthy French Onion Soup

Immune Boosting Chicken Soup

Low Carb Cauliflower Soup (Keto Friendly)

Superfood Bone Broth Chili

Easy Butternut Squash

Where To Find Bone Broth

It is a good idea to have a variety of different types of bone broth for the bone broth diet. You may get sick of one flavor if you drink it multiple times a day.

Bluebird Provisions bone broth powder is a great option. They ship across Canada and the USA directly to your home. 

Their bone broth is:

• Certified Organic & Non-GMO
• High Protein (11 g per cup)
• High Collagen
• Canadian Sourced & Made
• Zero Preservatives
• Keto Friendly
• Low in fats

You can also compare all the different bone broth powders here.

Bone Broth Diet Results

This is what you are here for. So, what results can you expect? Many testimonials claim weight loss of 3-10 pounds during the 21 days.

It is important to consider that your experience will not be the same as someone else. There are so many variables to go into weight loss. Including hydration, recent meals, bowel movements and more.

Also, if clients lose 3-10 pounds, that doesn't mean they keep it off. That is why any diet or cleanse is difficult to recommend. Because they work in the short-term, but not in the long-term.

Long-term success is built on habit formation.

Easy Bone Broth Recipe

 

Yes we do! Here is an easy bone broth recipe. Consult our secret recipe for a more in-depth guide on how to make bone broth. 

Ingredients:

• 1.5 kg bones (3.3 pounds)
• 3 L water
• Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Place bones and water in a stock pot, slow cooker or instant pot. 
2. Bring everything to a boil
3. Reduce to a rolling simmer for 12–24 hours. 
4. Remove from heat.
5.  Strain it into containers for use and compost the solids.

The fats layer can be kept or discarded, depending on your preference. The fat provides more flavor and is keto friendly. 

You can add aromatics, herbs and vegetables to your pot. In this case, add them during the last 3 hours of your simmer time. 

This ensures the vegetables don’t cook down to mush. Mushy vegetables make for starchy broth with carbs.

You can reuse your bones for a second batch or simply discard them.

FAQs About The Bone Broth Diet

Does the bone broth diet work for weight loss?

The bone broth diet does work for weight loss in the short-term. Why? It is a form of caloric restriction, like many other diets. It is difficult to judge whether the bone broth diet will work for long-term weight loss because no studies have been done. 

Anecdotally it does work, but it may or may not work for you. 

Is the bone broth diet safe?

The bone broth diet is as safe as any diet. That being said, ensure your body is physically and mentally ready for diets before you begin.

It is best to seek the advice of a medical professional before starting any diet. Bone broth is safe to consume for most people.

Why drink bone broth on keto diet?

Bone broth is high in protein, low in carbohydrate. You can easily add fats to your bone broth to make it keto friendly. 

Or, if you are making bone broth at home, you can simply use the fat from the bone broth in your drink. 

Bone broth is great for the keto diet because it can cleanse your body with collagen, minerals and nutrition with little carbs or calories. 

Can I fast everyday on the bone broth diet? 

You cannot fast everyday on any diet or cleanse. Your are best to use fasting as a tool in your tool belt. It is not the only tool and not a magic bullet. Fasting gets a lot of people in trouble, so be careful and consult your doctor before doing so.

How much bone broth is safe to drink? 

You can safely drink up to 2 L of bone broth per day. Remember that bone broth is simply just water with added nutrition, vitamins, protein, minerals and amino acids.

Will I be hungry on the bone broth diet? 

You will not be hungry on the bone broth diet because bone broth helps increase satiety or fullness. As such, you may feel more satisfied and have greater energy than you would if you tried a different approach.

Is the bone broth diet for everyone? 

The bone broth diet is not for everyone. If you have a history of eating disorders, then the bone broth diet is not for you. Also, if you have any underlying health issues, the bone broth diet may not be for you. 

Have you tried the 21 day bone broth diet? What did you think of it? Leave a comment and let me know your experience.