The claimEvidence D · marketing folklore
Bone broth is a good calcium source
The evidence
Measured broth has ~26-80 mg calcium/L — a bowl is <5% of daily need vs ~300 mg in a cup of milk (7-30x more); what renders out is mostly fat.
The mechanism, in brief
With the first two gates in hand, several widespread folk claims fall apart.
Sources (4)
- Hsu, D., Lee, C., Tsai, W., & Chien, Y. (2017). Essential and toxic metals in animal bone broths. Food & Nutrition Research, 61(1), 1347478. Ca and Mg per serving did not exceed low tens of mg (<5% of daily recommended); Pb/Cd intake risk judged minimal.
- Chen, J., & Tsim, K. W. K. (2020). A review of edible jujube, the Ziziphus jujuba fruit: a health food supplement for anemia prevalence. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 11, 593655.
- Hurrell, R., & Egli, I. (2010). Iron bioavailability and dietary reference values. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 91(5), 1461S-1467S.
- Wang, X., Ouyang, Y., Liu, J., Zhu, M., Zhao, G., Bao, W., & Hu, F. B. (2014). Fruit and vegetable consumption and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. BMJ, 349, g4490.