By Dr Mercola

If you happen to be in New York City, you can stop by Brodo, a trendy new to-go restaurant devoted to selling broth. One cup will set you back about $8… or you can make a gallon (that’s 16 cups) of this healing staple food right in your own kitchen for far less than the equivalent $128.

There’s no doubt that bone broth’s popularity as a superfood is growing. More than a few New York City bars are even featuring bone broth shots and cocktails. But there’s nothing “new” about it.

Bone broth may quite possibly be one of the oldest meals on record. Hippocrates was known to extol its virtues, and according to Dr. Kaayla Daniel, vice president of the Weston A. Price Foundation and coauthor (with Sally Fallon Morell) of the book Nourishing Broth:

Bone broth goes way back to the Stone Age, when they were actually cooking broth in turtle shells and in skins over the fire.”

Why Bone Broth Is Regarded as a Superfood

There’s something inherently soothing about sipping on a warm cup of broth, and it really does have medicinal potential.

For starters, bone broth is used as the foundation of the GAPs diet, which is based on the Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) principles developed by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. It forms the foundation because it is so healing to your gut.

The GAPS diet is often used to treat children with autism and other disorders rooted in gut dysfunction, but just about anyone with allergies or less than optimal gut health can benefit from it, as it is designed to heal leaky gut.

If your gut is leaky or permeable, partially undigested food, toxins, viruses, yeast, and bacteria have the opportunity to pass through your intestine and access your bloodstream; this is known as leaky gut.

When your intestinal lining is repeatedly damaged due to reoccurring leaky gut, damaged cells called microvilli become unable to do their job properly. They become unable to process and utilize the nutrients and enzymes that are vital to proper digestion.

Eventually, digestion is impaired and absorption of nutrients is negatively affected. As more exposure occurs, your body initiates an attack on these foreign invaders. It responds with inflammation, allergic reactions, and other symptoms we relate to a variety of diseases.

Leaky gut is the root of many allergies and autoimmune disorders, for example. When combined with toxic overload, you have a perfect storm that can lead to neurological disorders like autism, ADHD, and learning disabilities.

One of the main foods that you use is bone broth, because not only is it very easily digested, it also contains profound immune-optimizing components that are foundational building blocks for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

Nutrients That Many Americans Are Lacking

Bone broth contains a variety of valuable nutrients of which many Americans are lacking, in a form your body can easily absorb and use. This includes but is not limited to:

These nutrients account for many of the healing benefits of bone broth. As Dr. Daniel told the Washington Post:

“We have science that supports the use of cartilage, gelatin, and other components found in homemade bone broth to prevent and sometimes even reverse osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, digestive distress, autoimmune disorders, and even cancer.”

Additional benefits of bone broth include the following:

1. 1. Reduces joint pain and inflammation, courtesy of chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine, and other compounds extracted from the boiled down cartilage and collagen.
   2. Inhibits infection caused by cold and flu viruses etc. Indeed, Dr. Daniel reports chicken soup — known as “Jewish penicillin”—has been revered for its medicinal qualities at least since Moses Maimonides in the 12th century.⁵

Recent studies on cartilage, which is found abundantly in homemade broth, show it supports the immune system in a variety of ways; it’s a potent normalizer, true biological response modifier, activator of macrophages, activator of Natural Killer (NK) cells, rouser of B lymphocytes, and releaser of Colony Stimulating Factor.

1. Fights inflammation: Amino acids such as glycine, proline, and arginine all have anti-inflammatory effects. Arginine, for example, has been found to be particularly beneficial for the treatment of sepsis (whole-body inflammation). Glycine also has calming effects, which may help you sleep better.
2. Promotes strong, healthy bones: Dr. Daniel reports bone broth contains surprisingly low amounts of calcium, magnesium and other trace minerals, but she says “it plays an important role in healthy bone formation because of its abundant collagen. Collagen fibrils provide the latticework for mineral deposition and are the keys to the building of strong and flexible bones.”
3. Promotes healthy hair and nail growth, thanks to the gelatin in the broth. Dr. Daniel reports that by feeding collagen fibrils, broth can even eliminate cellulite too.

Bone broth is also getting attention for its use in sports medicine. Genuine bone broth contains components of cartilage that may help your body make cartilage. In addition, Dr. Daniel notes that body builders have long used gelatin supplements to support muscle growth. She describes bone broth as “the raw food version of a gelation supplement.”