Bone Broth and Pregnancy

August 03, 2020By Amy Cole

Congrats mama! You're expecting!

Time to really take a good look at how you're feeding your body and your sweet growing babe. In a time when you:

may not feel like eating because the nausea feels like too much to handle
you may be craving just carbs and sweets

It's important to make sure you are getting all the nutrition you and your baby need.

"In those early days of pregnancy, bone broth can be a godsend for a lot of mamas-to-be. Broth is a good way to keep up your nutrient intake when you’re feeling unable to eat." - Well and Good

Since bone broth is nutrient dense, it's the perfect addition to your pregnancy diet! Because bone broth supports the nervous system, endocrine system, and brain function, consuming it while pregnant helps your developing baby build healthy organs.

"Bone broth is simmered for quite a long time. As the broth simmers, minerals and other nutrients leach from the bones into the water, leaving you with an incredibly nourishing liquid. This is a wonderful thing for anyone to consume, but it can be especially beneficial for pregnant and breastfeeding women." - Oh Baby Nutrition

In part, that’s because bone broth is one of the most reliable food sources of glycine. Glycine is typically a conditional amino acid, meaning your body can make it from other amino acids. But in pregnancy, the body needs additional glycine. In fact, some researchers have said that glycine becomes conditionally indispensable during pregnancy. It’s really that important!

Glycine is responsible for the synthesis of fetal DNA and fetal collagen, and is particularly important in the later stages of pregnancy when your baby is rapidly gaining weight. At this stage, your baby’s bones, connective tissues, and organs need glycine in the highest amounts. And your growing body needs glycine too! Your expanding uterus, growing breasts, and stretching skin require glycine. The bones, skin, and connective tissues of animals are rich in protein, gelatin, collagen, glycine, and minerals. An added bonus of consuming enough collagen and glycine? A decreased chance of stretch marks!

Aside from glycine, slow-simmered bone broth is also a fantastic source of calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, potassium, and other trace minerals. Bones actually contain more minerals per ounce than any other body tissue, and yet our modern diet includes so few of them. Ancestral cultures didn’t eat boneless, skinless chicken breast, but instead opted for nose-to-tail eating, including using bones and skin for broth.

Plus, consuming too much poultry, dairy, or lean meats without adequate glycine may provide your body with too much methionine, an amino acid that reduces glycine and may be toxic in large amounts. Excess methionine may lead to increased inflammation, neural tube defects, preeclampsia, and premature delivery.

Bone Broth + Pregnancy:

Bone broth is the perfect, nourishing addition to your pregnancy routine for so many reasons!

Rich in minerals, especially calcium, magnesium and phosphorus: Essential minerals for your baby to grow strong, healthy bones.
Contains copious amounts of gelatin and collagen: Key nutrients in supporting joints, connective tissue, as well as skin, hair, and nails.
Contains glucosamine and chondroitin: Assists in forming baby's joints, but also supports your joints throughout pregnancy as well.
Good source of amino acids, the building blocks of protein: Amino acids boost the immune system, improve digestion, fight inflammation, promote sleep and calm the mind.
Assists with nausea: "When nausea hits in the earlier weeks of pregnancy, it can be hard to get and keep food down. Bone broth is soothing and nutrient dense. It is very easy to digest, and often calms the stomach very quickly." -Oh Baby Nutrition
Great for balancing blood sugar: In addition to all of the other amazing ways it supports the body, glycine also plays a role in blood sugar regulation. Bone broth is also naturally low in carbs and contains moderate protein, macros that are made for blood sugar balance!
Electrolytes: Think of bone broth as a healthier version of gatorade, with naturally-occurring electrolytes like sodium, magnesium, and potassium. Electrolytes help keep your energy up and may prevent issues like headaches and leg cramps. Though salt gets a bad reputation, it’s essential, particularly when pregnant! The healthiest form of salt is unrefined sea salt (it’s what you’ll find in FOND!), which is less processed than other forms of salt and contains trace minerals.
Helps you meet your fluid needs: An added bonus of consuming bone broth during your pregnancy! While pregnant, fluid needs go up, not only because your baby is actually swimming in amniotic fluid in your uterus, but also because blood volume increases beginning in your first trimester. Adequate fluid helps improve circulation, eliminate waste products, and deliver nutrients to your growing baby.

