The bedtime drink over‑60s are quietly swapping in for better joint comfort and fewer night‑time trips to the loo

She hates that first step out of bed. The way her knees protest, the little wince she tries to hide even when no one’s watching. For years, the end of her day looked the same: a generous mug of tea around nine, sometimes a small glass of wine “for the joints”. Then two, three trips to the loo in the night, and a morning that started with stiffness and a sigh.

Now, at 68, Margaret still puts the kettle on. But the mug she carries to the sofa smells different: savoury, a little peppery, more like Sunday lunch than afternoon tea. A friend called it “bedtime broth”. She called it odd. Yet a few weeks in, she noticed she was getting up less in the night. Standing felt easier. Nothing magical, just… softer.

One drink won’t cure arthritis or turn back the clock. But the quiet swap many over‑60s are making - from big evening brews to a small, warm cup of bone broth or rich stock - pulls three powerful levers at once: less caffeine and alcohol, smarter timing of fluids, and a top‑up of joint‑friendly nutrients.

It’s a tiny habit with outsized knock‑on effects.

The quiet swap: from late‑night cuppas to a savoury bedtime mug

Look carefully at a lot of over‑60s’ evenings and a pattern appears. A large mug of tea or coffee after eight. Maybe a glass of wine or beer while the late news hums. It feels comforting and harmless. But the body reads it differently, especially as we age.

Caffeine nudges the kidneys to make more urine and can irritate a sensitive bladder. Alcohol relaxes the muscles that normally keep the bladder and urethra in check, and fragments sleep. Add the simple maths of volume - 300–400 ml of fluid just before bed - and nocturnal loo trips almost become inevitable.

A small mug of broth‑style drink changes the equation. Bone broth is essentially long‑simmered bones, connective tissue and vegetables, strained into a clear, savoury liquid. It’s nothing new; previous generations called it stock and gave it to anyone under the weather. What’s new is the timing and intent: a 150–200 ml cup, low in caffeine and alcohol, sipped slowly in the last hour before bed.

It’s not a miracle cure, but it is a smarter default.

Why a broth‑style bedtime drink can be kinder to joints - and your bladder

Joints: gentle nourishment, not a magic bullet

Bone broth contains small amounts of collagen, gelatin, amino acids like glycine and proline, and minerals that leach from bone into water. On their own, these won’t erase arthritis, but they sit on the same pathway as some better‑studied supplements.

Collagen powders, for example, have been shown in several small trials to support joint comfort when combined with movement and strength work. A homemade broth is more dilute, yet it still contributes to that pool of building blocks your body uses to maintain cartilage, ligaments and skin.

Many people also add:

• A pinch of turmeric and black pepper (for curcumin, an anti‑inflammatory compound).
• A slice of fresh ginger (for gingerols, which may help dampen inflammatory signalling).

The warmth of the drink matters too. Warmth increases local blood flow slightly and encourages muscles around the joint to relax. More relaxed muscles can mean less perceived stiffness when you first get up, especially if you’ve also slept more deeply.

Bladder: less rushing, more sleeping

Night‑time trips to the loo (nocturia) usually have several causes: age‑related changes in the kidneys and bladder, prostate enlargement in men, pelvic floor weakness, certain medicines, heart or kidney conditions, even poorly controlled diabetes. No drink, however fashionable, fixes all that.

What it can do is stop adding fuel to the fire.

Swapping a large late‑night tea or glass of wine for a small, savoury mug:

• Cuts caffeine and alcohol in the last few hours before bed.
• Reduces the overall volume of evening fluid.
• Provides a tiny bit of salt, which helps the body hold on to fluid rather than rushing it straight to the bladder.

People who make three tweaks together - front‑loading fluids earlier in the day, avoiding caffeine after mid‑afternoon, and keeping the last drink before bed small - often notice fewer night‑time awakenings within a week or two.

If you’re up more than twice a night most nights, especially with thirst, swelling, or changes in urine, a GP check is essential. A bedtime drink is a tool, not a diagnosis.

A simple “bedtime broth” blueprint

You don’t need a chef’s kitchen or a slow cooker permanently on the go. Start small, treat it as an experiment, and give it two to three weeks.

Step 1: Choose what you’ll swap

Pick one regular late‑evening drink to replace at least five nights a week:

• 9 pm tea or coffee
• Nightcap (wine, beer, whisky)
• Large mug of hot chocolate or sweet milky drink

Step 2: Set your timings

An easy pattern is:

• Last large drink: 2–3 hours before bed.
• Light evening fluids with dinner: 1–2 glasses of water or squash.
• Bedtime broth: 30–90 minutes before lights out, no more than 150–200 ml.

