Is meat broth really nutritious?

[PainterGuy]

Hi,

Could you please help me with the queries below?

Q1:
It's said that meat broth is really nutritious. Does the boiling process extract the nutrients from the meat? If it does, I'd say that the boiling process cannot still extract all the nutrients from the meat.

Q2:
Assuming the answer to my query above is 'yes'. I've seen many people boil vegetables, beans, etc., before properly preparing them using oil. If the boiling process can really extract the nutrients then boiling the vegetables etc., before cooking them in oil is a really bad idea. What do you say on this?

 

[Drakkith]

It's said that meat broth is really nutritious. Does the boiling process extract the nutrients from the meat?

Cooking food of any type tends to break down some portion of the nutrients in it. But it also helps sanitize the food and to make it easier to chew and digest along with improving taste and making it so that different types of food can be combined together and come out tasty.

If it does, I'd say that the boiling process cannot still extract all the nutrients from the meat.

No, proper preparation of food typically leaves plenty of nutrients intact.

If the boiling process can really extract the nutrients then boiling the vegetables etc., before cooking them in oil is a really bad idea. What do you say on this?

I'd say not to worry about it. If you're healthy, the small loss of nutrients from cooking is not harmful as long as you're eating a balanced diet.

 

[PainterGuy]

Thank you!

I think that I didn't state it clearly.

I wanted to say that if you stew/boil meat and then drink that liquid (without any meat), is that liquid going to contain as many nutrients as there are in 'solid' meat? Personally, I don't think so.

 

[Drakkith]

I wanted to say that if you stew/boil meat and then drink that liquid (without any meat), is that liquid going to contain as many nutrients as there are in 'solid' meat? Personally, I don't think so.

I don't think so either.

 

[256bits]

Thank you!

I think that I didn't state it clearly.

I wanted to say that if you stew/boil meat and then drink that liquid (without any meat), is that liquid going to contain as many nutrients as there are in 'solid' meat? Personally, I don't think so.

Opinions are opinions.

You should be asking "What is it that could be transferred from the meat to the liquid when stewing or boiling?"
You would end up with a qualitative answer.

Next would be to ask " How much of each constituent is in the water?"

And how does this relate to the amount in the meat - you would have to base that upon some measurable system - ie per mass, per volume, per serving, per calorie consumed, per price/cost, ...

 

[Rive]

It's said that meat broth is really nutritious.

As far as I know, it is not.

It's often used/recommended as soft/starting meal after surgery, serious sickness, gut upset or such and it's recommended due being 'nutritious': but in fact what matters is that it's easy to digest, rehydrating due the high water content and it's kind of naturally isotonic (well: close enough).

But if you need nutrients for a whole day physical activity, workout or such, you should pick a stew in which you can stick a spoon straight. That is nutritious

I've seen many people boil vegetables, beans, etc., before properly preparing them using oil. If the boiling process can really extract the nutrients then boiling the vegetables etc., before cooking them in oil is a really bad idea. What do you say on this?

Making a decent meat broth takes hours. A few minute/second boiling won't affect nutrient content too much: it's about the texture of the food.

 

[pinball1970]

As far as I know, it is not.

It's often used/recommended as soft/starting meal after surgery, serious sickness, gut upset or such and it's recommended due being 'nutritious': but in fact what matters is that it's easy to digest, rehydrating due the high water content and it's kind of naturally isotonic (well: close enough).

But if you need nutrients for a whole day physical activity, workout or such, you should pick a stew in which you can stick a spoon straight. That is nutritious

View attachment 317585Making a decent meat broth takes hours. A few minute/second boiling won't affect nutrient content too much: it's about the texture of the food.

That looks great

Its 13.24pm here and I have not had lunch yet…

 

[pinball1970]

I tried the spoon test with a tin kindly donated by one of my colleagues. The brand is high end. It does not look as chunky in the bowl as the image on the tin.

I added spinach and pepper, increase viscosity, confidence high.

Close enough.

 

[PainterGuy]

Opinions are opinions.

You should be asking "What is it that could be transferred from the meat to the liquid when stewing or boiling?"
You would end up with a qualitative answer.

Next would be to ask " How much of each constituent is in the water?"

