Is there any benefit to eating gristle?

December 19, 2025 •

4 min read

While often discarded, the connective tissue known as gristle is a source of valuable proteins. This tough, rubbery part of meat is made primarily of collagen and elastin, which offer nutritional benefits, particularly when prepared using specific cooking methods. However, its chewy texture leads many people to wonder if there is any benefit to eating gristle at all.

Quick Summary

Gristle, or connective tissue, contains beneficial proteins like collagen and elastin. While elastin remains tough, collagen can break down into gelatin through slow, moist cooking. This can benefit joint health and is a valuable ingredient for flavorful bone broths.

Key Points

Gristle vs. Collagen: Gristle is primarily composed of elastin, which stays chewy when cooked, while collagen is a separate connective tissue that breaks down into beneficial gelatin.
Rich in Amino Acids: Gristle contains amino acids like glycine and proline, which are essential building blocks for the body and vital for healthy joints and skin.
Repurpose for Broth: The most effective way to reap the benefits of gristle is by using it in slow-cooked bone broth, which breaks down its collagen into gelatin.
Reduces Food Waste: Using all parts of an animal, including connective tissue, is an efficient way to practice nose-to-tail cooking and reduce food waste.
Texture is a Factor: For many, the rubbery texture of eating gristle directly is unappealing, making repurposing it in broth the preferred method.
Joint and Skin Support: The hydrolyzed collagen produced from cooking gristle and other connective tissues can support joint mobility and skin elasticity.
Not a Nutritional Waste: Even if you don't eat it directly, trimming gristle and saving it for a bone broth means you aren't throwing away valuable nutrients.

What Exactly is Gristle?

Before exploring its benefits, it's crucial to understand what gristle is. Gristle refers to the tough, fibrous, and often chewy parts of meat that remain after cooking, and it is a type of connective tissue. This tissue is primarily composed of two proteins: collagen and elastin.

Collagen: This is the most abundant protein in the body, providing structural support to various tissues. It is found in tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and bone. When cooked slowly with moisture, collagen breaks down into gelatin, creating a rich, silky texture. This is the process that makes brisket and other tough cuts tender.
Elastin: As the name suggests, elastin is a stretchy and tough protein found in ligaments and skin. Unlike collagen, elastin does not break down with heat and remains chewy even after prolonged cooking. This is the rubbery part that many people find unappetizing and choose to cut away.

The Nutritional Benefits of Gristle

While the palatability of gristle is debated, its nutritional components are not. Connective tissues are packed with amino acids that can be useful for the body.

Rich in Collagen: As gristle is a source of collagen, its consumption, particularly when cooked into broth, can support joint health, improve skin elasticity, and aid in preventing bone loss.
Supports Joint and Bone Health: The amino acids found in gristle, like glycine, can help the body build new collagen. This is especially beneficial for athletes and those with conditions like osteoarthritis, as studies suggest that collagen can help reduce joint pain and stiffness.
Provides Important Amino Acids: Gristle contains amino acids like glycine and proline, which are essential for overall body maintenance and repair. Glycine is particularly important for producing collagen and for liver detoxification pathways.

How to Cook with Gristle

Instead of discarding gristle, it can be repurposed into nutritious and flavorful ingredients. The key is understanding that gristle, which is mostly elastin, will not tenderize like collagen does when cooked. However, the surrounding collagenous tissue can be used effectively.

Steps for Repurposing Gristle:

Trim and Collect: When preparing cuts of meat, trim off the tougher gristle and sinew. Store these in the freezer until you have enough to make a batch of broth.
Make Bone Broth: Combine the trimmed gristle and other bony scraps with vegetables, herbs, and water in a large pot. Simmer for an extended period (several hours) to allow the collagen to break down into gelatin. This produces a rich, flavorful, and nutrient-dense broth.
Add to Ground Meat: For those who don't mind the texture, some cooks will grind or finely chop the gristle and incorporate it into ground beef. This adds extra collagen and a savory, chewy element to burgers or meatloaf.

Comparison: Eating Gristle Directly vs. Using in Broth


Feature	Eating Gristle Directly	Using Gristle in Broth
Texture	Unpleasantly chewy and rubbery due to high elastin content.	Smooth, rich, and gelatinous as collagen breaks down.
Digestibility	Difficult to chew and not easily digestible by human teeth.	Highly digestible as the proteins are broken down into simpler compounds.
Nutrient Absorption	Limited due to the difficulty of breaking down the tough fibers.	Excellent, as the nutrients are released into the liquid and readily absorbed by the body.
Flavor	Generally flavorless, though some people enjoy the chewy mouthfeel.	Adds a deep, savory, umami flavor to the final liquid.
Waste Reduction	Fully consuming the piece of meat, including the tough bits.	Utilizes parts of the animal that would otherwise be discarded, promoting nose-to-tail eating.

Conclusion: The Final Verdict on Gristle

The tough, chewy bits of gristle found in meat are not poisonous or unhealthy; rather, they are a rich source of proteins like collagen and elastin. While elastin does not break down with cooking and remains tough, the collagen can be utilized for its nutritional benefits, particularly for joint and skin health. For most people, eating gristle directly is an unpleasant textural experience, but the valuable amino acids within it can be unlocked through slow, moist cooking methods. The most practical and enjoyable way to benefit from gristle is by trimming it off and using it to make a nutrient-dense bone broth, effectively reducing food waste and creating a delicious ingredient for soups, stews, and sauces. Ultimately, the benefit is in the careful preparation, not the direct consumption.

The Role of Collagen Supplements

With the growing popularity of collagen for joint and skin health, it is worth noting that gristle and other connective tissues are natural food sources of this protein. While many people turn to powdered collagen peptides for supplementation, utilizing animal-based food products like bone broth made from salvaged gristle offers a traditional and whole-food approach to boosting collagen intake. Some studies comparing the efficacy of food-derived vs. supplemental collagen show similar benefits, with the main difference being absorption efficiency. Regardless, incorporating connective tissues into your cooking, even if it's not the chewy gristle itself, is a time-tested method for deriving these important nutrients.

Frequently Asked Questions

No, it is not bad for you to eat gristle, though many people find its tough, rubbery texture unappetizing. It contains proteins like collagen and elastin that are not harmful to consume.

When you eat gristle, you are consuming connective tissue primarily made of elastin and some collagen. Elastin does not break down during cooking, so it remains chewy. The gristle passes through your digestive system without being fully digested.

You can digest some of the proteins in gristle, especially if it is slow-cooked, but your body cannot fully break down the tough, fibrous elastin protein. This is why the texture remains so chewy even after cooking.

The chewy bits often found in ground beef are pieces of gristle, which is connective tissue like tendons and cartilage that are ground along with the muscle and fat. While edible, some people find the texture off-putting.

You cannot make the elastin in gristle softer with normal cooking methods, as it does not break down with heat. The only way to make the collagenous parts softer is through long, slow, moist cooking, like braising or simmering, to convert the collagen into gelatin.

When bone broth is made correctly by simmering bones and connective tissue for an extended period, the collagen breaks down into gelatin and is infused into the liquid. The tough elastin, or gristle, does not dissolve and can be strained out, leaving behind a smooth, rich broth.

Consuming gristle is not the most efficient way to support joint health due to its tough texture and poor digestibility. However, using it to make bone broth allows the collagen to be extracted and converted into easily absorbed gelatin, which has been shown to support joint health.