Low Sodium Bone Broth

If you're spending hard earned cash on buying bone broth, make sure it is a quality one. Most you find online or in stores are full of salt. These are awful products that have no place in your kitchen.

They're full of added salt because these brands take shortcuts and are trying to mask the actual flavor of their broth.

You see salt bombs with up to 900 mg sodium content per serving. That is going to do a number on your blood pressure.

If you're looking for the absolute best low sodium options on the market, you've come to the right review article.

The best low sodium bone broth powder is made by Bluebird Provisions (my company). It has 130 mg sodium per serving with 300 mg potassium an 12 g protein. It's a convenient powder format that you can take with you to work or travelling. No need for planning, fridges or freezers.

Let's get on to the rest of the review.

Why are low sodium bone broths better?

Low sodium bone broths are better because they are less salty and have more, real flavor. This allows you to control the amount of sodium in it because you can add more to taste. Plus, they are better for you. What do I mean by this?

Sodium is delicious to season food, but we get too much of it. Excess sodium can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. It also causes the loss of calcium from your bones.

Most Americans consume about 1.5 teaspoons of salt per day or about 3,400 mg of sodium. That is much higher than the recommended daily intake of 2,300 mg.

What's the criteria?

The criteria is pretty easy, does the bone broth have less than 300 mg of sodium per serving? My personal preference is more products with less than 200 mg per serving. But if we stuck to that, we'd only have one product on the list.

So I had to use 300 mg in order to get some decent options for you.

What are the top 5 low sodium bone broths?

The top 5 low sodium bone broths are Bluebird Provisions Powdered Bone Broth, Osso Good Chicken, Bonafide Chicken, Pacific Foods Chicken and Kettle & Fire Mushroom Chicken.

You'll notice that there are no beef options on this list. This is because beef tends to have more sodium for a few reasons.

1. The bones naturally have more salt than chicken. So you start with more sodium in the finished broth, even before the company adds any in for taste.
2. Beef tends to need a bit more salt to bring out the natural, rich flavor. As a result, it's difficult to find products with less than 350 mg sodium per cup. The best option is Bluebird Provisions Organic Beef Bone Broth (220 mg / cup), however, this is only available in Canada.

Best Online: Bluebird Provisions Instant Bone Broth Powder

Bluebird Provisions Instant Bone Broth Powder is among the lowest sodium of the whole list at 130 mg. It's balanced out with 300 mg potassium, which is the perfect ratio for hydration.

It also has the highest protein component per cup at 12 g. This is the most delicious powder you'll ever try. It has that rich, familiar taste of a chicken soup broth without the added preservatives or those dreaded 'natural flavors.'

Just two simple ingredients are in this one: water and non-gmo, pasture raised chicken bones.

You can find it online or on Amazon Prime.

No Salt Added: Osso Good Organic Chicken Bone Broth

This chicken bone broth from Osso Good is a solid option. It uses organic broth bones and lists 13 ingredients including apple cider vinegar, herbs and peppercorns.

It comes in with 7.5 g protein per cup or serving and has 115 mg sodium per cup.

We love that they use filtered water and a traditional, small batch and low and slow cooking method. There is 0.5 g of sugar and 0.5 g of fat per serving which brings it to 40 calories.

Best Frozen: Bonafide Provisions Chicken Bone Broth

Bonafide is a staple of the bone broth business. They are one of the first frozen ones on the market in the USA.

They've done a great job keeping their product quality (cooking methods) and recipe the same despite increased competition from other brands offering cheaper, lower quality products.

This product has 10 g protein (with good gelatin conent) per cup and 280 mg sodium. It's a good tasting broth with a mild, chicken taste.

The potassium in it is 39 mg. Most chicken bone broth for sipping you see have up to 300 mg.

Best Mass Grocery Store: Kettle & Fire Mushroom Chicken

Another tetra pak shelf stable container that you can find in many grocery stores is Kettle & Fire Mushroom Chicken Bone Broth.

It is sourced from conventional chicken but has 10 g protein, 290 mg sodium and 355 mg potassium per serving.

There are 1 g of carbs and 1 g of sugar. I like the nutrition label and there are 21 ingredients in this broth. 

That is probably because this product is a blend of their chicken and mushroom broths along with some adaptogenic ingredients like Lions Mane powder. 

I haven't tried it so I can't speak to the taste, but the nutrition profile is solid. You can find this at Walmart and Target in the USA.

