Bone broth has a loyal following. Walk into almost any health food store and you’ll find cartons of it stacked near the soup aisle, often with a price tag that makes you wonder what’s actually in there.
A lot of the buzz around bone broth centers on skin. The idea is simple: bones and connective tissue are full of collagen, collagen is what keeps skin firm, so drinking bone broth should firm up your skin too.
It’s a tidy story. The real picture is a little more complicated, and honestly, more interesting.
What Bone Broth Actually Is
Bone broth is made by simmering animal bones, often with a splash of vinegar, for many hours. That long cook time breaks down connective tissue and pulls collagen out of the bones, where it converts into gelatin and a mix of amino acids, including glycine and proline.
This is different from a quick weeknight stock. The extended simmer time is what gives bone broth its characteristic body and richness.
What the Research Actually Shows About Collagen and Skin
Here’s where it’s worth slowing down.
Several clinical trials have looked at oral collagen supplements and skin. A recent review pooling data from multiple human studies found that people who took hydrolyzed collagen supplements saw improvements in skin hydration, elasticity, and the appearance of wrinkles (1).
That sounds promising, and for supplements specifically, it is. But bone broth is not the same thing as a hydrolyzed collagen supplement, and this is the part that often gets glossed over.
A study that directly measured the collagen-related amino acids in bone broth found the levels were significantly lower, and far less consistent, than what’s used in the supplement research (4). In other words, the collagen doses shown to help skin in clinical trials are typically higher and more concentrated than what a cup of homemade broth reliably provides.
Mayo Clinic dermatologists have also noted that there still isn’t strong evidence that oral collagen products, in general, reverse visible signs of aging (3). Some people do see a difference. Others don’t notice much at all. Individual results vary quite a bit, and skin aging has a lot of contributing factors beyond diet.
None of this means bone broth is pointless. It may provide amino acids that your body can use when making collagen, even if it isn’t a proven skin fix on its own.
For people who are curious about giving their skin a bit more targeted support, some people look into additional options for skin and collagen support alongside the basics like diet, hydration, and sun protection.
Hyaluronic Acid and Hydration
Hyaluronic acid gets mentioned in the same breath as collagen a lot. It’s a substance your body naturally produces that helps skin hold onto moisture.
Unlike the collagen story, there’s more direct research here. A randomized clinical trial found that oral hyaluronic acid supplementation improved skin hydration in both younger and older adults over several weeks (2). Bone broth does contain trace amounts of hyaluronic acid from connective tissue, though again, the amount naturally varies quite a bit depending on how it’s made.
Other Ways Bone Broth May Support Your Body
Skin aside, there are a few other reasons people keep bone broth in their routine.
- Depending on how it’s prepared, it can provide a modest amount of protein and other amino acids, especially useful if you’re not a big meat eater at every meal.
- The glycine and gelatin in bone broth may be gentle on digestion for some people, which is part of why it shows up so often in recovery-focused diets.
- It contains minerals such as calcium and phosphorus, although the amounts vary considerably depending on the bones used and how the broth is prepared.
A lot of people don’t realize that the mineral and collagen content of homemade bone broth can swing wildly from batch to batch. That’s not a flaw. It’s just the nature of a whole-food ingredient instead of a standardized product.
Anti-Aging Bone Broth Recipe
If you want to try it, homemade is generally your best bet for a richer, more collagen-dense broth than most store-bought versions.
Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 10 to 12 hours Serves: 6 to 8
What you’ll need:
- 2 pounds of bones from pasture-raised beef, chicken, turkey, or pork
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 2 carrots, roughly chopped
- A few garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
- Bay leaves, thyme, or parsley, to taste
How to make it:
- Add the bones, onion, carrots, garlic, vinegar, and herbs to a large stockpot.
- Cover everything with water and bring it to a gentle simmer.
- Let it simmer on low heat for 10 to 12 hours. The longer, gentler cook helps pull more collagen from the bones.
- Strain the broth and let it cool slightly before drinking or storing.
It keeps well in the fridge for about 4 to 5 days, or you can freeze it in smaller portions.
A Realistic Takeaway
Bone broth is a genuinely nourishing food. It’s warm, comforting, and can contribute protein to your diet. But it’s not a miracle skin treatment, and it shouldn’t be marketed as one.
If skin health is your main goal, the research points more clearly toward oral hyaluronic acid and concentrated collagen supplements than toward bone broth alone. That doesn’t mean you have to choose one or the other. Plenty of people enjoy bone broth as part of a broader routine that also includes sun protection, hydration, and sleep, three things that consistently show up in the research on skin aging.
There’s also a piece of this that happens behind the scenes. Your liver plays an essential role in processing nutrients from food and supplements as part of normal metabolism, whether those nutrients come from bone broth, other foods, or a supplement.
If you’ve been thinking about giving your skin some extra support, it may be worth taking a closer look at a collagen support option that fits into your routine alongside the basics.
And if you’re curious about the bigger picture of how your body processes and uses what you take in, this is a helpful next step to check out.
Sources
- Exploring the Impact of Hydrolyzed Collagen Oral Supplementation on Skin Rejuvenation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10773595/
- Oral administration of hyaluronic acid to improve skin conditions via a randomized double-blind clinical test. PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10661223/
- Mayo Clinic Minute: Can collagen supplements help with aging? Mayo Clinic News Network. https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ready-3-13-mayo-clinic-minute-can-collagen-supplements-help-with-aging/
- Bone Broth Unlikely to Provide Reliable Concentrations of Collagen Precursors Compared With Supplemental Sources of Collagen Used in Collagen Research. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2019. https://journals.humankinetics.com/downloadpdf/journals/ijsnem/29/3/article-p265.pdf