And how does this relate to the amount in the meat - you would have to base that upon some measurable system - ie per mass, per volume, per serving, per calorie consumed, per price/cost, ...

Thank you!

I agree that that would be the right way to do a scientific inquiry. When I asked the question, I was just thinking about it and needed some opinions. On the other hand, I don't think I would have been able to frame my query so nicely the way you did. Thanks!

 

[PainterGuy]

It's often used/recommended as soft/starting meal after surgery, serious sickness, gut upset or such and it's recommended due being 'nutritious'

That's exactly what I had in mind. Mostly when someone has surgery or get sick, that person is mostly given meat broth so I was under the impression that it should be really nutritious.

 

[TeethWhitener]

This is not as straightforward a question as it looks at first blush.

While food preparation often destroys or decreases the concentration of some nutrients compared to raw ingredients (e.g., vitamin C exposed to high heat), it increases the bioavailability of other nutrients (e.g., heat breaks down starches into smaller poly- and mono-saccharides, also nixtamalization greatly increases bioavailability of vitamin B3 in corn over unprocessed corn).

As for meat broth specifically, it’s certainly easier to access nutrients that have been leached from bones or gristle using boiling water than by gnawing on the bones directly. So you probably get nutrients from broth that you wouldn’t get from eating the meat directly. But if you boil meat in water and then throw out the meat, you obviously lose a large amount of proteins and fats. So the answer to your question is probably yes and no.

 

[jim mcnamara]

Let's start from the top. This is the legal and scientific US data for nutrition labels. Example: To see what happens to raw versus cooked carrots look here:
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/
Or almost any other food is in here...

1. cooking vegetables changes many ,but not all, nutrients.

Example: Vitamin C (ascorbates) can be removed/reduced either by heat or boiling for more than a few minutes. Boiled kale (a leafy green) has 17.mg of Vitamin C per 100g of kale. Much less than raw kale: which is 94mg/100g

Example: Vitamin A levels in carrots (as beta carotene) is not decreased very much and bioavailability is greatly increased from cooking
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14673607/

2. cooking foods kills parasites, bacteria

3. Humans evolved to eat cooked foods,
Example: biochemistry: browning of foods:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction - humans can detect very low quantities of the output of the browning reaction. Smells very good!

4. Due to the increased digestibility of most cooked foods, the energy budget for digestion of these foods is a big win over digesting raw.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/14/world/earliest-evidence-of-cooking-with-fire-scn/index.html
780kya

Bottom line - nutrient values of cooked foods versus uncooked foods is not remotely simple.

 

[PainterGuy]

This is not as straightforward a question as it looks at first blush.

While food preparation often destroys or decreases the concentration of some nutrients compared to raw ingredients (e.g., vitamin C exposed to high heat), it increases the bioavailability of other nutrients (e.g., heat breaks down starches into smaller poly- and mono-saccharides, also nixtamalization greatly increases bioavailability of vitamin B3 in corn over unprocessed corn).

As for meat broth specifically, it’s certainly easier to access nutrients that have been leached from bones or gristle using boiling water than by gnawing on the bones directly. So you probably get nutrients from broth that you wouldn’t get from eating the meat directly. But if you boil meat in water and then throw out the meat, you obviously lose a large amount of proteins and fats. So the answer to your question is probably yes and no.

Thanks a lot! I find your post very helpful.

 

[PainterGuy]

Let's start from the top. This is the legal and scientific US data for nutrition labels. Example: To see what happens to raw versus cooked carrots look here:
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/
Or almost any other food is in here...

1. cooking vegetables changes many ,but not all, nutrients.

Example: Vitamin C (ascorbates) can be removed/reduced either by heat or boiling for more than a few minutes. Boiled kale (a leafy green) has 17.mg of Vitamin C per 100g of kale. Much less than raw kale: which is 94mg/100g

Example: Vitamin A levels in carrots (as beta carotene) is not decreased very much and bioavailability is greatly increased from cooking
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14673607/

2. cooking foods kills parasites, bacteria

3. Humans evolved to eat cooked foods,
Example: biochemistry: browning of foods:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction - humans can detect very low quantities of the output of the browning reaction. Smells very good!

