Benefits of Bone Broth

“Bone broth isn’t just broth. And it isn’t just soup. It’s concentrated healing.”
– Kellyann Petrucci

When we talk about food being the best medicine, bone broth is near (or at) the top of the list. And the beauty is that it’s not hard to make. The key though, is the ingredients you use. But we’ll talk about that later. Right now, let’s talk about the reason we should all be consuming this amazing tonic.
 
9 Reasons Bone Broth is AMAZING!

  1.  Helps heal your gut. The gelatin in bone broth (a hydrophilic colloid) helps to seal the lining of your gut by protecting the mucosal lining.  
  2.  Promotes healthy digestion and nutrient absorption. The gelatin also keeps your digestive juices where they’re supposed to be, aiding in the digestion of nutrients.
  3.  Reduces inflammation. Which for many of us is a major key to health. Bone broth is a natural supplier of glucosamine, which can help stimulate the growth of collagen and reduce joint pain. It is also full of amino acids that have been found to have anti-inflammatory effects (glycine, proline, and arginine).
  4.  Encourages bone repair and growth.  The calcium, magnesium and phosphorous are great for healthy, strong bones.
  5.  Helps prevent and fight disease. Not just an old wives tale, research has shown that soup indeed has medicinal qualities for fighting infection by reducing the number of white blood cells (which cause flu and cold symptoms).
  6.  Good for strong hair, nails, and healthy skin. Both the gelatin in bone broth and the broths ability to stimulate your own production of collagen increases the strength and health of our hair and nails, and can reduce wrinkles and increase firmness of skin.
  7.  Helps you relax and maybe even get a better night sleep. The amino acid glycine has been found to have calming effects, which can help lead to relaxation and better sleep.
  8.  Better than supplements. Bone broth is cooked at a relatively low heat, which preserves the nutrients in a way that high-heat extraction used for many supplements doesn’t. It is also more comprehensive in it’s makeup of nutrients as it’s made from whole foods, and isn’t just the parts that we’ve deemed as the “healthy” bits.
  9.  It’s cheaper than buying broth, and very easy to make. As long as you can get your hands on good bones and a crock pot, the set up takes about 15 minutes and then you just leave it be until it’s done (4-48 hours). And it’s a lot less expensive than buying cartons or cans of broth, which don’t have nearly the same health benefit!

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So, how do you make this magical potion? If you search online for bone broth recipes, you’ll find oodles of them. But they all have a few key components: Good bones (i.e. from free-range, organically fed animals is best), a few veggies, water (filtered if you have it), and time in a slow-cooker (4-48 hours depending on the type of bone you're using). You can cook bone broth on the stove, but then you have to be home and watching it occasionally which can be a hassle considering how long it cooks. A slow-cooker or crock pot allows you to set it up, and walk away until it’s done. Here’s my go-to recipe:
 
Chicken bone broth:

• Carcass from a whole chicken (I save mine after I roast a chicken and put the bones in the freezer until I’m ready to make the broth). This can include the feet and head if you’re getting your chickens from a butcher.
• Any innards that I can get my hands on (hearts, livers, kidneys, gizzards, etc. The more the merrier).
• One onion, chopped into eighths
• 1-2 carrots in large chunks (if they’re store bought, make sure to peel them first as the peel can be bitter and will flavor your entire pot)
• 1-2 celery stalks (I also will keep the leaves from celery specifically for putting in broth)
• 4 or so mushrooms of your choosing (again I take the stems of mushrooms that I cut off and stick in the freezer bag with the bones, so they all go in together)
• 6-8 garlic cloves
• Sprig of fresh thyme and handful fresh parsley (optional). If the chicken bones & skin are from a roasted chicken, they will already have herbs on them so I don’t worry about this part.
• As much water as will fit into your crock pot leaving about 2 inches at the top. A whole chicken carcass can easily make 6 quarts of broth.

Dump everything into your slow cooker except the fresh herbs. Turn on and leave for 6 - 8 hours. Add the fresh herbs in for the last hour. You will likely notice some frothy bubbles at the top of the pot after a few hours. Scrape this up with a large spoon and discard. It’s normal, and totally fine.
 
When it's done cooking, strain through a colander, and distribute the liquid into quart jars to refrigerate or freeze. If freezing, make sure you leave enough space at the top for the liquid to expand, and freeze with the lid off to avoid the glass breaking. If you have a dog, you can throw the cooked gizzards onto their food for a seriously tasty treat. And I can usually pick off enough meat from the discarded bones to make a chicken soup.
 
For other types of broth (beef, fish, pork, etc.) I follow the same recipe but you’ll need to increase the time the bigger the bones. Fish bones (using a whole fish is the best) = 4 hours; Pork & Beef bones = 24-48 hours. Large bones should be hollowed out by the time you’re done cooking them. 

Don't be shy! If you have questions feel free to leave them in the comments below, or shoot me a note. But I promise you, if you give it a try, you'll be so happy you started this habit of broth making. The broth is delicious! Much better than anything you could buy in a store. And it will likely become a staple in your house like it is in mine! 

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For more information, check out the following research and references:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/15709548/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/11035691
http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/broth-is-beautiful/
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/12/16/bone-broth-benefits.aspx
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-9890/10-benefits-of-bone-broth-gut-healing-recipe.html