I Bone Broth Fasted for 2 Days, Here’s What Happened...

Bone broth, the “super food” of the gut health world. Recommended by nutritionists and people suffering from gut abnormalities around the world. But what makes it so great? 

Although there are different opinions on bone broth, some saying it is a miracle and others saying it is simply useless, I decided to try it out myself. If you have been following my blog or social media, you know that I have Functional Abdominal Pain Syndrome, AKA I.B.S. If you want to learn more about me and my gut health journey, click here.

Back to bone broth. I’d like to first go over some of the advantages of bone broth fasting, and then we will dive deeper into my experience with my two day fast and what changed, if anything. 

To start, I’d like to say that I am not a doctor or nutritionist, please contact your health care provider before making any diet or health decisions. This information is strictly from research and experience. 

Bone broth is not your plain chicken stock you buy off a shelf at Walmart, it is made with bones and connective tissue, rather than meat. Through simmering the bones and connective tissue in water for a long period of time, along with vegetables and seasonings, the bones release collagen, vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. Some people will add gelatin to their broth, which can help heal the lining of your gut, according to parsleyhealth.com

Sounds great, right? Nutrients, minerals, gut health... but, what’s the catch? There are other ways to incorporate bone broth into your diet other than fasting, which I will discuss in a moment. For now, let’s talk about the fasting side effects.  

Of course your body wants to eat food, it wants something to chew and digest, but the point of this fast is for you body to not have to digest any whole food. So, don’t expect to drink a mug of broth and feel energized, full, and have your life changed immediately. 

Here’s what to expect, at least from my experience:

Weakness, fatigue, brain fog, hunger, cravings, lack of concentration, and just a feeling of “bleh.” 

Now, I know this list seems daunting, but some of these symptoms can probably be avoided by not making the same mistakes as I did, which I will list below. 

1. Not using enough bones. 

When I made my bone broth, I used two packs of chicken drums and two packs of chicken thighs. I made a THM recipe (like this one) and cut the cooked meat off of the bones. The meat was eaten by my family throughout the week, and the bones were made into broth. 

I used my sister, Clair’s, recipe (check out her Instagram here) which calls for chicken bones (obviously), onion, celery, carrots, bay leaves, salt and pepper, apple cider vinegar, and a whole bunch of water. I was supposed to use two chicken carcasses, so I definitely didn’t have enough bones. I roasted the bones at 450 for about 30 minutes before making the broth, which is supposed to help extract the collagen from the bones. 

The collagen is what keeps you from being extremely hungry, light headed, and weak. Of course weakness is normal, that is why you should rest while on this fast, but with collagen it isn’t an unhealthy kind of weak. 

If you put your broth in the fridge and it turns to a jello like consistency, that means there is a lot of collagen in it. Mine stayed liquid, which was not good. 

2. Working too Hard

As I said above, when on this fast a certain level of weakness should be expected. On the first day, I decided to clean out a chicken coop before my energy ran out. Bad idea. 

That day I felt awful and had to eat some applesauce because I turned pale and could barely walk in a straight line. The collagen definitely had something to do with that, along with the mistake I will list next, but cleaning out a chicken coop is not the best idea when you are on a bone broth fast.

The best way to spend your time is on the sofa with a good (easy read) book and a big mug full of broth. 

3. Not drinking enough broth.

This is one of the biggest mistakes I made. This along with the lack of collagen is what made me have to stop at 2 days instead of stick it out for 3. 

This doesn’t need much explaining. I simply didn’t drink enough. When on this fast, you are supposed to be resting and constantly drinking your broth. I would drink a mug, take a nap, drink a mug, read a book, drink a mug, watch a movie... you get the idea. Instead of drinking it constantly, I was taking breaks from the taste of broth and drinking tea, which gave me no energy. 

Now that you know all the mistakes I made, let me share what changed in my body as I went through this fast. 

1. Hair

I didn’t notice any changes in my hair, probably because I only did two days and didn’t have enough collagen in my broth. 

2. Nails

Since I didn’t have a lot of collagen in my broth, I didn’t expect much change in my nails. I normally use powdered collagen as a protein powder in smoothies and oatmeal, so I usually have pretty strong nails anyways.

3. Skin

My skin broke out SO MUCH over the two days, and continued for about a week after. I have recently found a good skin care routine that keeps my skin from not breaking out too much, but this fast set my skin on full detox mode. After those breakouts, however, my skin feels very healthy. I definitely think I should do a small detox every once in a while to keep my skin more neutral. 

4. Appetite

I found it interesting that after the fast ended, my appetite was very small. Since I have a fast metabolism and am moving a lot throughout the day, I have a good appetite. But, for about a week or two after the fast, I could eat breakfast and go until 3:00 or 4:00 before getting hungry again. 

5. The Big One; my Stomach

The whole reason I did this fast was to help my stomach heal. I am sad to say, it didn’t help. In fact it took me about a week to get my stomach back to normal, I experienced more nausea than usual and had a lot of pain. 

You don’t have to do a fast to get the health benefits of bone broth. As I said earlier, there are more ways to incorporate it into your diet other than a fast. Some people will sip on it throughout the day while eating a normal diet and others will add it to recipes. This might  be a better option for someone who is busy or for a child. But, again I am no health expert. 

So, in conclusion, would I recommend a bone broth fast? Yes. Even though it didn’t work out for me, I would recommend it. I was pleased with how my skin detoxed, and I think my stomach would benefit if I drank more broth with a higher level of collagen.

Who knows, maybe I will try it again sometime! 

Have you done a bone broth fast? Do you drink bone broth on a regular basis? Let me know what you think of this “miracle food” in the comments!