The Bare Bones on the Bone Broth Diet The quick answer
The bone broth diet pairs several days of whole-food, lower-carb eating with a couple of lighter, broth-focused mini-fasting days each week. Its appeal rests on things with real support, high-protein satiety, fewer processed carbs, and a gentle form of intermittent fasting, though the branded plan itself has not been studied as a whole. It is not right for everyone.
- The basic idea: whole-food days plus a couple of broth-based mini-fast days each week.
- Why it can help: high protein, fewer processed carbs, and a mild intermittent-fasting effect.
- The honest limit: the specific plan is not studied as a whole; its parts have some support.
- Bone broth’s role: a warm, protein-forward, low-calorie way to curb hunger on lighter days.
- Not for everyone: skip it if pregnant, nursing, or with a history of disordered eating, and ask a professional first.
The bone broth diet is one of the most talked-about eating plans of the last decade, and like most diets, the honest version is more useful than either the hype or the dismissal. Here is what it actually involves, where it came from, which of its parts the research supports, what it does not do, and who should steer clear.
Where the Bone Broth Diet Comes From
The bone broth diet was created by Dr. Kellyann Petrucci, MS, ND, a board-certified naturopathic physician who spent years working with patients on weight and gut health before laying the approach out in her 2015 New York Times bestseller. The core insight was simple: pair nourishing bone broth with short, structured fasting windows she calls “mini-fasts,” so people could get the benefits of fasting without the misery that usually comes with it. Her framing of why broth sits at the center is memorable.
“Bone broth isn’t just broth. And it isn’t just soup.”
Dr. Kellyann Petrucci, MS, ND, creator of the bone broth diet
That is the spirit of the plan: broth is treated as a nourishing, protein-rich food that makes an otherwise hard pattern, eating less on some days, genuinely doable.
What the Bone Broth Diet Actually Is
In practice, the plan alternates two kinds of days. On most days of the week you eat whole foods, keeping processed carbs and added sugar low and leaning on quality protein, healthy fats, and vegetables, while sipping a cup or two of bone broth. On a couple of non-consecutive days each week, you do a broth-focused mini-fast, drinking bone broth in place of some meals along with water and herbal tea. It is, in short, a whole-food eating pattern combined with a mild, on-and-off form of intermittent fasting, with broth as the tool that makes the lighter days easier.
A typical day is not exotic. It looks like real meals built around protein and vegetables, a warm cup of broth when hunger strikes between them, and, on mini-fast days, broth doing more of the heavy lifting. There is nothing extreme about the whole-food days, which is part of why the plan is more sustainable than a crash diet.
Why the Parts of It May Help
The plan as a branded whole has not been tested in a clinical trial, so the fair way to judge it is by its parts, and several of those parts have real support.
High-Protein Satiety
A warm cup of bone broth delivers a few grams of protein for very few calories. Dietitians point out that bone broth is an easy way to add protein to your day, and protein is the most filling of the macronutrients, so a savory cup can genuinely take the edge off hunger on a lighter day. That is the mechanism doing much of the quiet work here: it is easier to eat less when you are not ravenous.
Fewer Processed Carbs and Whole Foods
The everyday side of the plan is simply whole-food eating with less sugar and fewer refined carbs. That is sensible advice on its own, it tends to lower calorie intake and steady blood sugar, and it does not depend on broth at all. A lot of what people credit to the broth is really the whole-food eating around it.
A Gentle Form of Intermittent Fasting
The broth-focused days work like a mild intermittent fast, and here the science is genuinely interesting. According to the National Institute on Aging, animal studies and a number of human trials suggest intermittent fasting can improve conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, though the same review is careful to note that human trials have mostly been short-term. The landmark New England Journal of Medicine review describes a metabolic switch, from burning glucose to burning fat for fuel, that begins after roughly 12 hours without food. Broth’s handful of calories keeps a mini-fast gentle, so it will not push you as deep into that switch as a strict water fast, but it makes the pattern far more livable.
The Gut and Collagen Angle
Bone broth also supplies gelatin and amino acids like glycine and glutamine, which are often discussed in relation to the gut, and collagen, which is discussed for skin. It is worth being honest that the evidence here is thinner: the research on glutamine and the gut shows a clear effect mainly at high supplemental doses, and the collagen studies used measured supplements rather than broth. So these are reasonable supporting reasons to enjoy broth, not the proven engine of the diet.
What the Evidence Does Not Show
Now the honest counterweight. There is no evidence that the specific plan does anything magical, and bone broth is not a weight-loss potion. It is a nourishing food that fits a sensible pattern, not the cause of the results on its own. A Cedars-Sinai dietitian keeps it in perspective.
“There’s no evidence that bone broth has greater health benefits than any other broths.”
L.J. Amaral, clinical dietitian, Cedars-Sinai
It is also worth saying plainly: your body detoxifies itself through the liver and kidneys. Bone broth can support a healthy routine, but it does not cleanse or detox anything for you, and any plan that promises otherwise is overselling it. Weight results depend on the whole pattern, they vary from person to person, and any rapid early drop is partly water rather than fat.
