msschneider-blog1

[msschneider-blog1]

8 Myths Behind the Bone Broth Protein Powder Scam

By Marc S. Schneider, M.D.

Ahhh, grandma’s chicken soup. It tastes so good and is supposed to be healthy for you.  In fact, weren’t you given it when you had a cold or the flu?

But did it really make you better?

A study published in the American College of Chest Physicians by Dr. Stephen Rennard shows that a very specific version of chicken soup containing strained vegetables may have been of benefit.

But is grandma’s chicken soup the same as bone broth protein?  No it is not.

Bone broth comes from slow boiling bones (chicken, pork, beef) in a slurry of water with a dash of vinegar for hours and hours. The bones are removed and then the mixture is allowed to dehydrate with continued slow cooking.  When all the liquid is evaporated, the end solids are bone broth protein.  You can crush it into a powder if you like and this is the powder that is part of commercially available bone broth protein powders.

The yield of cooking a whole pot of bones is very small.  If you wanted to get a pint of already made bone broth from the butcher, a pint would run you around $6.  If you then dehydrated this, you would be left with less than ½ a scoop of powder.

 So let’s get this right:   $6 for a ½ scoop of REAL bone broth protein powder?  I am not speaking about the prepackaged “all natural” “organic” powders that are sold at the health food stores. More on that later.

 And does bone broth protein really have any health value?  Let’s explore 8 Myths about this magical stuff.

 Myth 1:  Science Shows that Bone Broth is Beneficial.

In reality, there are no controlled trials published in any scientific journals demonstrating the benefit of bone broth protein.  Not in animals, and not in humans. You can find books and blog articles that purport its benefit but no scientific, peer reviewed articles.

 Myth 2: Bone Broth Helps Protect Your Gut

There is a medical condition called leaky gut syndrome that is associated with gaps in the lining of the intestine that may occur in severe stress (burn, trauma) and inflammatory conditions (Crohn’s, UC).  Bone broth has an amino acid called glutamine.  Glutamine is beneficial for leaky gut.

 Does bone broth have enough glutamine to make a difference?

 No. Glutamine supplementation for leaky gut typically uses 30-35  grams per day.  Think about it.  A typical glutamine pill is 1 gram and a normal daily supplementation would be 5 grams. Leaky gut requires 30-35 grams!!   You would have to consume a bottle a week of the pure supplement.  You are not going to find that dose in bone broth protein.

 Myth 3: Bone Broth Will Improve Your Bones and Joints

Bone broth protein contains collagen.  Collagen has been shown in some studies to help some arthritic conditions.  But again, the dosage of collagen required is much much higher than that found in a dose of bone broth protein.

 Myth 4: Bone Broth is Great for Your Skin

Hydrolyzed collagen supplementation has been shown to improve the appearance of crepiness in the skin and wrinkles.  But again, this collagen is hydrolyzed and supplemented at a specific dose.  You won’t find this dose nor hydrolyzed collagen in bone broth protein.

 Myth 5: Bone Broth Will Cure Your Cold

Again, back to Dr. Rennard’s journal article: chicken soup may be of some benefit. However the chicken soup that was studied in this article is very different than what is found in bone broth protein

 Myth 6: Bone Broth Detoxifies Your Liver

Detoxification of the liver is a different subject all together and worth its own blog article. Livers can become injured from a number of toxins including plain ole Tylenol. Physicians use a variety of nutraceuticals that do support the liver during stress such as NAC and milk thistle. A study in rats where they tied off the artery going to the liver (now that is a big injury) showed that giving the rats a huge dose of glycine helped limit the injury.

 Proponents of bone broth protein thus suggest that the glycine in it will support liver detox. From our standpoint, that is a really big jump to make such a claim.

 Myth 7:  You Will Love the Taste of Bone Broth

You might.  If you do: enjoy.  When it comes to supplementation, I do love products that taste good. The key for me though is, is the supplement really going to improve my health more than a whole food?  If it does, then I take it.  If it doesn’t, I don’t waste my money on it.

 Myth 8: Bone Broth Protein is a Great Supplement

Do you really know what you are getting in a bone broth protein supplement?  There is a little tricky marketing going on in the bone broth protein world.  Did you know that the top selling product actually uses chicken protein as its main ingredient?  The chicken bone broth protein in it is a secondary ingredient.

 The FDA dictates that the most prevalent protein ingredient on the label has to be listed first.  If a manufacturer uses 2 different proteins, the first one listed has to be a smidge more than 50%.  But if it is the cheapest protein ingredient, it could be as much as 99.9%.

 What???  

 Yes, this is true, and many supplement companies use this little gambit to mislead the consumer… and rack up profits.  So if a manuMythurer listed “chicken protein, chicken bone broth protein” the ingredient Myth would still read the same regardless of whether there was 50.1% chicken protein or 99.9% chicken protein. And that is hidden behind an organic, all natural, no gmo label.  

 And you would have no idea what you are getting. Personally, I would rather eat my chicken.

 So What Do You Think? If you want to read more about this and eliminate the nonsense you are being fed by the nutrition industry, check out our blog at: https://dioxyme.com/blog/

 Our personal philosophy is to try and eat wholesome, natural, grass fed, free range foods. Where my diet or nutrition suffers, or if there is a supplement that gives me something that whole food can’t, then I use a supplement.