The broth dieting craze

NEW YORK CITY (WPVI) -- It's being called the new juice craze, a healthier alternative to replace your afternoon cup of coffee.

It's bone broth - soup without the stuff in it.

It's nothing more than standard chicken or beef broth, the kind mom makes when she has hours and hours to brew up soup.

It's also the hot new hot beverage being touted by actor-turned-food-guru Gwennyth Paltrow.

Adored by the high-protein-loving Paleo crowd, bone broth is now being sold in New York City's East Village out of a tiny window shop called Brodo. That's Italian for broth.

Brodo is the brainchild of celebrity chef Marco Canora.

So what are the benefits of simmering down to the bone?

"Well, you get all the minerals out of them, right?" says Canora. "The calcium, the magnesium are big ones. The gelatin and the collagen that comes out, and then all the proteins and amino acids."

Canora says his broth is good for joint and gut health, inflammation, and great for dieters too.

"Yep, high water, it's low in calories. High in nutrition," he says. "You know, everybody's seen those lists of super foods. And you see blueberries, and you see kefir. I think that, you know, broth needs to be considered a super food."

And unlike the juicing craze, broth is low in sugar and high in protein.

"Does it hold any secret medical or nutritional value? Probably not," says Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC News senior medical contributor. "Is it unhealthy for you? Definitely not. The reality is it's somewhere in the middle. It's a low calorie, delicious food."

And customers seem to be savoring every sip!

"I have digestion issues, and once I started drinking broth it made everything okay," said one.

Canora's flavors include organic chicken or grass fed beef with optional infusions. Meanwhile, he's enjoying the attention.

"It's been pretty great," he said. "We're three weeks in, so I don't want to get ahead of myself. But a couple of Saturdays ago, I ran out at 3:00 p.m. I had no idea it was going to go so well."

A cup starts at $4, not too different from that fancy latte.