Bone broth delivers roughly twice the protein of standard chicken broth, about 9 grams per cup compared to 5 grams, and contains more collagen-derived amino acids. Whether that makes it “better” depends on what you’re using it for. If you’re sipping it as a health drink, bone broth has a meaningful nutritional edge. If you’re making soup or risotto, regular chicken broth often works just as well and costs less.
How They’re Made Differently
The core difference is time and ingredients. Chicken broth (or stock) is made by simmering chicken bones, meat scraps, and aromatics like onions, carrots, and celery for 3 to 4 hours. The result is a light, flavorful liquid that’s been a cooking staple for centuries.
Bone broth starts with bones that have little to no meat attached and simmers them for 12 to 24 hours, sometimes longer. That extended cooking time breaks down connective tissue, cartilage, and the bones themselves, pulling collagen, amino acids, and minerals into the liquid. You can tell bone broth has more collagen because it often turns gelatinous when refrigerated. Adding a splash of vinegar to the pot helps draw minerals out of the bones more effectively.
Protein and Collagen
A cup of bone broth contains around 9 grams of protein. A cup of chicken broth has closer to 5 grams. Most of that extra protein in bone broth comes from collagen, which your body breaks down into the amino acids glycine and proline. These are building blocks your body uses to maintain its own collagen in skin, joints, and the gut lining.
Glycine is particularly interesting because the modern diet tends to be low in it. It plays a role in sleep regulation, inflammation control, and tissue repair. Bone broth is one of the most accessible dietary sources. Standard chicken broth contains some of these amino acids too, just in smaller amounts because the shorter cooking time extracts less from the bones and connective tissue.
The Mineral Content Is Overhyped
One of the biggest selling points of bone broth is that it’s supposedly rich in calcium and magnesium from the bones. The reality is disappointing. A study analyzing commercial beef bone broth found an average of just 7.65 milligrams of calcium per serving, with a maximum of about 13 milligrams. For context, a cup of milk has around 300 milligrams. Magnesium was similarly low at under 3 milligrams per serving.
Phosphorus was the exception, coming in at roughly 299 milligrams per serving, which is a meaningful amount. But if you’re drinking bone broth hoping to strengthen your bones through calcium and magnesium alone, the numbers simply don’t support that. The preparation method, type of bones, cooking time, and added ingredients all affect mineral content, but even under ideal conditions, bone broth isn’t a significant source of these two minerals.
Gut Health and Joint Support
Where bone broth does show promise is in gut and joint health, largely because of its collagen content and the amino acid glutamine. Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in your blood, and your intestinal cells rely on it heavily for energy. It helps maintain the gut barrier, the lining that keeps bacteria and toxins from passing through your intestinal wall into your bloodstream. The collagen, gelatin, glycine, and glutamine in bone broth have all been shown to reduce gut irritation and inflammation and strengthen that barrier.
For joints, the logic is similar. The collagen you consume gets broken down and then reassembled to help maintain cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. There’s some evidence that people with osteoarthritis benefit from the added dietary collagen that bone broth provides, though the effect is modest and varies from person to person. Regular chicken broth offers some of these benefits, but in lower concentrations because less collagen makes it into the final product.
Sodium Varies by Brand
If you’re buying either product off the shelf, check the sodium. A cup of Swanson’s chicken bone broth, for example, contains 350 milligrams of sodium. Some brands run higher. Regular chicken broth can be just as salty, or more so, depending on the brand. Low-sodium versions of both are widely available. Homemade versions let you control salt entirely, which is one of the strongest arguments for making your own.
A Note on Lead
One concern worth knowing about: bones can accumulate lead over an animal’s lifetime, and long simmering times can release that lead into the broth. Researchers who made organic chicken broth from bones, meat, and skin/cartilage found that all three versions exceeded the maximum allowable dose level for lead. The skin and cartilage broth was the worst, exceeding the safety level by about 475 percent per cup.
This doesn’t mean bone broth is dangerous in normal amounts. The lead levels found were still relatively low in absolute terms, and occasional consumption is unlikely to cause harm. But if you’re drinking bone broth daily as a health ritual, it’s worth sourcing bones from pasture-raised animals and varying your intake rather than relying on it as your sole “wellness drink.”
Which One Should You Use
For cooking, standard chicken broth is fine. It has plenty of flavor, costs less, and the nutritional differences get diluted into whatever dish you’re making. Bone broth’s stronger, more gelatinous body does make for richer sauces and more full-bodied soups, so it has culinary advantages in certain recipes.
For sipping on its own, bone broth is the better choice. The higher protein, the collagen-derived amino acids, and the gut-supporting compounds give it a genuine nutritional advantage over regular broth. Just keep your expectations realistic. It’s a nourishing food, not a miracle cure, and it won’t deliver the mineral boost that marketing often implies.