Bone Broth + Postpartum:

Bone broth’s benefits don’t stop once your baby is born! It’s also particularly helpful during the postpartum period.

Bone broth is wonderful for regulating hormones.
Supports ample milk production.
Helps your body heal from delivery: Healing after labor and delivery requires plenty of protein, especially from amino acids like glycine and proline, since your body uses these to make collagen. Both glycine and proline are found in abundance in bone broth!
Builds back all the energy you put out during labor and delivery, and also helps replace electrolytes and fluids lost during labor.
Bone broth contains ample micronutrients, helping to prevent postnatal depletion, the leading cause of brain fog, memory loss and exhaustion in postpartum mothers.

Continue to learn all about postpartum, the baby blues, and prenatal depletion here.

Our Founder, Alysa's, Pregnancy & Bone Broth Routine

An 8oz mug of bone broth is essential for me first thing in the morning to keep nausea at bay! I have a warm mug of my favorite bone broth with a splash of heavy cream or coconut milk for some added fat. FOND tastes amazing and is easy for me to sip even when I am experiencing meat-aversions. I also love that the collagen and protein are nourishing my skin, hair, teeth and nails!
I drink 4 - 8oz of bone broth as a night-cap specifically for the additional healthy sleep-facilitating amino acids. I also love that the glycine in bone broth helps to balance blood sugar and initiate my body's natural state of zen before bedtime. The warm bone broth has a natural calming effect and I feel good about drinking something that is naturally free of sugars to end the day.
Throughout the day I add bone broth into my cooking whenever I can. To maintain a healthy weight, my doctor recommends 100g of protein per day at a minimum. That is no easy feat! Adding bone broth to my eggs, drinking a mug with lunch or even making a bone broth based sauce can add additional protein that ensures I'm making my protein goal for the day!

Reasons I drink bone broth during pregnancy:

Keeps morning sickness at bay
Helps me reach my protein goal
Electrolytes & potassium to keep cramps away
Amino acids that help balance blood sugar, keep calm and promote healthy sleep
Collagen for my skin, teeth and nails
Keeps my gut happy and gut flora in check
Keeps me satisfied
Easy to consume even when experiencing meat-aversions
Tastes great!

Now what?

Try drinking 5-8oz of broth 3x a day. Enjoy it in the morning, with lunch, as an afternoon snack, alongside dinner, or as a nightcap. The options are endless! Just warm the broth on the stove, pour into your favorite mug, and enjoy!

Want to level up your bone broth? Try adding healthy fats like grass-fed ghee, butter, or coconut oil before sipping. During pregnancy, your body’s need for fat-soluble vitamins and other nutrients found in healthy fats goes up. Your developing baby’s brain is about 60% fat and requires cholesterol, omega-3 fats, and other fat-soluble nutrients to grow properly.

You can also try adding a scoop or two of grass-fed collagen to your broth! While bone broth contains naturally-occurring collagen, an added boost is never a bad thing. A staggering stat: your uterus contains 800% more collagen at the end of your pregnancy when compared to pre-pregnancy. Yet another reason that it’s important to consume adequate glycine and collagen throughout pregnancy.

FOND's Pregnancy & Postpartum Bone Broth Bundle

The lists of Yes and No foods during pregnancy and postpartum can get a little daunting so we've created a Pregnancy and Postpartum bone broth bundle that takes all the guesswork out of choosing the right bone broth.

This bundle contains the three chicken bone broths that our founder reaches for daily during her pregnancy journey, as well as during postpartum.