Bone Broth, Leaky Gut, Collagen, Meat stock?! Oh My!

To bone broth or not to bone broth?

I was speaking with a friend and Mom working in the maternal health sphere, and she jokingly said “so postpartum recovery isn’t just about drinking bone broth and then you’re good?!” - I laughed because that has become the “fix all” on social media these days.

While bone broth has it’s benefits, it is definitely not a heal all solution- and actually not even something I recommend for most people postpartum (or otherwise).

What I (always and highly) recommend instead is meat stock.

Meat stock, bone broth- what is the difference?! These things sound pretty damn similar, but the difference is essential to understand.

Bone broth is made by cooking down boney bones for long periods of time (12-48 hours). As you can imagine, this is primarily breaking down bone tissue - which is extremely rich in minerals and has a complicated amino acid profile (high in protein with a variety of amino acids present). A boney bone is one that has little to no meat or connective tissue on it. A broth rich in minerals and protein, sounds great, right?

Bone broth has also been found to contain rather high amounts of glutamic acid (an amino acid) which is essential to the formation of Glutamate, an excitatory chemical in the brain and nervous system. You have probably all heard of GABA, which is the inhibitory chemical in the brain and nervous system and helps us feel calm- well Glutamate is it’s opposite.

Glutamic acid and Glutamate are NOT inherently a bad thing - not at all- they are much needed. However, in people with compromised guts (ie: leaky gut), high bone broth consumption can cause increased glutamic acid absorption in the gut, producing an imbalanced amount of glutamate- leading to excitatory states like anxiety or insomnia. Additionally, as mentioned the complex amino acid profile of bone broth can be more difficult for a compromised gut to process. So the moral of this story, drinking bone broth when you have compromised gut function may not be the most rewarding thing for your system. Please note, that if your gut is very healthy and functions optimally, drinking bone broth is a wonderful way to get minerals and I do recommend it.

Unfortunately many folks struggle with poor gut health or increased gut permeability due to inflammation, especially postpartum when the gut is especially compromised. Things that compromise the integrity of your gut lining include medications like antibiotics, NSAIDs, OCPS, food laden with pesticides, high refined sugar content of foods, stress, previous illnesses and even things like your neurodevelopment as an infant. All of these things clearly impact our microbiome (bacterial) diversity which directly impacts the health of the cells lining our intestinal tract (and the rest of our body!)

I would say the majority of humans have one risk factor or another for low microbial diversity and gut inflammation. This is a BIG topic for another time….back to the meat stock.

So if bone broth isn’t recommended for folks with compromised guts, what is?

Meat stock!!

Okay but what the heck is the difference? Meat stock is made by cooking a MEATY bones for a short period of time (1-4 hours). A meaty bone is exactly as it sounds, a bone with meat on it and therefore connective tissue. (Connective tissue is required to hold meat onto bones, in animals and in our own bodies). When we cook down meaty bones for a short period of time, we are not cooking for long enough to start breaking down the bone, but rather dissolving the proteins that make up the connective tissue, aka, collagen. This produces a stock that is rich in some minerals, but mostly rich in the key amino acids that build connective tissue. Two of the most common amino acids being proline and glycine.

Why is this so awesome?

The cells that make up our gut lining are in many ways, similar to connective tissue cells, and certainly are surrounded by connective tissue cells. That means by giving them the key nutrients needed to synthesize connective tissue, we can support their healing.

This amino acid profile is also more easily absorbed so that it can be transported and utilized by other areas of the body in need of connective tissue repair. This is essential postpartum when many people are healing perineal tears, cesarean scars and rebuilding connective tissue in joints after high levels of relaxin and the physical demands of pregnancy and birth. But this is also essential for most humans in general- as so much of our connective tissue is in constant turnover (hello, skin!)

When you think about the fact that connective tissue production relies on specific amino acids, mostly found in connective tissue - it becomes quite obvious that we need to consume connective tissue to build connective tissue. This is another reason why it is very hard to thrive on a vegan diet as a pregnant or postpartum human. (Ps: remember how you just build a human from scratch, connective tissue and all!?!)

It is worth noting at this time that this form of collagen is far superior than any collagen you can buy at the store. Most collagen supplements are extremely long amino acid chains that are not easily absorbed or utilized- they are in a highly processed form. So while they are partially used and helpful, unfortunately a good portion of those supplements are simply getting pooped out before being absorbed. Meat stock is a cheap and effective way at getting minimally processed collagen that is in it’s lovely bioavailable form. (Aka, save your money and make meat stock!)

Moral of this very long story is that meat stock is superior to bone broth for the majority of the population and especially for folks postpartum.

I recommend using meat stock to heal the gut and to heal after any sort of physical stress, injury, pregnancy or birth. Once healing and balance is achieved, or occasionally alongside meat stock, bone broth is a helpful addition for a mineral rich concoction.

Your quick guide to making meat stock:

Use “meaty bones” for meat stock, this includes joints, backs, neck, legs, head, feet- or you can use the whole bird if you are using chicken. You can also use beef, lamb, pork, turkey and fish. Talk to some meat suppliers at your local farmers market to get deals on these products/ find high quality animal products. Chicken feet are my most popular go-to and are very cheap at grocery stores/butchers but I personally love the flavor of oxtail stock.

Use 1 quart of water for every 1 lb of meaty bones.

Do NOT cook with cruciferous veggies (it will make it taste too strong and weird), instead try cooking with carrots, onions, fresh herbs, sea salt and pepper. You may even keep it completely neutral and salt free so you can add it to things that can be enjoyed sweet (like hot chocolate or porridge!)

Cook for 1.5-3 hours, medium heat- you want it simmering, but not a strong boil. You will know its done when all the meat is falling completely off the bone. The bigger the bone or the more tough the meats- the longer you will need to cook. For example- chicken feet only need about 90 minutes but a lamb leg may need closer to 3 hours.

Using a spoon, scrap off any impurities that rise to the top- usually looks like brown, yucky foam.

Strain out contents using fine mesh strainer. Depending on what you used, you can and should use the meat for something!! You can save it for soups or stews. If I am using necks or backs or some cut of meat I don’t necessarily want to eat- I still save it and give it to my dog! (She LOVES meat stock days. Be mindful of alliums and dogs, of course!)

Your meat stock should “gel” – or thicken when put in the fridge. Some will completely gel like jello, others will just slightly thicken. You can store it in the fridge for about 1 week. It will keep in a freezer for about 1 year. I recommend storing in class jars.

I generally recommend people consume between 4-6 cups daily for therapeutic purposes, or less as needed for general support. It is also just wonderful to use in recipes as the base for your soups, stocks, curries and whatever else you need some added liquid for. Meat stock is AMAZING for babies too! It can be used in your purees or given to babes as little jello snacks. They love it and it is so healing for their guts.

Enjoy!