Bone broth is a highly nutritious drink that has been used in traditional cultures for centuries. I recommend drinking it daily.
Not only can bone broth be delicious, but it’s also extremely nutritious with many health benefits. As per old folk wisdom, chicken soup – aka Jewish penicillin – has been used as a remedy for the flu.
Bone broth is rich in bio-available (in a form your body can use easily) minerals sodium, chloride, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and sulphur, as well as containing copper, iron, manganese, potassium, and zinc. It also contains amino acids – aspartic acid, threonine, serine, glutamic acid, proline, glycine, alanine, valine, isoleucine, leucine, tyrosine, phenylalanine, lysine, histidine, arginine, cysteine, and methionine.
Some of the many benefits of bone broth:
- Aids digestion of starches and proteins
- Helps wound healing
- Reduces inflammation
- Aids blood sugar regulation
- Helps with proper functioning of the nervous system
- Improves muscle repair/growth
- Has a calming effect on the brain
- Aids detoxification
- Provides collagen for bone health
- Heals the gut
- Improves joint health
- Boosts the immune system
- Aids in overcoming food intolerances and allergies
- Maintains healthy skin
Doing a broth fast can allow our body to repair, detoxify and heal by giving our digestive systems a rest. Don't jump into a fast. See a suitable holistic health practitioner to ensure your body is ready for the detox. Make an appointment to see me: Contact Me
Having broth with your meal aids digestion of starches and proteins.
Many components of bone broth aid our body in healing. In particular, two amino acids – glycine and proline – are very important constituents in our connective tissue and therefore to holding our whole bodies together. They are important ingredients to heal wounds, both large and microscopic, as well as reducing inflammation.
Whilst many of these benefits can be obtained from eating meat, it is not in a form as easily absorbable by our bodies, as it is in bone broth.
Bone broth is the liquid taken from the boiling of bones in water. Just about any bones can be used, from any animal, but the ones with connective tissue – like joints and tendons – are best for getting a good gelatinous broth. Leaving some meat attached to bones will add flavour. As will as adding in some vegetables and herbs towards the end of the cook. Don’t add the vegetables at the beginning or they may make the broth bitter.
Adding apple cider vinegar to the bones and water and allowing it to soak an hour or so before cooking will aid in the drawing out of minerals – particularly calcium, magnesium and potassium – into the broth.
Bones are boiled for a range of times – from a couple of hours right up to 48 or more, to get all the goodness from the bones. It can be done on the stove-top, in a slow cooker, or a pressure cooker. Allowing the broth to cook for longer will allow more minerals to be drawn into the broth liquid. You want the bones to be crumbling in your fingers when it’s done.
You’ll know if you’ve got a lot of gelatin in your broth once it’s cool. If it’s jelly-like, that’s gelatin. If it’s more liquid, it’s still nutritious, but weaker. You can strengthen it by putting it on the stove and reducing it down to concentrate it.
Broth will keep for about five days in the fridge, but several months in the freezer. So only keep what you’re likely to use in 5 days in the fridge and the rest in the freezer in usable portions. You can also reduce it right down to freeze in smaller portions and then just add water and heat when you want to use them.
You can find my bone broth recipe here: Bone Broth
Consuming
When you’re ready to drink your broth there are many ways to do it :
- Simply heat and drink. Add in some salt, pepper, lemon/spices/herbs to taste
- Add in some vegetables and left over protein, or poach an egg in it, for a delicious soup
- One of my favourites – get all the left over veg from the fridge at the end of the week and cook it in the broth. Once done put a stick blender in and puree it. Add in salt, pepper, spices and herbs to taste. Serve with protein of your choice, or just as it is.
- Cook with it. Add it as a flavour boost in your cooking instead of adding water. Saute your veg in it. Poach your meat in it.
Tips
- If I end up with a broth that isn’t very gelatinous, I’ll poach a whole chicken in it, just until the chicken is cooked. This will usually be enough to get the broth gelatinous, but also gives you a chicken to use for adding to soups or salads, and the chicken flesh is infused with some of the nutrients from the broth. Then save the bones from the chicken for your next broth.
- Bone broth is a great way to make use of all the bits you don’t usually eat so it saves on wastage. I keep two freezer bags in the freezer and throw bones after a meal into one, and vegetable scraps (carrot tops, vegetable peel, onion skin) into the other. When the bags are full make broth with them. You’ll probably want to top up with some fresh marrow bones and some extra veg/herbs depending on how much you have. You can keep different animal bones separate if you want to, but I like a mixed bone broth.
- If you don't want to make your own bone broth, there are some great brands around now you can buy. I sell Meadow and Marrow at my clinic because I like the way it is made and the end product is a very high quality. Plus they have some great flavours!
For more detailed information about the nutrients and benefits of broth I’d recommend this article by Chris Kresser - https://chriskresser.com/the-bountiful-benefits-of-bone-broth-a-comprehensive-guide/