The simple dish confers a set of valuable nutrients, like glutamine and collagen, that are uncommon in other foods.

According to Healthline, animal bones are also rich in calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, and other trace minerals that help build and strengthen our own human bones.

Bone broth also promotes gut and digestive health, supports joint mobility, skin, hair, teeth, and nails, and even better sleep. Other health benefits include an improved immune system and faster muscle recovery.

But while the soup, made simply by boiling the bones of animals, is always referred to as "bone broth," is there any meaningful difference between it and the cooking stock our mothers used as the base for chicken noodle soup when we were sick?

The answer is very important, because there are likely many people who could benefit tremendously from bone broth's health benefits, but can't afford to buy health food store prices.

Stock vs bone broth

On a surface level, the answer is no, but it depends on the ingredients list, as a product can call itself anything—bone broth, cooking stock, chicken stock, or just "broth," but unless it has the ingredients of something like Kettle & Fire or another commercial kind of bone broth, it's just flavored water.