The Gut Healing Powers of Bone Broth

What is Bone Broth?

Bone broth is not a witch’s brew but a liquid made from bones and connective tissue simmered for a long period of time. Bone broth is typically made from beef or chicken bones but can be made from the bones of any animal and also can be made from fish bones. I’ve made bone broth from moose bones and it’s delicious!

The bones are simmered for a long period of time with water and vegetables. Adding apple cider vinegar helps to break down the bones and other tissues to release the collagen and other nutrients from the marrow of the bones.

Bone broth can be sipped as a hot drink or the broth can be used in smoothies, soups, or to steam vegetables.

Benefits of Bone Broth

1. Nutritional Value: Bones are rich in vitamins and nutrients including magnesium, calcium and phosphorus. Bones and tissues are rich in collagen. Cooking the bones makes collagen form gelatin which provides amino acids, the building blocks of protein. Marrow from the bones contains nutrients including: iron, vitamins A and K, fatty acids, selenium, zinc and manganese. Vegetables in the bone broth may add other nutrients, depending on which vegetables are chosen.

2. Joint Protection: Cartilage in the joints can wear down over time or shrink. The gelatin in bone broth can be transformed by the body into collagen which helps bones and tissues which helps protect the joints.

3. Helps with Osteoarthritis: In people who already have osteoarthritis, consuming bone broth can improve symptoms like pain, stiffness and loss of function.

4. Supports Weight Healthy Loss: Since bone broth is high in protein, drinking bone broth helps a person feel satiated for longer which helps curb hunger cravings. This can help lower calorie intake, thereby supporting weight loss in a healthy way.

5. May Help Improve Sleep: Glycine is an amino acid that has been proven to promote better sleep. Glycine is one of the amino acids found in bone broth

6. Improves Elasticity in Body Tissues: Collagen is one of the most abundant proteins in the body making up bones, tissue, muscle and skin. Collagen declines as we get older so more collagen can be helpful in the function of all our body tissues. Read more about collagen here.

7. Helps Heal the Gut: This is the main benefit for anyone with inflammation! The amino acids in bone broth can help repair the mucosal lining of the small intestine, meaning it repairs leaky gut. IF you have inflammation, there’s a good chance you also have leaky gut and it needs to be repaired to calm the inflammation.

Quality Matters

Don’t use ANY bones: use bones from animals that have bee grass-fed, wild, or pastured if possible. The most humanely raised animals would be best.

Use organic vegetables and apple cider vinegar with the ‘mother’ in. A brand like “Bragg’s” is a good one.

Use filtered water. Ordinary, unfiltered tap water has chlorine and other chemicals which you DON’T want in your bone broth.

Chicken Bone Broth Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 24 hours in slow cooker or 2 hours in pressure cooker

Ingredients

Chicken carcass

4 quarts (16 cups) filtered water

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 onion, quartered

2 carrots, cut into chunks

2 stalks celery cut in 1 inch pieces

1 tsp peppercorns

Sea salt to taste

Place bones in slow cooker or pressure cooker. Add remaining ingredients. Cook for 24 hours if using a slow cooker or 2 hours if using a pressure cooker. Let cool slightly. Strain broth from bones and vegetables. Store in a glass jar and refrigerate for up to 5 days.

Let me know in the comments how you enjoy your bone broth!

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