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Not medical advice. The Atlas is not a substitute for a clinician who can examine you.

Bone Broth Fasting

Modified Fast · Broth-Only Protocol

Evidence grade 1 of 5, Untested. Read how the Atlas grades evidence.

0 human trials, about 8 studies, Anecdotal. The written rationale for this grade is still being prepared.

FDA
Not a regulated intervention
WADA
Not prohibited

Reference only. Not medical advice.

What can go wrong

Generally low risk for healthy adults. Sodium content can be high and matters for people with hypertension, kidney disease, or heart failure. The deep-fast benefits (autophagy, deep ketosis) are largely lost because protein and calories break the fasted state. Some bone broths carry measurably elevated lead from the bones, which is most relevant for repeated heavy consumption, pregnancy, and children, since no lead exposure is considered fully safe. Restrictive multi-day broth-only patterns are not a substitute for medical nutrition and are not appropriate for people who are pregnant or breastfeeding, children, or anyone with a history of disordered eating; eating-behavior, pregnancy, and pediatric questions should be directed to a qualified physician or registered dietitian before starting.

Bone broth fasting is a modified fast in which only bone broth, supplying electrolytes, a little protein, and roughly a few hundred calories, is consumed for one or more days. It is gentler and easier to tolerate than a water fast, but the protein and calories raise insulin and mTOR signaling enough to blunt the deep autophagy and ketosis that define a true fast. The branded version, popularized by Kellyann Petrucci, pairs broth-only mini-fasts with low-carb eating; its proponents report weight loss, smoother skin, and gut benefits. Controlled evidence for these specific claims is absent, and some bone broths have measurably elevated lead. It is best understood as a low-risk, physiologically shallow reset rather than a true fast.

Not a true fast. A low-calorie broth protocol that eases the experience while blunting some benefits.

What people take it for

These are the reasons people give for taking it. They are not effects it has been shown to have.

  • Gentle modified-fast or reset framing
  • Electrolyte and fluid support during fasting windows
  • Easier-to-tolerate alternative to water-only fasting
  • Warm, satiating low-calorie option on intermittent-fasting days
  • Adherence aid for people who struggle with strict fasts

What people get wrong

  • Often saidBone broth keeps you in a true fasted state

    ActuallyThe protein and amino acids in broth, especially leucine, activate mTORC1 and raise insulin, which suppresses autophagy; mechanistically it is a modified fast, not a true one (mTOR-autophagy reviews, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 2021).

  • Often saidDrinking collagen broth heals a leaky gut

    ActuallyDietary collagen is digested into amino acids like any protein, and leaky gut syndrome is not a recognized medical diagnosis; intestinal permeability is real but unproven as a standalone disease (Cleveland Clinic). Human evidence for collagen improving gut symptoms is limited to small preliminary studies.

  • Often saidBone broth fasting drives the weight loss in the program

    ActuallyThe one human trial bundles broth with intermittent fasting, low-carb Paleo eating, and exercise, each independently linked to weight loss, and has no control arm, so it cannot show broth itself is responsible (open-label single-arm trial, Clinical Nutrition Open Science, 2025).

  • Often saidHomemade bone broth is automatically pure and clean

    ActuallyBones sequester lead, and a blinded study measured chicken bone broth at roughly 7 to 10 times the lead of the tap water used to make it, even with organic free-range birds (Monro et al., Medical Hypotheses, 2013).

Who profits, and who pushes back

  • Cleveland Clinic

    Pushes backAcademic medical center, gastroenterology guidance

    We know that the condition of having intestinal permeability or a leaky gut is real, but we don't know that it's a disease in itself, or that it causes other diseases.

  • Margaret E. Sears and colleagues / Monro et al.

    Pushes backAuthors, Medical Hypotheses (2013) lead-in-broth study

    Bones sequester lead, and broth made from chicken bones contained markedly higher lead than the water used to prepare it; in view of lead's toxicity, clinicians should consider this when recommending bone-broth diets.

  • Fasting-physiology literature (mTOR-autophagy reviews)

    Pushes backCell and metabolic biology

    Amino acids, particularly leucine, activate mTORC1 and suppress autophagy, so even modest protein intake during a fasting window shifts the body out of the deep fasted state.

  • Dr. Kellyann Petrucci

    Sells this. Has a commercial interest in a product sold as this compound, as of July 2026.

    Promotes itBooks, products

    Built a bone-broth-fasting brand and product line. Popular framing; limited controlled evidence.

  • Wellness community

    Promotes itMixed

    Used as a gentler fasting alternative and electrolyte source.

Where the research comes from

Most of the published research on this comes from one place. 64% of it is from USA. Findings that no unrelated group has reproduced are weaker than the study count makes them look.

Share of published research by country of origin.
PlaceShare of published research
USA64%
Other36%

Research published from: USA, Global.

How we got here

Simmering bones for broth is one of the oldest cooking practices, traced to Paleolithic nose-to-tail eating long before any single culture. In China, broth featured in food and medicine traditions reaching back more than two millennia, used to support digestion and vitality. Across the Americas, peoples including Plains nations honored the whole animal, and Pacific Northwest communities prepared broths as stone soups, dropping fire-heated rocks into bentwood boxes and baskets. East Asian bone-broth cooking matured into dishes like Korean gomtang and Japanese tonkotsu, the latter crystallizing in 1940s Kurume when over-boiled pork bones emulsified into a milky soup. French cuisine codified bouillon and consomme, and in 1855 Pierre-Louis Duval opened a Paris bouillon house. Industrial bouillon cubes followed. Broth fasting as a named wellness protocol is recent, riding the 2010s bone-broth revival rather than any ancient fasting lineage.

  1. pre-10000 BCEPaleolithic nose-to-tail cooking simmers bones; broth predates any single culture
  2. 500 BCEBroth established in Chinese food and medicine traditions for digestion and vitality
  3. 1855Pierre-Louis Duval opens the first dedicated bouillon establishment in Paris
  4. 1940sTonkotsu pork-bone ramen emerges in Kurume, Japan, from over-boiled bones
  5. 2013Monro et al. measure elevated lead in chicken bone broth (Medical Hypotheses)
  6. 2010sBone-broth wellness wave rises; Petrucci popularizes broth-based mini-fasts
  7. 2017Hsu et al. report toxic-metal exposure from broth is minimal per serving (Food & Nutrition Research)
  8. 2025First human trial of the branded Bone Broth Diet published: open-label, single-arm, industry-funded (Clinical Nutrition Open Science; NCT05740670)

At a glance

Form
Bone broth only
Calories
~200-400/day
Fast status
Modified (breaks true fast)
Trade-off
Easier, shallower

What this entry does not yet cover

What follows is unfinished work on our side, not a finding about Bone Broth Fasting. A short entry is not a safe entry.

  • Cost and market. We have not documented what it sells for or who sells it.
  • Supply chain. We have not mapped where it is made.
  • Who uses it. We have not documented the user groups.
  • What could change. No forward-looking summary yet.
  • How it compares. We have not set it against the alternatives.
  • Children and teenagers. We have not checked what is known about younger people.

Sources