Is Eating Bones Good for Your Health?

December 7, 2025 •

3 min read

According to a 2017 study in Nature, vulture species with bone-based diets can absorb significant energy from bones, but can the human digestive system handle them safely? The question of whether is eating bones good for your health is complex, differentiating between nutritious preparations and dangerous ingestion of solid fragments.

Quick Summary

This article explores the nutritional benefits of consuming prepared bones, such as in bone broth, and the significant health risks associated with eating solid bone fragments. It details safe preparation methods to extract nutrients like collagen and minerals while avoiding potential dangers like digestive tract damage.

Key Points

Bone broth and marrow offer health benefits: When prepared correctly by long simmering or roasting, bones provide valuable collagen, minerals, and amino acids for joint and gut health.
Eating solid bone fragments is dangerous: Ingesting hard, sharp bone pieces can cause severe internal injuries, intestinal blockages, and life-threatening infections.
Bone meal is unsafe for human consumption: Supplements made from ground bones often contain unsafe levels of lead and carry other contamination risks, making them unsuitable for humans.
Cooked poultry bones are especially hazardous: These bones are brittle and more prone to splintering, increasing the risk of choking and perforating the digestive tract.
Safely extract nutrients: The best and safest way to benefit from bones is to extract their nutrients into a digestible form, such as simmering for broth or enjoying roasted marrow.
Focus on alternative sources for nutrients: There are many safer and more reliable dietary sources for calcium and other minerals than attempting to eat or grind bones.

The Nutritional Benefits of Prepared Bones

While gnawing on a solid, uncooked bone is unsafe for humans, properly prepared bones offer numerous nutritional advantages. Simmering bones for long periods, as in bone broth, extracts valuable nutrients in a digestible form. Marrow, the spongy tissue inside large bones, is also highly nutritious.

Bone Broth: A Digestible Nutrient Source

Bone broth is arguably the best way to reap the benefits of animal bones. The long simmering process breaks down bones and connective tissues, releasing a wealth of beneficial compounds into the liquid.

Collagen: The most abundant protein in the human body, collagen is crucial for healthy skin, joints, tendons, and ligaments. Cooking collagen turns it into gelatin, which helps support the gut lining and joint health.
Minerals: Broth is a source of essential minerals like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium. A touch of vinegar can help extract even more minerals during the simmering process.
Amino Acids: Bone broth provides key amino acids such as glycine, glutamine, and proline, which play roles in reducing inflammation, promoting gut health, and improving sleep quality.

Bone Marrow: The Original Superfood

Bone marrow is a delicacy praised for centuries as a nutrient-dense food. It can be roasted and spread on toast or used to enrich broths and sauces. It's an excellent source of calories, healthy fats (including anti-inflammatory conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA), and vitamins.

The Serious Risks of Eating Solid Bone Fragments

Unlike prepared bone products, eating solid bone fragments is extremely dangerous for humans. The human digestive system is not designed to process hard, sharp materials like a wild animal's. The risks are substantial and can lead to severe health complications.

Broken Teeth: Hard bones can easily chip or crack human teeth, leading to painful and expensive dental problems.
Digestive Tract Damage: Sharp bone fragments can cause serious injury as they pass through the digestive system. They can become lodged in the esophagus, stomach, or intestines, leading to blockages, perforation, and life-threatening infections like peritonitis. Case studies document intestinal perforations caused by ingested bone fragments that require surgical intervention.
Choking Hazard: A piece of bone can become lodged in the throat, creating an emergency situation. This is particularly dangerous with brittle, cooked poultry bones.
Heavy Metal Contamination: Bone meal, a powder made from dried bones, can contain high levels of lead and other heavy metals. While not directly consuming the bone, ingesting a powder with contaminants is a clear risk.

Comparison: Safe Consumption vs. Dangerous Ingestion


Feature	Safe Consumption (Bone Broth/Marrow)	Dangerous Ingestion (Solid Fragments)
Nutrient Source	Nutrients extracted and suspended in liquid (collagen, minerals) or found in marrow.	Nutrients locked within hard material, mostly inaccessible and risky to retrieve.
Preparation	Long simmering with water and vinegar, or roasting marrow.	None, often consumed accidentally or improperly.
Digestibility	Highly digestible compounds like gelatin and minerals are easily absorbed.	Indigestible, solid, and sharp fragments can block or tear the gastrointestinal tract.
Risks	Minimal, if prepared correctly. Ensure bones are sourced safely.	High risk of choking, dental damage, blockages, and intestinal perforation.
Benefit	Improved joint health, better digestion, nutrient boost.	No benefit; only danger.

What About Bone Meal?

Bone meal is a supplement made from ground animal bones. While it is high in calcium and phosphorus, it is generally considered unsafe for human consumption due to the potential for heavy metal contamination, specifically high levels of lead. Safer, more refined calcium supplements are widely available. Furthermore, the risk of transmitting bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or 'mad cow disease', through bone meal derived from animal byproducts has historically been a concern. For these reasons, bone meal is not recommended as a human dietary supplement.

Conclusion: Practice Caution for Optimal Health

In summary, consuming prepared bone products like bone broth and bone marrow can be a nutritious addition to your diet, offering bioavailable collagen, minerals, and amino acids that support joint health, skin, and digestion. These methods effectively and safely extract the beneficial components. However, eating solid, non-prepared bone fragments is highly dangerous and should be avoided completely due to the severe risks of dental damage, choking, and intestinal perforation. By choosing safe and appropriate preparation methods, you can gain the health benefits without the potentially fatal risks.

For additional information on nutrient-dense foods and their safe preparation, you can explore resources like Precision Nutrition's food encyclopedia(https://www.precisionnutrition.com/encyclopedia/food/bones).

Frequently Asked Questions

No, humans cannot safely and effectively digest whole, cooked bones. Our digestive systems are not equipped to break down the dense, solid material. Cooked bones are particularly brittle and prone to splintering, which can cause severe internal damage.

Drinking bone broth offers several health benefits, including supporting joint health through collagen and gelatin, improving gut health with amino acids like glutamine, and providing essential minerals such as calcium and phosphorus in an easily absorbed liquid form.

No, bone meal is not recommended as a safe calcium supplement for humans. Due to potential contamination with heavy metals like lead and other pathogens, safer and more bioavailable calcium supplements are readily available.

While many small foreign objects pass through the digestive system without issue, swallowing a sharp bone fragment is very risky. It can cause complications like intestinal perforation, blockage, or internal bleeding, which may require emergency medical intervention.

Bone marrow is safely consumed by roasting the bones to soften the marrow, which can then be scooped out and eaten. It is often served on toast or used as a rich addition to soups and sauces.

Some studies have noted the risk of heavy metal exposure when consuming bone products, though it's not necessarily higher than from other common foods. Simmering bones for broth is a lower-risk method, but sourcing bones from healthy, responsibly raised animals can further mitigate these concerns.

The safest and most effective way is to incorporate bone broth and bone marrow into your diet. For a boost of collagen, minerals, and other nutrients, focus on these preparations rather than attempting to consume solid bones directly.