If you’ve scrolled past bone broth on a grocery shelf and wondered whether it’s actually worth the price tag — or you’ve been sipping it for months without really knowing why it works — this one’s for you.
On this episode of the podcast, I sat down with Alysa Seeland, founder of Fond Bone Broth and mom of six, to talk about why this simple, traditional food deserves a permanent spot in your kitchen — especially across the preconception-to-postpartum continuum. Bone broth has become trendy over the last few years, but as Alysa points out, it’s anything but new. It’s one of the oldest, most nourishing foods women have relied on for generations. We just forgot about it.
A quick note: This episode and article are for educational purposes only and are not a substitute for individualized medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider before making changes to your diet or supplement routine, especially if you are pregnant, postpartum, breastfeeding, or managing a health condition.
What Bone Broth Actually Is (and Why It Works)
Bone broth is essentially a transfusion of an animal’s bone marrow – the collagen, the gelatin, the minerals – into water. And in a food system where nutrient density in our food is declining even as calorie intake climbs, that matters. We’re often overfed and undernourished at the same time, which is part of why cravings and low satiety are so common.
One of the standout nutrients in bone broth is glycine, an amino acid that becomes conditionally essential in late pregnancy. Your body simply can’t make enough of it to meet your needs and your baby’s. Glycine is also a precursor to GABA, the neurotransmitter that helps keep your nervous system calm and regulated. Add in collagen and gelatin for connective tissue, joints, hair, skin, and nails, and it’s easy to see why this “simple” food does so much.
Bone broth is also a well-known ally for gut healing. When the tight junctions in the gut lining loosen, often described as “leaky gut”, things that shouldn’t pass into the bloodstream start to. The gelatin and collagen in bone broth help heal and seal that lining, which is part of why so many people notice a difference in how they feel within days of drinking it consistently.
Why Most Store-Bought Bone Broth Isn’t What You Think
Here’s the part that surprised me: most bone broth on the shelf starts as a concentrate. It arrives at the manufacturing facility already condensed, then gets rehydrated, sometimes with water, sometimes with vegetable broth (which is why you’ll occasionally see “vegetable broth” listed in a bone broth’s ingredients). Simmering real bones for 18 hours is expensive, so many brands buy concentrate from an ingredient maker instead of simmering their own.
Alysa shared how one concentrate maker defined the category: standard broth runs about 90% water to 10% concentrate, and bone broth runs about 80% water to 20% concentrate. Fond, by comparison, uses a one-to-one ratio of bones to water. There’s a half pound of chicken or beef in every jar, simmered, infused, and canned in a single process with nothing rehydrated or reconstituted.
Packaging matters too. Fond has always packaged in glass rather than plastic-lined cartons, which are heat-processed at some point in production. For anyone thinking about endocrine disruptors during preconception, pregnancy, or postpartum, that’s worth knowing.
Bone Broth in Pregnancy and Postpartum
Bone broth is considered a clear liquid, which makes it a helpful option during labor for anyone delivering somewhere with restrictive eating policies. It offers micronutrients, collagen, protein, and energy without violating a “clear liquids only” rule.
Postpartum, Alysa’s general guidance is around a jar a day for the first four weeks, largely because of the electrolyte and hydration support it offers breastfeeding mothers, many of whose supply challenges trace back to simple dehydration. During the last month of pregnancy and the month right after delivery, that’s roughly double what she’d recommend outside of those seasons.
There’s also a structural piece worth understanding: collagen is a major building block of the linea alba, the connective tissue that runs down the midline of your abdomen. As your uterus, abdomen, and placenta expand — and as your body works to retract and repair postpartum — having enough raw material for that connective tissue matters. This is exactly the kind of nutrient-and-tissue-healing connection I look at with patients in the clinic.
If you’re building out your pregnancy or postpartum nutrition plan and want more structured support, my [Prenatal Nourishment freebie] and [Postpartum Freebie] are a great next step, and if you want individualized guidance for your own recovery, 1:1 sessions are available [here].