4. Due to the increased digestibility of most cooked foods, the energy budget for digestion of these foods is a big win over digesting raw.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/14/world/earliest-evidence-of-cooking-with-fire-scn/index.html
780kya

Bottom line - nutrient values of cooked foods versus uncooked foods is not remotely simple.

Thank you very much! All those links and data are really helpful.

 

[Rive]

Close enough.

Got a winner:

'Gulya' is a herd of cows kept without shelter.
'Gulyas' (goulash, as outsiders spell it) is the person guarding a 'gulya'.
You can safely say 'cowboy' to get the idea.
'Gulyas' is also become the name of the local 'cowboy stew'. Thick with fat, so it can be preserved for a week. Very practical.
Then, the 'goulash soup': when the raw material is made to a thick soup with vegetables, bean, whatever available.
The (very practical) point: it can keep you on foot for a day.
THAT is nutritious
Fits as a meal after a day long hike

 

[symbolipoint]

Making a decent meat broth takes hours. A few minute/second boiling won't affect nutrient content too much: it's about the texture of the food.

Very few "hours". In fact 2 hours maximum.

 

[symbolipoint]

Broth can and should be made using bones; but including some meat to make the broth is very acceptable. One thing the broth is good for (along with other things) is as the liquid for cooking rice. I do not know how to explain the results - just try it both ways to see for yourself/ves.

 

[Averagesupernova]

The reason broth/soup became a thing at all was to get the nutrition out of the bone/joint from an animal. It takes more than a couple of hours. The so called soup meat that is bought at a grocery store is basically something that has too much gristle to eat any other way and it has no bone. People don't seem to want to deal with the bone.
-
Real actual soup meat will be attached to a leg joint or something similar where all of the substance is cooked out of the bone/joint. That's not to say you cannot add meat of course.
-
One of my favorite meals is just what I described above with carrots, celery, potatoes, and assorted spices. Usually the joint/bone/meat is cooked and then refrigerated. The excess fat comes to the top. Take out what you don't want the next day concerning fat. Heat it up and cook again adding veggies at the appropriate time. I don't like potato soup so they need to be added at an appropriate time prior to eating so they don't completely dissolve nor be too firm. Same with the carrots and celery.
-
Edit: I forgot to put the onions in. And garlic if that's your thing.

 

[pinball1970]

Got a winner:
View attachment 347049
'Gulya' is a herd of cows kept without shelter.
'Gulyas' (goulash, as outsiders spell it) is the person guarding a 'gulya'.
You can safely say 'cowboy' to get the idea.
'Gulyas' is also become the name of the local 'cowboy stew'. Thick with fat, so it can be preserved for a week. Very practical.
Then, the 'goulash soup': when the raw material is made to a thick soup with vegetables, bean, whatever available.
The (very practical) point: it can keep you on foot for a day.
THAT is nutritious
Fits as a meal after a day long hike

That looks amazing, paprika to get that fantastic colour?
Ex gf dad was Hungarian so I was treated with his recipe now and again.
I tried and failed to repeat it after we split.

 

[symbolipoint]

The topic makes me wonder about how do who measure the results of broth preparation. Not simply concentration, but also the physical effects. Reminder, bone broth will form a gel when it cools. How is this gel-ness measured?

 

[symbolipoint]

The topic makes me wonder about how do who measure the results of broth preparation. Not simply concentration, but also the physical effects. Reminder, bone broth will form a gel when it cools. How is this gel-ness measured?

Aside from at least temporarily ignoring the topic focus on "nutritional", I just tried a search online and one of the articles is this one: https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=19349
and this one too, which I have not read much of.... https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-59116-7_7

 

[Laroxe]

A lot of people have pointed out that this is a surprisingly difficult question to answer, food preparation involves a great deal more than nutritional content. It can remove harmful bacteria, remove some plant based poisons and anti-nutrients, free up the nutritional elements from indigestible tissue matrix, make food more digestible and tolerable and reducing the guts workload. Foods that are already in solution are easier to absorb and we need the fluids anyway, this means that altering the density of the food does not automatically make for more nutrient value.
Meat generally has a far greater nutritional density, than plant based foods and is less likely to contain plant chemical defences. Many plant based foods in their raw state are relatively worthless, they protect their food stores with indigestible cellulose which cooking breaks down. While some micronutrients are destroyed in cooking, this is rarely significant and readily compensated for by the greater availability of the macronutrients.
Another issue in assessing nutrient value is the fact that our body has a variety of mechanisms to control the absorption and removal of certain nutrients depending on need and various nutrients interact in ways that alter absorption, a lot of herbs and spices do this, and they also alter the guts movements. Altering the taste has a important effect on eating behaviours, which can also be important.
This does mean that calculating the nutritional content of various foods tells you very little about the nutritional value, I think the ideas about evaluating these things scientifically are only useful if you have time to waste.
You could look at some of the research that addresses human diet and nutrition, its comedy gold.

