Why bone broth?
Our ancestors ate a nose-to-tail diet, which means they ate every part of the animal from the nose to the tail! Even the bone marrow, the inner part of the bone that contains spongy connective tissue, contains essential protein, amino acids, and minerals that keep your body strong and help fight off infections.
Broth has been consumed by humans over the past 20,000 years for its medicinal properties. Every culture has its own version of broth or soup with its own healing power (usually focused around treating illness).
Here’s what makes up the nutrient cocktail:
Collagen - makes up the connective tissue in cartilage, ligaments, tendons, bone, and skin.
Gelatin - coats the mucosal layer of the intestines and helps keep gut bacteria from the intestinal barrier, speeds up gut motility, reduces inflammation.
Glycine - an amino acid needed to make glutathione- one of the most powerful antioxidants in the human body. Glycine is also used for fat digestion, hemoglobin synthesis, and muscle repair.
Proline - an amino acid that plays a role in cell differentiation, growth and development, wound healing, antioxidant reactions, and immunity.
Glutamine - another amino acid needed to make glutathione. Glutamine also fuels intestinal cells and helps strengthen them to prevent/treat a leaky gut.
Minerals-
Calcium
Magnesium
Copper Iron
Manganese
Phosphorus
Potassium
Sodium
Zinc
Here are the benefits of the above:
Skin moisture and elasticity increases
Reduces risk of heart attack and stroke
Enhances muscle performance
Strengthens bones and joints
Improves gut health
Aids in digestion, detox, eye health, brain health, mood, sleep, and immunity!
All that in one?! Sign me up!
There are some Do's and Don'ts for purchasing bone broth:
DO: buy packaged free-range, pasture raised bone broth
DON'T: buy canned bone broth
Better yet, why not make it yourself? Bone broth is very simple to make, just make sure you have someone at home to monitor the stove while it cooks!
The trickiest part is choosing which type of bones you want to use to make your broth! I used vertebrae bones because they were the least expensive at my grocery store, but any of the below bones will work! (Pasture-raised, organic bones are preferred)
Recipe:
(serves 4, cook time 12 hours)
Foodstuffs:
Marrow bones
Apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup
Water, 4 quarts
Celery, 2 stalks
Large soup carrots, 3
White onion, 2
Rosemary, 2 tsp
Salt, 2 tsp
Pepper, 2 tsp
Methods:
1. Place bones in a large soup pot, cover with apple cider vinegar and water.
Note: the apple cider vinegar helps extract the nutrients from the bone
2. Turn stovetop on medium heat and boil the bones for approximately 1 hour.
3. Chop carrots, celery, and onion while bones are boiling.
4. Add carrots, celery, and onion to the broth after hour has passed.
5. Turn soup down to low heat and simmer for 12-15 hours.
6. Serve and enjoy!
Storage:
Bone broth can be stored very easily in mason jars and placed in the refrigerator. Don't be afraid if the fat congeals and forms gelatin at the top of the jar, this is normal and will melt when reheated. Don't get rid of the gelatin fat! This contains many of the nutrients in bone broth!