Homemade vs. Store-Bought: It Doesn’t Have to Be Either/Or
Alysa is candid that homemade bone broth, made properly, beats anything on a shelf. But she also built Fond because a freezer full of jars was a real barrier for her own family, and it’s an honest barrier for most of us. Her take: use what works for the season you’re in, and don’t feel like quality requires doing everything yourself.
If you do make it at home, two mistakes come up constantly. The first is too much water. The broth never gels because it’s simply diluted. The second is fridge temperature: gelatin sets around 39°F, so if your fridge runs closer to 41°F, you may have more gelatin than you think you do. For flavor, herbs like sage, rosemary, and thyme, plus a traditional mirepoix of carrot, celery, and onion, go a long way.
A few easy ways to work it in without a recipe: cook your rice or quinoa in bone broth instead of water, stir a jar into a store-bought marinara for extra protein and minerals, or puree it with roasted vegetables for a soup base picky eaters won’t question.
Bone Broth for Kids
Alysa doesn’t give her kids a multivitamin — instead, she works nutrient density into food itself, and bone broth is one of her main tools. For picky eaters, pureeing vegetables into a bone-broth-based soup base and adding shredded protein afterward is an easy way to sneak in more nutrition without a fight over textures.
She also shared an interesting aside from her own family’s experience with two of her sons and asthma: the lungs are lined with collagen, and she noticed real support from consistent bone broth intake. This is anecdotal rather than a clinical claim, but it’s a conversation worth having with your child’s provider if it’s relevant to your family.
For a genuinely kid-approved way to serve it, Alysa’s bone broth hot chocolate is worth trying:
Bone Broth Hot Chocolate
- 6 oz bone broth (beef works especially well)
- 4 oz raw milk (or milk of choice)
- 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
- 1 tbsp high-quality cocoa powder
Warm everything together, then blend for a smooth, frothy texture. Add a dash of cocoa on top, or a drop of peppermint or almond extract for a seasonal twist.
A Few More Easy Recipes to Try This Week
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20-minute chicken soup:
simmer 3 lbs chicken (breasts, tenders, or thighs) in a jar of bone broth for 20 minutes while you sauté vegetables separately — tender chicken, no overcooking, dinner in under 30 minutes.
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Roasted butternut squash bisque:
roast butternut squash in olive oil or tallow, then puree with butternut-flavored bone broth and a splash of cream for a restaurant-quality soup.
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Buttered bone broth “latte”:
warm a mug of bone broth with a tablespoon of butter and froth it — simple, satisfying, and a nice ritual to build into your day.
Bone Broth Myths, Busted
A quick rapid-fire recap from the episode:
- Bone broth is only for sick people — False.
- Bone broth replaces protein entirely — False. It’s a great additive, not a substitute for whole protein sources.
- Bone broth alone is enough protein after a workout — It depends on the workout, but it shines for hydration, electrolytes, and easy digestion post-exercise.
- You need homemade bone broth to get real benefits — False, as long as it’s from a genuinely high-quality source.
- Kids won’t drink it — False, especially with kid-friendly flavors like lemon or mushroom.
- Vegetarians can replace bone broth nutritionally with plant-based broths — False. There’s no plant-kingdom equivalent for the collagen and gelatin bone broth provides, which is why many vegetarians and vegans choose to include it.
Where to Find Quality Bone Broth
Fond is available nationwide at Whole Foods and Sprouts (their tallow line is also at Albertsons), in more than 4,000 independent health food stores, and online at fondregenerative.com — including unflavored options if you want to cook or bake with it without affecting other flavors. Use code DRKAYLA for a discount on your first order.
This topic goes even deeper on the podcast. Whether you’re a listener, a reader, or a watcher — there’s a version of this conversation waiting for you. Tune in on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube, and if it resonates, a review helps more women find their way here.