 

[symbolipoint]

remove some plant based poisons and anti-nutrients, free up the nutritional elements from indigestible tissue matrix, make food more digestible and tolerable and reducing the guts workload.

Though not about meat and bone broth, that part in bold is good to be basically aware. Ever try eating certain green vegetable leaves raw? I did; a piece of chard. Bitter, and irritated my throat. But when cooked like in a bit of salted water, very different - pleasant flavor, easy chewing, no irritation.

 

[Rive]

That looks amazing, paprika to get that fantastic colour?
Ex gf dad was Hungarian so I was treated with his recipe now and again.
I tried and failed to repeat it after we split.

'Paprika' alone is just 'red pepper'. I don't really know whether this kind is available in other countries, but we have a specific/special pepper for this: bred for color and taste when ground instead of 'vegetableness' or strength like bell pepper or chili. It's sweet (=not spicy) and red, and so it can be used in excess amounts, without making the dish inedible (or: just different). It's also often added twice: once, to have the taste, and a second time to have that vibrant color (the random example is about a stew).
There are no other parts of the recipe which is not violated at everyday manner at home, so you are safe to try and serve it as 'original'

But maybe we need to split this into a separate 'foodie' thread

 

[Nik_2213]

IMHO, this discussion confuses what I'd call 'Broth' and 'Stew'.
The latter varies with local custom and season, but may be thick enough to stand a spoon. The carbs may be noodles, potatoes or whatever.
( I consider 'Second Day Scouse', potatoes now mush and meat 'dispersed', an under-rated delicacy...)

A 'Broth', to my mind, must be fluid enough to serve as a drink.
Make it from concentrate, eg 'Bovril', 'Marmite' or 'gravy mix', or strained slow-simmered / nimbly pressure-cooked ingredients as you please, but it should pass a straw or spouted cup at need.

My family joked they knew that I was seriously ill --Again !!-- when I could only 'hold down' broth, and did not shun the inevitable 'Lucozade' (Yuck !!) brought by well-meaning aunts...

 

[JT Smith]

It's so dilute that I wouldn't say that it can realistically provide very much in terms of nutrients. Probably it's main "contribution" besides water is sodium. So while it could be part of a nutritious diet it's at best a very minor player in that regard. I think its strong point is that it's easy to consume when you're not feeling well.

You don't actually need meat to make a good broth, just some very flavorful components. The vegetable stock I prepare when making butternut squash soup is incredibly delicious on its own, far better than most instant meat broths. That said I'm a sucker for a good home made chicken broth. I just wouldn't try making it a substantial part of my diet.

 

[symbolipoint]

You don't actually need meat to make a good broth, just some very flavorful components. The vegetable stock I prepare when making butternut squash soup is incredibly delicious on its own, far better than most instant meat broths. That said I'm a sucker for a good home made chicken broth. I just wouldn't try making it a substantial part of my diet.

Vegetables for broth - other orange and yellow color squashes, when cooked, also become sweet. Some vegetables like brussels sprouts too may become sweet when cooked.

 

[pinball1970]

This is great, only pf could give a sincere treatment of broth and it's relationship to soup stew and stock.

 

[256bits]

I tried the spoon test with a tin kindly donated by one of my colleagues. The brand is high end. It does not look as chunky in the bowl as the image on the tin.

I added spinach and pepper, increase viscosity, confidence high.

View attachment 317604

Close enough.

The bowl View attachment 317605

the bowl looks chunky.
Perhaps some with some flavouring - nutritious :)

 

[pinball1970]

the bowl looks chunky.
Perhaps some with some flavouring - nutritious :)

Yes it was nice but not home cooked, just out of a tin.