Your grandma had it right when she threw all of the bones of the animal into the pot, stewed them for hours, then used the broth in recipes for weeks! This “new” craze is really an old tip that has kept people healthy for thousands of year. In the past, they may not have had the science to back up the benefits of bone broth. We now know that it’s a gut healing elixir packed full of restorative collagen, and good bacteria to boost your immune system and keep your body feeling and looking younger.
Benefits of Bone Broth
| Helps heal and seal your gut, and promotes healthy digestion: The gelatin found in bone broth is a hydrophilic colloid. It attracts and holds liquids, including digestive juices, thereby supporting proper digestion | Inhibits infection caused by cold and flu viruses, etc.: A study4published over a decade ago found that chicken soup indeed has medicinal qualities, significantly mitigating infection |
| Reduces joint pain and inflammation, courtesy of chondroitin sulphates, glucosamine, and other compounds extracted from the boiled down cartilage | Fights inflammation: Amino acids such as glycine, proline, and arginine all have anti-inflammatory effects. Arginine, for example, has been found to be particularly beneficial for the treatment of sepsis5 (whole-body inflammation).
Glycine also has calming effects, which may help you sleep better |
| Promotes strong, healthy bones: As mentioned above, bone broth contains high amounts of calcium, magnesium, and other nutrients that play an important role in healthy bone formation | Promotes healthy hair and nail growth, thanks to the gelatin in the broth. |
(Source)
Healing and Sealing Leaky Gut Issue
If you have multiple food sensitivities, healing your gut should be on the top of your list! Bone broth has the ability to heal and seal your gut lining. This prevents bad bacteria, undigested particles, and waste for entering your system. Sealing your gut lining will help to decrease daily irritants that cause inflamation, swelling, pain, and mood swings. Healing your gut will help to end these issues but the two always go hand in hand.
Dr. Campbell, the author of “The GAPS Diet,” says
Broth or “stock” plays an important role as it’s easily digestible, helps heal the lining of your gut, and contains valuable nutrients. Abnormalities in your immune system are a common outcome of GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome), and such immune abnormalities can then allow for the development of virtually any degenerative disease (source).
While you can now find bone broth in most health food stores, making it at home isn’t terribly hard. If you don’t have time, there are two versions you can buy. One is usually in the frozen section and may be the best option, the other is stored at room temperature and is sealed preserve freshness. The boxed version may not be as healing since hasn’t been kept cold. This may keep more of the good bacteria thriving.
How to Make Your Own Bone Broth
There are tons of recipes online to make your own. Some of the easiest version are cooked using a crockpot. My mom used the recipe on Mercola.com and said that it was a pretty easy recipe to follow. She recommends leaving the celery out of this recipe because it can alter the flavor of the stock if stored for long periods of time and frozen.
This recipe is from Mercola.com
Ingredients for homemade chicken broth9
1 whole free-range chicken or2 to 3 pounds of bony chicken parts, such as necks, backs, breastbones, and wings
Gizzards from one chicken (optional)
2-4 chicken feet (optional)
4 quarts cold filtered water
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped (optional)
1 bunch parsley
Please note the addition of vinegar. Not only are fats are ideally combined with acids like vinegar, but when it comes to making broth, the vinegar helps leech all those valuable minerals from the bones into the stockpot water, which is ultimately what you’ll be eating. The goal is to extract as many minerals as possible out of the bones into the broth water. Bragg’s raw apple cider vinegar is a good choice as it’s unfiltered and unpasteurized.
Cooking Directions
If you’re starting out with a whole chicken, you’ll of course have plenty of meat as well, which can be added back into the broth later with extra herbs and spices to make a chicken soup.
- Fill up a large stockpot (or large crockpot) with pure, filtered water. (A crockpot is recommended for safety reasons if you have to leave home while it’s cooking.)
- Add vinegar and all vegetables except parsley to the water.
- Place the whole chicken or chicken carcass into the pot.
- Bring to a boil, and remove any scum that rises to the top.
- Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and let simmer.
- If cooking a whole chicken, the meat should start separating from the bone after about 2 hours. Simply remove the chicken from the pot and separate the meat from the bones. Place the carcass back into the pot and continue simmering the bones for another 12-24 hours and follow with step 8 and 9.
- If cooking bones only, simply let them simmer for about 24 hours.
- Fallon suggests adding the fresh parsley about 10 minutes before finishing the stock, as this will add healthy mineral ions to your broth.
- Remove remaining bones from the broth with a slotted spoon and strain the rest through a strainer to remove any bone fragments.”
Fitness Tips:
You can make cooking faster by buying bones directly from the store. If you can’t seem to find them, ask the butcher and they usually have them in the back. At Whole Foods you can find them in the meat sections. If you’d prefer beef bone broth, they also sell beef bones by the bag at Whole Foods.
Leaky gut, or just optimal health, the benefits of bone broth are undeniable. Keep some in your freezer on hand for the times when you’re sick, or drink some daily to keep you health and immune system strong.
Adria Ali
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