why i eat chicken feet & pork feet weekly (and you should too)
Let’s get this out of the way: yes, I eat feet.
Chicken feet. Pork feet. I simmer them low and slow into the richest broth you’ve ever seen. No, it’s not weird. Not in my kitchen. Not in most of the world, actually. However, in the U.S., we’ve been taught to throw away the most healing parts of the animal—and then wonder why we’re dealing with leaky gut, premature aging, and broken immune systems.
I source my feet—chicken and pork—from a local farmer I trust. That matters. In the U.S. commercial system, chicken carcasses are often bleached before they’re sold. Let that sink in. This is exactly why I preach: shop local, support small farmers, and know your source.
gut healing isn’t trendy. it’s essential.
Have you ever been on antibiotics, steroids, or chemo?
Faced chronic pain, IBS, or SIBO?
Navigated perimenopause, menopause, or premature ovarian failure like I have?
If so, it’s time to heal your gut lining.
One of the most time-tested ways to do that is by drinking collagen-rich broth made from feet.
Personally, I went through years of narcotics while battling sickle cell disease. I went through chemo before my bone marrow transplant. Eventually, I was diagnosed with avascular necrosis in my elbows, knees, and ankles. The pain was unrelenting. I even underwent a painful knee surgery to scrape out dead bone. Despite all of this, I kept going—and I still lift weights today. Why? Because I know what my body needs: collagen to rebuild and load-bearing movement to stay strong.
why feet?
Feet have the highest concentration of collagen, cartilage, and connective tissue. These parts are the blueprint of youth—gelatin, minerals, and amino acids that feed your gut, skin, joints, bones, and hormones.
To be clear, I’m not just talking about glowing skin. However, if you’ve ever seen a Korean woman with glass skin, you already know this is a staple in their ancestral diet.
More importantly, we’re talking about sealing a damaged gut lining so your body can finally absorb nutrients, stop attacking itself, and begin healing.
for my women in healing seasons
When you’re in convalescence—recovering from surgery, a chronic illness, or years of stress and overwork—your body is begging for deep nourishment.
If you’re navigating perimenopause or menopause—when estrogen drops and skin starts to thin, joints feel dry, and energy dips—you need building blocks, not just quick fixes. You need real collagen, not synthetic powders.
Additionally, for those of us who’ve dealt with premature ovarian failure like I have—your body’s been through hormonal whiplash. Therefore, you must support your bones, your skin, your gut, and your mind. Collagen isn’t a luxury. It’s foundational.
That said, while HRT can be helpful, (I am on it) it shouldn’t be the only tool in your toolbox—your body also needs REAL nourishment from collagen-rich foods to rebuild at the cellular level.
how i use them
Chicken Feet: I keep them in my freezer and toss them into broth with onion, garlic, sea salt, and a splash of apple cider vinegar. The vinegar pulls minerals from the bones—so don’t skip it. (Sometimes, I don’t add onion and garlic and simply do a plain broth with mineral salt.)
Pork Feet: When I want an even richer broth, I turn to pork feet. The gelatin they release is unmatched. Occasionally, I combine both for a supercharged pot.
Simmer: Typically, I simmer the bones for 12–24 hours in a slow cooker or on the stove. Once done, I strain and store the broth in mason jars. After that, I drink a warm cup with sea salt—or use it as a base for soups, stews, rice, or even to cook beans.
nothing wasted: bones, crunchies, and garden gold
Once the bones have simmered until they’re soft and limp, I don’t throw them out.
Instead, I dehydrate the bones—yes, even the chicken feet—and eat them as crunchies. Think of them like ancestral chips. They’re a little salty, a little chewy, and packed with minerals that modern snacks could never touch.
Any bones I don’t eat, I toss into my Vitamix and grind into a fine powder. Later, I pour that powder right back into my garden. That’s calcium, phosphorus, and collagen residue—all going back into the soil to feed my food, my herbs, my medicine. That’s the full circle. Nothing wasted. This is how our ancestors lived.
my hair, skin & nails? better than they’ve ever been.
I won’t lie—most days, I’m glowing.
It’s not a fluke, and it’s definitely not a filter. Rather, it’s the broth. It’s the raw dairy. It is a the probiotic strains I’ve been culturing myself, like L. reuteri. It’s also the 2–3 pasture-raised eggs I eat daily without fail. This entire lifestyle of real food and real healing has made all the difference.
Still, if I had to pinpoint the turning point—it was when I started prioritizing broth made from chicken feet and pork feet. The collagen helped seal my gut, yes, but it also helped my nails stop peeling and breaking. For the first time in years, they’re strong. They grow. That never used to happen for me.
In addition, my skin is soft and clear, even without makeup. My hair has started growing in thicker again. And all of this comes after years of chemo, pain meds, and hormonal imbalance.
Of course, broth didn’t fix everything overnight, but it gave my body the raw materials it was missing. Eventually, that changed everything.
don’t be afraid of ancestral food
In America, we’ve been trained to fear real food and worship processed substitutes. Collagen powders line the shelves—but the broth from a humble chicken foot? People turn their noses up.
Yet, in almost every culture outside of the Western industrial system, feet are prized. They’re respected. They’re used to restore new mothers, the sick, the elderly, and anyone recovering from hardship.
This is food for the rebuilding seasons of life.
your body deserves to be rebuilt
Don’t let the wellness industry trick you into thinking healing has to be expensive or complicated.
You can start with bones and feet, simmered in water. That’s how I did it. That’s how thousands of women around the world are doing it right now—healing their gut lining, smoothing their skin, softening their joints, and rebuilding from the inside out.
You are not broken. You are rebuilding. And this broth is one of the best places to start.
👉🏽 Want my full gut-healing grocery list? https://sisterfrennn.com/product/ancestral-grocery-guide/
👉🏽 New to bone broth? Watch my video on how to make collagen-rich broth at home
