Many people do not realise that bone broth can help with weight loss. Broth isn’t usually something that people would think of including in their diet to lose weight, but I can testify that bone broth can help with weight loss. I lost 6 stone in two-years when I first started to include broth into my diet. After the birth of my two children, my weight increased and I had digestive problems, including chronic thrush and UTI infections. The only answer from the GP was drugs. I spent three-years on the NHS roundabout of tests and drugs, but not once was I ever advised to look at my diet. It wasn’t until I finally had enough of my health problems, that I turned my attention to the health of my gut. I started researching my issues and discovered some food and drinks that I could make – bone broth and kefir water. I also changed my diet by including more proteins and vegetables, and less carbs. It was not long before I was shedding the kilos. I reversed my health condition in 12 weeks and lost 2.5 stone initially. I kept going with my new way of eating and in 2 years I had lost 6 stone. It was an amazing transformation. Not only had I got my health back, but I also felt simply amazing. Naturally, I decided to go into business selling the products that I was making. I felt inspired to share the news about what I had discovered, so I set up Boil and Broth. From one slow cooker to a factory, we are now on a mission to raise awareness about the goodness of our products and also about gut health.
Why broth helps you lose weight?
Why can bone broth help with weight loss is a common question asked because people still don’t know about the goodness of bone broth, the information isn’t out there to help educate people. Bone broth is a very simple process of simmering bones in boiling water over a long period of time. The simmering process, along with a little apple cider vinegar, helps to extract the nutrients from the bones. In bones there are amino acids (proteins) and certain minerals which the body needs to function. It is these nutrients that are extracted from the bones into the broth, so when you ingest the broth you are getting the goodness directly into your gut. Bone broth can help to aid digestion.
When you have an inflamed gut, your food cannot digest properly. Inflammation usually leads to denaturing of the enzymes. What this means is that the enzymes that usually help to break down the food in your gut work less effectively and the food isn’t broken down properly at all. When this happens only some of the nutrients from the food will be absorbed into the blood and others will be stored as fat or passed out as waste. As a result, your body slowly becomes malnourished leading to other health complications.
When your body cannot break down food properly, a common side effect is weight gain. Therefore, supporting the digestive system can be advantageous for long term health results. Once you start feeding the gut what it needs, then the gut will naturally start to function better and therefore you will lose weight as the body uses the food you eat more effectively.
The other reason bone broth is good for weight loss is because it is full of protein. Protein helps to make you fuller for longer so when you drink bone broth regularly, you are less likely to crave food straight afterwards. This is what carbohydrates make you do. Also, carbohydrates are sugars and play an integral role in the rising and dropping of your blood sugar levels. When you eat too many carbohydrates in a meal, or you eat simple carbohydrates, this causes your blood sugar levels to spike rapidly, but because the sugars are simple and broken down much quicker, your sugar levels drop faster causing you to feel lethargic and hungry. As a result, most people reach for more sugar blaming their crashes on not having enough sugar in their diet. Having a cup of bone broth when you are hungry can help to quench your hunger pains.
How to lose weight with bone broth
There are a few methods you could try to give your weight loss the boost that it needs. First of all, have your bone broth on an empty stomach. You could try this first thing in the morning when your digestive system has rested. Before you eat any breakfast, make yourself a cup of broth and sip it. Then allow an hour before you have anything else to eat. When you do eat, make sure you eat something like meat, eggs and avocado with a few greens like spinach.
Fasting with bone broth is another great way to speed up your weight loss. You could fast from dinner the night before right the way through to lunch time, or you could eat breakfast and lunch, then fast from dinner until the following morning. During the time of your fasting, you can only drink bone broth and water. The broth will help to keep your hunger pains away.
Other ways to support your weight loss
Make sure that you cut out or cut down on your carbohydrates. Most people eat too many carbohydrates in their diet, so cutting them out or cutting back on them is another great way to support your weight loss. Eating too many carbohydrates can inhibit weight loss because humans burn carbohydrates as their primary energy source, so constantly having them as the primary source of energy, means that your body can never burn fat.
Try fasting too. Fasting is a powerful way to give your metabolism a boost. Fasting for about 15-18 hours can help to rest your digestive system. During your time of fasting only drink broth and water.
Take probiotics, whether in supplement form or fermented drinks such as our kefir water. Helping to bring some balance back to your gut microbiome will make you feel healthier and also prevent infection.
Exercise and make sure you are moving more. When you exercise, you are burning calories and speeding up your metabolism. This will help you start burning fat, especially if you have cut out carbohydrates.
Finally, give up alcohol for a while, or even completely. Simply put, there is no nutritional benefit to drinking alcohol. Red wine occasionally is beneficial for the gut, but only 1-2 glasses a couple of times a week. Alcohol in general is the world’s biggest legal drug and so many people have problems with alcohol dependency. Alcohol is not broken down in your body, so will be stored as fat. It also makes your liver sluggish and prevents it from working properly. Drinking alcohol regularly is what will keep your weight on. You must give it up, or cut back to help see improvements to your weight loss, and also your health in general.