What to Expect
If you try it, expect the first few days of lower-carb eating to feel a little flat as your body adjusts, a common and temporary phase. From there, most people find the whole-food days easy and the mini-fast days manageable precisely because the broth blunts hunger. The honest way to hold your expectations is this: a short reset like this can help you break out of processed-food habits and drop some initial weight, but the lasting benefit comes from the sustainable habits it builds, not from the broth itself.
How Bone Broth Fits In
Used well, bone broth is the thing that makes the lighter days doable: a warm, savory, protein-forward cup that is genuinely satisfying for its calories. For the practical side of drinking and storing it, see how to use bone broth, and for the full, sourced picture of what broth may and may not do, see bone broth benefits. If you want to understand the fasting piece on its own, see the bone broth fast.
Who Should Be Careful
This is the most important section on the page. A broth-based diet with fasting days is not right for everyone. It is not suitable during pregnancy or breastfeeding, or for anyone with a history of disordered eating, where structured fasting and rapid weight-loss goals can be genuinely harmful. People managing a medical condition, taking medication, or living with diabetes should be especially cautious, since eating less can affect blood sugar and the way medications work. Older adults and anyone underweight should also take care not to lose muscle. If any of that applies to you, or you are simply not sure, talk with a qualified healthcare professional before you start. This page is information, not medical advice.
The Mini-Fast Days, in Detail
The mini-fast days are what make the plan distinctive, so it helps to know what one actually looks like. On a mini-fast day you skip regular meals and instead drink bone broth, usually a few cups spread across the day, along with plenty of water and unsweetened herbal tea. Because broth is warm, salty, and lightly protein-rich, it blunts hunger far better than water alone, which is the whole reason the day is survivable. Most plans place the mini-fast days on non-consecutive days, so you are never fasting two days in a row, and you return to normal whole-food eating in between. If a full mini-fast feels like too much at first, a gentler on-ramp is to simply shorten your eating window and lean on broth to bridge the gap.
Common Mistakes on the Bone Broth Diet
A few missteps trip people up. The first is treating it as a broth-only crash diet: the eating days are meant to be satisfying, whole-food meals with real protein, not starvation. The second is under-eating protein on the normal days, which can cost you muscle, especially if you are older. The third is going too hard, stacking fasting days back to back or extending them, when the plan is designed to be gentle and sustainable. The fourth is expecting the broth to do the work, when the results come from the overall pattern of whole foods, adequate protein, and modest fasting. Avoid those, and the plan becomes a reasonable, flexible reset rather than another crash diet that does not stick.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the bone broth diet work for weight loss?
It can help some people, mostly because it combines higher protein, fewer processed carbs, and a mild fasting effect, all of which can reduce calorie intake. The broth itself is not a magic weight-loss drink, and results vary.
Do you only drink bone broth on this diet?
No. Most days are normal whole-food eating with a cup or two of broth. Only a couple of lighter mini-fast days each week lean heavily on broth, and even then it is not meant to fully replace real meals long term.
Is the bone broth diet safe?
For many healthy adults, the whole-food days are simply sensible eating. The fasting days are where caution matters. It is not suitable during pregnancy or nursing, or for anyone with a history of disordered eating, and anyone with a medical condition or on medication should check with a professional first.
How much weight can you lose on the bone broth diet?
Claims of large, fast losses are marketing, and early weight change is partly water. A steadier, more honest expectation is modest fat loss over a few weeks, driven by the whole pattern, not the broth alone.
Does bone broth detox your body?
No. Your liver and kidneys handle detoxification. Bone broth can support a healthy routine, but it does not cleanse anything for you.
How long does the bone broth diet last?
Plans are often framed around three weeks, but the healthiest way to think about it is as a short reset or a flexible ongoing pattern, not a permanent very-low-calorie regimen.
Sources & References
Independent, third-party sources. No brand-funded or competitor-commissioned studies are cited as evidence; where cited research was industry-funded, that is noted in the text.
[1] Petrucci K. Dr. Kellyann’s Bone Broth Diet (New York Times bestseller). Rodale, 2015; reviewed in Publishers Weekly. www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-62336-671-1
[2] “Is Bone Broth Good for You?” (Lindsey Wohlford, RD). MD Anderson Cancer Center. www.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/is-bone-broth-good-for-you.h00-159694389.html
[3] “Research on intermittent fasting shows health benefits.” National Institute on Aging, U.S. National Institutes of Health. www.nia.nih.gov/news/research-intermittent-fasting-shows-health-benefits
[4] de Cabo R, Mattson MP. “Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Health, Aging, and Disease.” New England Journal of Medicine, 2019. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31881139/
[5] Systematic review and meta-analysis: glutamine and intestinal permeability. Amino Acids, 2024. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39397201/
[6] “Bone Broth: Is It Good for You?” (L.J. Amaral, RD). Cedars-Sinai. www.cedars-sinai.org/stories-and-insights/expert-advice/bone-broth
[7] Alcock RD, Shaw GC, Burke LM. “Bone Broth Unlikely to Provide Reliable Concentrations of Collagen Precursors.” Int. J. Sport Nutrition & Exercise Metabolism, 2019. doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2018-0139