Step 3: Keep the recipe unfussy

A basic, joint‑friendly bedtime broth looks like this:

• 150–200 ml bone broth or good‑quality stock (chicken, beef or vegetable).
• Pinch of sea salt if it tastes flat and your blood pressure allows.
• Optional: a pinch of turmeric and black pepper, or a few slices of ginger.
• Warm gently until steaming but not boiling; sip over 10–15 minutes.

If you’re short on time:

• Use shop‑bought stock pots or cubes, choosing the reduced‑salt version.
• Batch‑cook homemade broth once a fortnight and freeze in small portions.
• Prefer plants? A rich vegetable stock with added collagen powder (if you’re not vegetarian) can be a halfway house.

Here’s a quick comparison to make the logic clear:

Old habit	Quiet swap	Why it can help
350 ml strong tea at 9.30 pm	180 ml warm bone broth at 9.30 pm	Less caffeine and volume, milder impact on bladder and sleep
Glass of wine in front of the TV	Savoury broth in the same glass or mug	Removes alcohol, keeps the wind‑down ritual
“I forget to drink all day, then top up at night”	Most fluids before 6 pm, small broth only near bedtime	Reduces nocturnal urine production, supports steadier hydration
Sugary hot chocolate	Unsweetened broth with spices	Fewer blood sugar swings that can wake you up hungry or thirsty

A few cautions before you put the kettle on

As with any health tweak, context matters. What’s soothing for one person can be unhelpful for another.

Be especially cautious and speak to your GP or practice nurse if:

• You have high blood pressure, heart failure or kidney disease. Standard bone broths and stock cubes can be salty. You may need low‑salt versions or a different drink entirely.
• You live with gout. Long‑simmered meat broths are higher in purines, which can trigger attacks in some people. A lighter vegetable‑based broth may be safer.
• You’re on a strict fluid restriction. Even 150 ml extra matters when your daily allowance is tight.
• You suspect histamine intolerance. Very long‑cooked broths can be histamine‑rich and may worsen flushing, itch or headaches in sensitive people.

And the basics still apply: do not stop or change prescribed joint or bladder medicines without medical advice. Think of bedtime broth as one small, pleasant piece of a wider plan that includes movement, strength work, weight management and, when needed, targeted treatment.

Here’s a compact checklist to keep it simple:

• Keep the bedtime drink small (150–200 ml).
• Aim for little or no caffeine, alcohol or added sugar.
• Watch the salt if you have blood pressure or heart issues.
• Shift most of your day’s fluids to earlier hours.
• Track for two weeks: number of night‑time loo trips and how stiff you feel getting up.

What really shifts over time

The real power of this trend isn’t collagen or turmeric. It’s the way a small, repeatable ritual reshapes the hours around it.

A warm, savoury mug nudges you to sit, to pause, to put the phone down a little earlier. Better sleep steadies pain perception; calmer nights make it easier to move more in the day; stronger muscles then carry more of the load that sore joints used to bear alone. The drink is just the doorway.

You don’t need to announce it to anyone or buy special equipment. Just an honest look at your evenings, a willingness to tinker, and a fortnight of paying attention to how your body responds.

If your joints feel a touch kinder and the hallway to the loo sees you a little less often, that’s a quiet win worth keeping.

FAQ:

• Will bone broth cure my arthritis? No. It may provide useful building blocks and a comforting routine, but joint conditions usually need a mix of movement, weight management, pain relief and, in some cases, specialist treatment.
  
• Can I still have an evening cuppa as well as bedtime broth? You can, but if night‑time loo trips bother you, keep any tea or coffee to earlier in the evening and choose decaffeinated versions. The key is lowering caffeine and overall fluid close to bedtime.
  
• Is there a vegetarian or vegan option? Yes. A rich vegetable stock with herbs, spices and perhaps a separate collagen‑free joint supplement can form a similar ritual, though it won’t contain bone‑derived collagen. Focus on warmth, low caffeine and sensible fluid timing.
  
• How long before I notice any difference? Changes in night‑time loo trips can show up within a few days if fluid timing is the main issue. Any shift in joint comfort is likely to be slower and subtler, over weeks to months, and will depend heavily on what else you do for your joints.
  
• Should I worry about calories at bedtime? A small mug of plain broth is generally low in calories. If you’re managing your weight, keep additions (cream, butter, large amounts of oil) modest and look at your overall daily intake rather than this one drink in isolation.