Bone Broth
Collagen
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Time to read 8 min
If you're just getting started with intermittent fasting, know this: You don't need to survive off air and water during your fasting window. In fact, there are several beverages, supplements and vitamins that you can safely consume without breaking your fast.
Which raises the question: Does bone broth break a fast?
Bone broth is a nutrient-dense food made by simmering animal bones and connective tissues in water for an extended period of time. Eventually, you're left with a healing elixir filled with amino acids, vitamins and collagen, which has been shown to improve the health of your gut, joints and bones.
Below, we'll examine whether or not bone broth breaks a fast, and how to combine intermittent fasting and drinking bone broth into a healthy lifestyle.
Fasting means different things depending on the result you want. If you’re chasing fat loss, your rules can be more flexible than someone pursuing a strict, zero-calorie fast for cellular clean-up. Bone broth sits at the centre of that conversation. It does contain calories and protein, so it breaks a strict fast. But used properly, it can help many people keep a fat-loss routine on track by improving satiety and nudging better choices.
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Unfortunately, eating or drinking anything with calories will break your fast if you are fasting for autophagy. Therefore, because bone broth can contain between 40-50 calories per cup, it will break your fast [ 1].
During your fasting window, you can only consume foods, supplements and beverages with zero calories. This includes black coffee, apple cider vinegar, tea, water and most multivitamins. You can also consume some supplements, such as electrolytes, probiotics and water-soluble vitamins during your fast.
There are some supplements — including collagen, bone broth and MCT oil — that contain incredible health benefits but will break a fast due to their caloric content. These supplements support healthy insulin levels, decrease inflammation and can boost weight loss (fat loss), which are the same benefits you get from intermittent fasting.
Therefore, you should consume these supplements during your eating window for maximum benefits. It’s also important to consider why you're fasting. For example, if it's weight loss, then consuming MCT oil in your coffee might actually be beneficial. Check out our article on fasting and collagen, MCT and coffee specifically for more details.
If you’re keeping a strict window, leave broth out and use it as the first gentle step when you break your fast.
If your goal is fat loss and you know evenings are your weak spot, one mug between the end of work and your first plate can prevent a snack spiral. Some people prefer it as a pre-meal primer; others use it on training days when a water-only fast feels too harsh. None of this replaces eating well; it simply gives you one reliable tool that helps you stay the course.
Just because bone broth breaks your fast, doesn't mean it isn't a nutrient-dense food. In fact, bone broth offers many of the same benefits you might get from intermittent fasting.
Drinking bone broth and practising intermittent fasting can help you enter the metabolic state known as ketosis.
Bone broth does not contain any added refined sugar and contains less than 1 gram of carbs per serving, making it suitable for any low-carb diet, like the keto diet [ 1]. And since bone broth is filled with plenty of protein and healthy fats, it won't kick you out of ketosis.
If you are experimenting with intermittent fasting in order to enter a fat-burning state, drinking bone broth is highly unlikely to kick you out of ketosis. With intermittent fasting, you are not getting energy (i.e., calories) from any external source, such as food or water.
This forces your body to convert its own fat stores into ketones for energy. Since bone broth only supplies your body with protein and fat — not glucose — it is highly unlikely to negatively impact your ketone levels. (Note: Some bone broth recipes may contain vegetables, which do have some traces of carbohydrates.)
Drinking bone broth can help lower your blood sugar levels — the same benefit you'll get from an intermittent fast.
Bone broth is filled with all nine essential amino acids (those amino acids that must be consumed through food). In particular, it contains the amino acid glycine, which has been scientifically shown to support healthy insulin levels.
In studies, people with chronically high blood sugar levels, high obesity rates or those diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes have been shown to have low levels of glycine [ 2][ 3]. Fortunately, consuming glycine has been shown to boost healthy insulin responses and decrease blood sugar levels.
Likewise, practising intermittent fasting has been shown to help decrease body weight, glycogen (stored glucose) levels and insulin resistance [ 4]. In fact, in some studies patients diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes were able to decrease their reliance on prescription drugs (like insulin) after introducing intermittent fasting periods.
Both bone broth and intermittent fasting provide anti-inflammatory benefits, helping to support your immune system.
There's a reason you crave soups and stews when you're sick — drinking chicken bone broth (or any bone broth) can help boost your immune system. Digesting bone broth causes an anti-inflammatory response, and has been shown to help repair your cells and gut lining [ 5][ 6].
Practising intermittent fasting has been shown to pose similar benefits. Research shows that being in a fasted state activates autophagy, or your body's way of cleaning out damaged cells to make way for newer, healthier cells. Autophagy, in turn, can boost your body's immunity [ 7].
Does bone broth break a fast? Yes, for strict definitions.
Should you use it anyway? If your priority is fat loss and you know a small, savoury pause helps you avoid overeating later, it can be one of the most practical choices you make all week.
Keep the portion measured, pick a clean formulation, and let consistency do the heavy lifting.
Hunter & Gather
Hunter & Gather are an ancestrally-inspired lifestyle brand that fuses ancestral wisdom and modern innovation to guide your journey to better health. Our mission is to give you the tools to thrive for life. We create real food and supplements that are free from refined sugar, grains and inflammatory seed oils, while championing premium quality and taste.
For a clean, zero-calorie fast, any calories or protein count, which means bone broth sits on the outside of the fasting window. If your aim is autophagy, keep things simple: water, black coffee or tea, and zero-calorie electrolytes. If your priority is gentle gut comfort rather than purity, you can still keep the window clean and then break the fast with a mug of broth before moving on to soft, easy foods. Many people find this “step-down” approach calmer than going straight to a large meal.
It can, provided it helps you stick to your plan. Fat loss comes from a pattern you can repeat, not a perfect day in isolation. A single mug of Hunter & Gather Bone Broth is low in calories for the satiety it provides and can reduce the urge to graze. Used before your first plate or in the evening, it often leads to a calmer meal and fewer impulse choices. The key is intent: if it replaces a higher-calorie snack or prevents over-eating later, it’s helping rather than hindering.
Think in terms of a threshold rather than a hard rule. One mug keeps you in control without turning your fast into a meal. Two or more starts to look like grazing, which defeats the purpose. If you notice that a single mug helps you arrive at your meal composed, it’s doing its job. If it simply adds calories on top of what you’d eat anyway, move it to the re-feed instead.
A 16:8 approach is the easiest place to start. Keep the 16 hours clean, then break the fast with a mug of broth to settle appetite and ease digestion before your first plate. OMAD can also work if you find the single meal overwhelming; a mug before the plate softens the edges. For a 5:2 day, a mug brings savoury volume and protein to a lean menu. For longer, strict fasts, leave broth out and use it as the first step of your re-feed when you finish.
Protein does trigger some insulin, but in a fat-loss context a small, deliberate serving doesn’t derail progress if it helps you keep the rest of the day on track. Brief insulin responses are part of normal physiology. What matters is the overall pattern: measured portions, balanced meals when you do eat, and a weekly rhythm you can maintain. If your goal is a purist, zero-calorie window, keep broth for later; if your goal is adherence and calm appetite, one mug is a sensible trade-off.
Choose simplicity. Bones, water, vegetables and herbs should make up the ingredient list, with no seed oils, no fillers and no yeast extract. Check that you’re getting meaningful protein per mug and a level of salt that suits your needs. Hunter & Gather Bone Broth follows that real-food approach: grass-fed bones, clean ingredients and a savoury flavour profile that stands on its own. That’s exactly what you want when your goal is to keep things uncomplicated and effective.
