Is Your Broth or Collagen Product Toxic?

If you've introduced bone broth to your diet you've probably reached for the broth due to one or more health-related reasons.  Bone broth is considered to be the most complete food you can consume for:

• Leaky gut syndrome and irritable bowel (and increasingly SIBO).
• Boost immune system
• Boost energy. 
• Reduce and lose weight and cellulite.
• Overcome food intolerances and allergies.
• Increase muscle fitness.
• Increase and reverse conditions of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.
• Treatment of diabetes.
• And to deal with chronic inflammation that results in autoimmune conditions, weight gain, thyroid conditions.

The simmering and slow cooking of bones and marrow releases healing compounds (Best of the Bone is slow-cooked for 50 hours) like collagen which is the most necessary protein in your body and is the building block of skin, hair, bones, tissue.  You are also getting critical health components such as sulfur and amino acids such as proline, glycine and glutamine.  It doesn't stop there, nutrition researcher Sally Fallon writes, "bone broth contains minerals in forms that you body can easily absorb . . . they contain chondroitin sulphate and glucosamine, the compounds sold as pricey supplements to reduce inflammation, arthritis and joint pain.  Research as shown a diet rich in gelatin (the cooked collagen) can increase bone density and skin elasticity (reducing wrinkles).

Fallon explains that most store-bought stock and broth today aren't real.  But that's not the worst of it.

A new study just out asks the question what are you really getting in these supplements? Recent laboratory testing stirred up controversy with popular collagen and bone broth products results revealing potential contaminants — including antibiotics, dyes, yeasts, prescription drug metabolites, parabens, steroids and insecticides

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Troublesome Contaminants Found in Many Nonorganic and Non-Grass Fed Certified Collagen and Bone Broth Products

The collagen products in question were selected based on their popularity and sales ranking on Amazon.com, and all were nonorganic. This includes several top brands being sold in Australia.  The results indicate that if you are consuming bone broth or collagen products that are not using a grass-fed certification or organic you are likely getting CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operations) byproducts from international sources. As reported by the Consumer Wellness Center (CWC):²

"The nonprofit Consumer Wellness Center has completed testing of eight popular bone broth and bone broth protein products to determine the possible presence of chemical pesticides, pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals, toxicological chemicals and food additive chemicals. No companies paid the CWC to be included or excluded from these tests. All products were purchased from Amazon.com in the year 2017.

Other chemicals claimed to be found in some of these products include:

• Butylparaben, an endocrine-disrupting chemical associated with reduced testosterone levels⁵ and abnormal shape, size and motility of sperm⁶
• Cyclandelate, a vasodilator drug
• Netilmicin, an antibiotic
• Dyes (colour agents) and various yeast extracts that are endocrine inhibitors.

What does this mean?  From the Dr. Mercola website: 

CAFO-derived collagen and bone meal or broth may not be acutely toxic, but purchasing food products from factory farms is a problematic practice. I recommend eating mostly organic foods, as each and every source will add to your overall toxic load. Other studies have shown CAFO animal bones and hides can also be a source of heavy metals such as lead,⁷ which is another potential concern when buying nonorganic animal products.  

According to these tests several of the popular hydrolysed collagen powders and bone broth powder products undergo an extreme heat (denaturing) and often add dyes and or yeast even if they are not from confined animal feeding.  

One of the critical differences between high quality hydrolysed collagen and bone broth is the difference between a nutritional supplement and a whole food.  Bone broth as a whole food provides cooked collagen in the form of gelatin (gut-soothing) and includes an easily absorbed mineral composition as well as essential fatty acids (including conjugated linoleic acid which is found in grass-fed meats, bones and dairy and has been shown to support weight loss and strong anti-cancer and immunity boosting components).  Both a hydrolysed collagen and a high collagen (meaning the longer its cooked the higher its collagen content) bone broth will provide the wonderful benefits of collagen protein. Let's make sure you're getting one without the contaminants.

Best of the Bone uses grass-fed certification process audits done by Ministry for Primary Industries (overseeing farming and food) in New Zealand and Australian audited producers.  Thus ensuring the highest quality grass-fed broth that just happens to have great taste and nutritional composition.