Benefits of Bone Broth
Bone broth, such as chicken, beef, and fish broth, is a traditional food and a staple in societies all around the world. Bone broth is an inexpensive way to stretch out meals, extract loads of nutrients, and add flavor to cuisine. The bones house a variety of powerful nutrients that become released when they are slowly simmered in water for a few hours. These nutrients include bone marrow which helps provide the raw materials for healthy blood cells and immune development, supporting a healthy immune system, hence Jewish Penicillin, gut health, joint, bone, tendon, and ligament health, and hair, skin, and nail health.
Some of the nutrients extracted when bones are simmered are minerals including calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, and phosphorus. For additional minerals, it can be with a bit of seaweed, for iodine. Together these minerals stimulate the immune system, bone health, and thyroid gland. Collagen, gelatin, hyaluronic acid, glucosamine, and chondroitin are all abundant in bone broth, which make it an ideal addition to anyone’s diet to support their joints, tendons, ligaments, hair, skin, and nails. Two proteins present in high amounts in bone broths are glycine and proline. Studying the biochemical synthesis of collagen formation, these are the two proteins needed that are necessary for collagen formation and repair. Glycine also can reduce cortisol levels, stabilizing blood sugar, and helping with insomnia. Bone broth is also a rich source of glutamine, which is useful for healing and sealing an inflamed leaky gut.
To create the perfect healing bone broth, first consider what condition you are trying to heal. If you are healing infections, a weak immune system, or blood disorders like anemia, it is better to use larger bones with lots of marrow because this is where the stems cells for all of our blood cells are housed. If you are healing a collagen issue, such as tendonitis, eczema (inflamed skin), leaky gut, or arthritis, it is better to use smaller neck type bones that have lots of collagen on the outside of the bones.
So how can one make a great bone broth? It’s actually quite simple. First get the best quality bones you can find from any animals. Using grass fed bones is by far the best because they are raised without hormones and chemicals that would otherwise leach into the broth. Take the bones and put them in a slow cooker. Cover them with water so that the water is about ½ inch above the bones. Add about 1 TB of acid, either lemon juice or your favorite vinegar. This changes the pH which is crucial for extracting the minerals. Add your favorite vegetables, such as onions, carrots, and celery. I like to add a few tsp of dried seaweed for added minerals. Turn the crock pot on. Initially, I like to put it on high for a few hours to get s good simmer going, then I reduce the temperature to low for many hours. In general, fish stock cooks the fastest in just an hour or two, chicken stock takes about 12-24 hours, and beef stock takes about 48 hours. After the broth is done cooking, strain out the vegetables and bones. The fat can be left on top for additional fat soluble vitamins, or skimmed off and used for cooking vegetables.
When the broth is all finished, it can be cooled and stored in the freezer to use at your convenience, or used immediately as a drink, soup, stew, or gravy base, or used to cook rice and grains. When it is frozen, a great broth will gelatinize, but if it doesn’t it is not a wasted effort. Nutrients will still be extracted. There may have been too much water for the amount of bones, or not enough gelatin in the bones. Either way, be creative with it, enjoy the great flavors, and feel the health benefits.