9 Unexpected Things We Experienced During Our Bone Broth Detox

The other day I talked all about the bone broth diet.

I covered what it is (it’s basically a bone broth detox) and how it works pretty extensively.

So, as Jack, Justin and myself were chatting about how we could share even more great content + education material with all of you, we randomly stumbled upon a light-bulb moment, in which one of us said:

“Dude…we’re bone broth believers. So, why don’t we give The Bone Broth Diet a try and share the results with our readers?!”

Genius, right?!

And, that’s exactly what we’re doing. Because the truth is, knowledge is nothing without action. Which is why we chose to put ourselves through a 21-day Bone Broth Diet challenge.

We jumped into this bone broth detox + biohacking eperiment full tilt boogie.

We’re documenting the process as we go along, alternating between bone broth detox fasting days and non-fasting days, and wanted to share how the first 7 days have gone for us so far.

Let’s Talk Bone Broth Detox & the ‘Carb Flu’

The ‘carb flu’ doesn’t feel much different than the regular flu, to be honest. It’s something that’s commonly experienced during the first two weeks of The Bone Broth Diet. Common symptoms are:

• Headaches
• Exhaustion
• Foggy-headedness
• Sniffles
• Moodiness or feeling short-tempered
• Digestive distress
• Acne
• Anxiety

Why does the carb flu tend to happen? Because your body is both rebelling against and adapting to a new primary source or energy – fat. Basically, our bodies are used to the sugary, carb-y diets we tend to opt for. When we change that up, it throws our fuel reserves into confusion. Our bodies and cells have to learn how to re-establish connections, and use good fuel for, well, GOOD.

I’m not entirely sure about Jack and Justin (for as much as we all chat, we’re actually not roomies ;P ), but my diet isn’t terribly high in carbs to begin with. I definitely don’t like to teach people to be ‘carbophobes’ because carbohydrates certainly have their place. However, hopping on this bone broth detox did show me that I had been eating more than I’d eaten in the past. I most certainly went through an adjustment period and felt the effects. With that in mind, if and when you try out this particular bone broth detox for yourself, note that any adjustments in carb intake may result in flu-like symptoms.

Here were some of the ‘carb flu’ symptoms we actually experienced between days 1-4 (and occasionally towards the end of the week, but much less so than at the beginning):

• Headaches (…I’m always prone to these when making a dietary switch)
• Short temperateness (…who doesn’t get a little hangry?! I mean seriously…)
• Anxiety (…what the hell did I get myself into?!)
• Exhaustion
• Brain-fog
• Coldness at night (especially at bedtime)
• Morning grogginess (because no one wants to wake up and not eat…)

Oh, and I totally understand where Jack’s coming from with these quotes from of his journal entries on days 3-4 –

“Later in the night, I definitely had a shorter temper than normal…probably due to frustrations with not being able to eat.”

“I felt what I thought were symptoms in the late afternoon. I was anxious for about an hour. Also, it felt harder at times to manage my stomach issues…my body just wants to eat, eat, eat…going to a group dinner at a Mexican restaurant was a pain in the ass. I kept having to resist alcohol and non-paleo temptations.”

Did We Get Hungry Doing this Bone Broth Detox?

You better believe we experienced hunger! We felt it big time all throughout the week especially on the fasting days (duh!). At the same time, we also simultaneously experienced clarity. Here’s what we wrote in our journals about how our hunger levels shifted around throughout the week (it’s actually all pretty hilarious):

Day 1 –

“I started the detox after a weekend of drinking and eating bad foods (thanks, Cinco de Mayo). The morning went fine but stomach started growling around 11:30am. Slurped up 60 calories of K & F around 12pm. 1:30pm had slight hunger, but I feel great…Sleeping: hunger is coming back strong right as I’m trying to go to sleep.”

Day 2 –

“My first bone broth mini fast. I did option two – 5 cups bone broth and one smoothie at 7pm. I wasn’t starving, but it was definitely a struggle to avoid foods that I could chew and I was ecstatic to be drinking a smoothie by 7pm! Thank goodness all I did today was walk and stretch.”

Day 3 –

“The smell of food is killing me…predicting today to be a bit harder due to caloric limitations from the past two days. I’m at a coffee shop this morning and the smell of breakfast tacos makes eating something hard to resist. My stomach was growling right around lunch time. I drank bone broth and hunger went away…more stomach growling today than the 1st fast. It’s probably due to the fact that I essentially carbo-loaded over the weekend…really struggling with stomach…really freaking hungry. Funny enough, I still have loads of energy. Later in the night, I definitely had a shorter temper than normal…probably due to frustrations around not being able to eat.”

