Most nutritionists recommend one cup (8 ounces) of bone broth per day for general health benefits. That said, the best frequency depends on why you’re drinking it. Someone sipping bone broth for gut support has different needs than someone using it as part of a weight loss plan or drinking it for joint recovery after workouts.
The Standard Daily Amount
One cup per day is the most widely cited recommendation, and it comes with good reason. An 8-ounce serving of bone broth delivers meaningful amounts of the amino acids your body uses to build collagen, support digestion, and maintain joint health. Beef bone broth tends to be more concentrated: a single cup of homemade beef broth contains roughly 1,600 to 1,700 mg of glycine and about 1,000 mg of proline. Chicken bone broth runs a bit lower, with around 1,000 to 1,100 mg of glycine and 630 to 680 mg of proline per cup.
Commercial brands are less potent. Store-bought chicken bone broth delivers about 685 to 783 mg of glycine per serving, while commercial beef versions contain around 830 to 878 mg. If you’re relying on a store-bought product, you’re getting roughly half the amino acids of a well-made homemade batch.
Timing It Around Your Goals
The honest answer is that timing doesn’t matter much. Drink it when it fits your routine. But if you want to optimize, there are some reasonable strategies based on what bone broth contains.
Drinking bone broth in the morning on an empty stomach may help kickstart digestion, and some people use it as a lower-calorie, caffeine-free alternative to coffee. The protein and amino acids provide steady energy without the crash. For weight management, an afternoon cup can help bridge the gap between lunch and dinner, when hunger tends to spike and energy drops. A clinical trial of 100 participants following a bone broth diet found significant decreases in hunger and cravings over the study period.
Evening is the most interesting window if sleep is your goal. Glycine, which bone broth contains in relatively high amounts, has been shown to improve sleep quality by lowering core body temperature and influencing circadian rhythms. People with sleep issues who took glycine before bed reported better sleep and less daytime fatigue. One cup of homemade beef bone broth gets you over 1,500 mg of glycine, which is a meaningful dose.
If you exercise regularly, drinking bone broth before or after a workout provides protein for muscle fuel and recovery, plus collagen-building amino acids that research suggests help reduce inflammation and support joints.
Can You Drink More Than One Cup a Day?
Some people drink two or three cups daily, especially during short-term protocols like a bone broth fast or a structured weight loss plan. In the clinical trial mentioned above, participants followed a 5:2 intermittent fasting schedule over two three-week periods, consuming bone broth alongside portion-controlled meals. That protocol produced measurable weight loss and reduced cravings without decreasing meal satisfaction.
However, there are two practical reasons to keep your intake moderate rather than going overboard.
Sodium Adds Up Quickly
A typical cup of bone broth contains around 450 mg of sodium. That’s roughly 20% of the daily limit most health organizations recommend. Two or three cups a day puts you at 900 to 1,350 mg from bone broth alone, before you’ve eaten anything else. If you’re watching your blood pressure or have kidney concerns, this matters. Low-sodium versions exist, but check the label carefully. Homemade broth gives you full control over how much salt goes in.
Lead Contamination Is a Real Concern
Bones store heavy metals, and simmering them for hours can leach lead into the liquid. In 2024, California’s Attorney General issued violation notices against several popular bone broth brands, including organic chicken and grass-fed beef varieties, for lead levels exceeding the state’s safety thresholds. This doesn’t mean bone broth is dangerous in normal amounts, but it’s one reason experts recommend capping your intake at one cup per day rather than treating it as your primary beverage. Choosing products from brands that test for heavy metals, or rotating between homemade and commercial options, helps minimize exposure.
How Long Should You Keep Drinking It?
There’s no established rule on whether bone broth works best as a short-term reset or a long-term daily habit. Most clinical research has studied it over defined periods of a few weeks. The weight loss trial, for example, ran for about eight weeks total. Many people drink a cup a day indefinitely as part of their regular diet without issues.
If you’re using bone broth therapeutically, say for gut healing or joint support, a consistent daily habit over at least four to six weeks gives your body enough time to make use of the collagen precursors. For general wellness, there’s no reason you can’t make it part of your routine long-term, as long as you’re mindful of sodium intake and not relying on it as a substitute for a varied diet.
Homemade vs. Store-Bought
Homemade bone broth is significantly more nutrient-dense than most commercial products. The amino acid content in lab-prepared broth runs 50% to 100% higher than store-bought versions, depending on the type. Adding a small amount of vinegar to your cooking liquid (apple cider vinegar is common) helps extract more minerals from the bones, though interestingly, the research shows vinegar-added broths had slightly lower amino acid concentrations than those simmered without it.
If you’re making your own, beef bones generally produce a richer broth than chicken bones, with more glycine and proline per serving. A long simmer of 12 to 24 hours for beef bones, or 8 to 12 hours for chicken, extracts the most collagen. You can also control the salt content precisely, which is a significant advantage if you plan to drink it daily.