Looking for more? Read our review of the 6 Best Bones Broths this year.

Pacific Foods Unsalted Chicken

A shelf stable option available at most grocery stores is Pacific Foods Unsalted Chicken Bone Broth. This product is mass made but is a good option if you're on a budget.

You'll find 9 g protein and 90 mg sodium per serving with 158 mg potassium.

Pacific uses some ingredients for flavor and to extend the shelf life. 

These include dextrose, 'spices,' cider vinegar and rosemary extract.

Spices are self explanatory. Cider vinegar adds acid to help extend the shelf life. Rosemary extract is a natural preservative many companies use.

Dextrose is a simple carbohydrate. 

Overall this is an option if you're in store and can't find any others. But the addition of dextrose does add some carbohydrates. 

What are the reviews for these bone broths?

Like most products, there are mixed reviews for all of these bone broths. Unfortunately, you can no longer trust reviews from company websites because they can be messed with and controlled by the company.

Now we have to look to third party sites like Amazon. Even this is is difficult to trust sometimes, but it is the best unbiased source we have.

Bluebird Provisions gets great reviews for their taste, sourcing, convenience and customer service.

Osso Good is not on Amazon or any third party seller websites. So it is impossible to get any honest feedback online.

Bonafide Provisions gets good reviews for their quality. This is always a challenge with shipping frozen products. Some people found it a bit bland to taste.

 

Kettle and Fire Most people say it is a bit pricey but tastes good. Some did not like the taste, but you cannot please everyone.

What are the pros and cons of these bone broth brands?

There are pros and cons to every bone broth, let's take a look at each of them below.

Bluebird Provisions Pros:

• Highest protein and electrolytes (potassium) of the whole list.
• Second lowest sodium.
• Limited ingredient list with no common allergens.
• Best powdered bone broth
• 100% Recyclable package

Cons

• Not Liquid

Osso Good Pros

• Organic quality ingredients
• Lowest sodium
• Frozen and no preservatives

Cons

• Lowest protein of the list
• No potassium

Bonafide Provisions Pros

• Frozen and no preservatives
• Certified Organic + sourcing quality
• Strong ethical company background

Cons

• Low potassium
• Zip pouch with no spout for easy pouring

Kettle and Fire Pros

• Shelf stable for convenience

Cons

• Small package size
• Cost
• 21 ingredients
• 1 g sugar per serving

Pacific Foods Pros

• Widely available

Cons

• Extra ingredients : dextrose, cider vinegar, rosemary extract

What are the differences between these bone broth brands?

There are many differences between these bone broth brands. The main ones are the sourcing, packaging format and nutrition facts.

Bluebird Provisions is in a convenient shelf stable powder format, while the others are all liquid.

Kettle and Fire and Pacific are shelf stable in tetra paks. Conversely, Bonafide and Osso Good are in plastic standup pouches and are sold frozen.

Which bone broth is the best?

Bluebird Provisions makes the best bone broth to drink out of the low sodium options. Why? It has the highest collagen protein, highest potassium (for hydration) and tastes absolutely delicious. It is also the only one that uses 100% recyclable packaging.

What bone broth has the lowest sodium?

Bluebird Provisions bone broth protein powder has the lowest sodium out of just about any you will find on the market today. It has 130 mg per 250 ml serving, while most others you will find have 350-550 for the same serving. Look for one that has less than 150 mg if you can.

Can bone broth be toxic?

Bone broth is not toxic, but there is one potential issue that a tiny percentage of the population experiences while drinking it: histamine intolerance. If you are sensitive to histamines, you will have an allergic reaction to drinking it. This is usually nothing serious, you may feel bad or get headaches. In this case, it is best to avoid it.

What are the negative effects of bone broth?

The many negative effect of bone broth is from drinking a fraudulent product. Most store bought products are mislabelled junk that are bad for you.

As long as you drink real, traditionally made versions of it, there are no negative effects. It makes some people poop more, but that is temporary and because it is helping to clean out bad gut bacteria.

Yes, you read that correctly. Most store bought or online versions (including those in soup) are mislabeled junk that a bad for your health.

Why does bone broth say not a good source of protein?

Bone broth says not a good source of protein because it is listed as an incomplete protein. This means that the type of protein (amino acids) found in it are not complete.

Meaning that dieticians and policy makers have decided that you cannot survive using bone broth as your only protein source. You need other protein to get enough essential and branch chained amino acids.