Day 4 –

“Today was my second mini fast of the week this was soooo incredibly hard…I’ve never done two fasts in one week. I also ran for 15-20 mins in the evening and that was a terrible idea…it made me very hungry. I had a smoothie at the end of the night like I was supposed to, but it wasn’t satiating enough. I also had some spiced chicken fried up in coconut oil + 2 slices of bacon…that held me over. Next week I’m going to try not to do two mini fasts with just one day in between. It was sooo hard and made me sooo hungry! I’ll probably shoot for Monday & Thursday or Tuesday and Friday.”

Day 5 –

“I actually feel kind of great…I’m having an easier time succeeding at this challenge in certain types of environments.”

Day 6 –

“I slept great and it was a really productive today. I just feel cleaner. My mind is empty of all the fog.”

Day 7 –

“I tried to do a mini fast today, but was still ravenous from the 6-mile run the day before. I made it until 4:30pm, so about a 19 hr fast. I noticed I was craving foods filled with vitamin C, so I ate golden berries and sauerkraut. Also, I ate an entire bag of plantain chips. Lol. Skin is perking up :)”

Also, what not to do (this sucked while we were doing it, but at least you can learn from our mistakes) if you want to keep hunger at bay:

• Don’t fast for two days in a row and leave two days between fasting days
• Don’t run 6 miles and expect to be able to do a fast the following day, you simply need more recovery fuel than you can get from a bone broth detox fasting day
• Don’t fast on days when you’re supposed to be super social because it makes it really hard to resist eating when everyone around you is doing it

Weigh-ins + How Our Clothes Fit on this Bone Broth Detox

Did we weigh in every day? Hell no, that’s just asking for trouble on a mental/emotional level. However, we did weigh on day 1, as well as, on day 7.

On day 1 I wrote the following:

“My weight is 140lbs…I’m on my period and feel crampy and bloated…”

Conversely, on day 7 I wrote this:

“The scale read back 135lbs! That’s 5lbs down in 7 days 🙂 I knew the scale had budged at least a few pounds.My clothes are fitting soooo much better! Especially at the waste! Yay!”

Jack also experienced a lot of success in this domain .

On day 1 he wrote the following:

” It’s the 1st BB Fast Day. Weigh-in: 162lbs.”

Then, on day 5 he wrote this:

“I feel like my body is adapting to the new diet. My clothes feel very loose, especially my pants!”

Finally, on day 7 he wrote this:

“My final weigh-in after 7 days was 159lbs (prior to my soccer game). So, I lost 3lbs and I notice a leaner physique.”

Bone Broth Detox Unexpected Results + Celebrations!

We noticed some unique things that we definitely weren’t expecting. Some were not so great, but most of them were actually fantastic and totally worth celebrating!  The best ones popped up between days 4-7 –

“Ate chipotle…Post-lunch was bad news. Chipotle sauce won’t be used again :/ Strict diet limitations this week are allowing me to identify problematic foods…”

“[I] noticed some constipation after fasting days.”

“Energy levels are great, not feeling tired at all. [I] feel a sense of clarity today. Productivity seems up.”

“I’m still knocking out work stuff…WTF?! I figured I’d be asleep at this point. I usually start falling apart work-wise around 6pm, but [I’m] still getting stuff done.”

“Played 90 minutes in a competitive soccer game. [I] was a bit worried about [my] performance since I usually rely on carbs and glucose to push through a long exercise [bout] like this. Surprisingly, [there was] no change in performance. [I actually] felt more focused and calm during game.”

“So, [I] lost 3lbs and [I] notice a…leaner physique!”

“That’s 5lbs down in 7 days 🙂 …My clothes are fitting soooo much better!”

I won’t lie, between the three of us, it’s clear that the first 7 days have been a bit of a roller coaster, but we all agree that the benefits definitely outweigh (pun intended) the negatives.

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Delfina is the spirited health coach, recipe developer and alternative health blogger behind Code to Wellness. She believes that REAL FOOD should taste good + do good for the body so that overcoming the struggle with weight, sugar cravings, and hormone imbalance is successful and sustainable. Her recipes are fun, easy, delicious and flippin’ awesome! When she’s not in “kitchen-experimenter” or “food-photographer” mode, she enjoys teaching Yoga Tune Up®, singing at the top of her lungs with the windows rolled down, and going barefoot. You can drop her a line on Facebook and get lots of #eatmovethink inspiration on Instagram + Pinterest. Reach out! She’s super friendly and wants to hear from you