The Butcher’s Block

Bone broth has been around longer than any wellness trend, and it will outlast the current one too. People have been simmering bones low and slow for centuries — not because someone told them to, but because it worked. What's changed is that we now understand why.

When collagen breaks down over a long simmer, it becomes gelatin and a handful of amino acids that the body puts to immediate use. Glutamine feeds the cells lining the intestinal wall. Research has shown it plays a direct role in keeping that barrier intact — and a healthy gut lining is foundational to everything else, from digestion to systemic inflammation. Drinking broth in the morning, before food or coffee, means those compounds arrive with nothing competing for absorption.

There's also the satiety angle. A quality bone broth carries around ten grams of protein per cup — not a complete protein, but enough to take the edge off hunger and set a calmer tone for the morning.

The nighttime case is equally compelling. Glycine, abundant in a well-made broth, has been studied for its effect on sleep in controlled settings. Subjects who took glycine before bed fell asleep more easily, woke less, and reported feeling sharper the next day. The likely mechanism is a modest drop in core body temperature, which the body reads as a cue to sleep. A warm mug before bed turns out to be functional, not just comforting.

It also gives the body something to work with overnight. Tissue repair, collagen synthesis, gut lining maintenance — most of the body's regenerative work happens during sleep. Providing the raw materials beforehand is straightforward logic backed by real research.

The only thing that matters is using a broth that's actually made properly. Long simmer times, simple ingredients, and a gel when chilled — that jiggle is the easiest sign that collagen extracted the way it should. No gel means less gelatin, and less gelatin means fewer of the benefits that make this habit worth keeping.

Morning and night. That's the whole protocol.

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