Nourishing Bone Broth for Naturally Excellent Health

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Amazing Health Benefits of Bone Broth

There are many delicious ways to improve your health, and a great place to start, believe it or not, is with good ole fashioned bone broth. For thousands of years bone broths have provided essential minerals and nutrients to our ancestors worldwide, and they are still part of every known culinary tradition on earth. Bone broth is a flavorful liquid made by boiling the bones of just about any vertebrate you can think of, typically poultry, beef, venison, bison, lamb, or fish, in water for an extended period of time, typically anywhere from 6 to 72 hours depending upon the bones used.  

Often seasonal vegetables and herbs are added for flavor and increased nutrition, such as carrots, onion, celery, garlic and bay leaves can be added too.  In order to allow the nutrient-rich marrow to cook into the broth, the large bones from mammals should be sawed open, while smaller bones from fowl and fish can be can be cooked whole, and you can use an assortment depending upon what is available. The addition a tablespoon or two of organic unpasteurized raw apple cider vinegar or wine to the water prior to cooking also helps to draw out important nutrients from the bones. After simmering on low for up to 3 days, the used bones and vegetables are strained from the liquid and typically discarded.  

The resulting savory liquid is called “broth” or “stock” and is incredibly rich in numerous antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. You can easily make bone broth at home, use it as soup stock for all types of dishes, and even use it during a fast to give your body ample nourishment.

Bone broth is especially rich in calcium, magnesium and phosphorous - which are all essential for bone health. Bone broth also contains collagen that strengthens tendons, joints, ligaments, and skin, making it strong and supple and helping to reducing wrinkles and cellulite. The high levels of glycine in bone broth are also known to inhibit over activity of the immune system, reduce inflammation, and promote healthy digestion by healing the lining of the gut.  Whether you are trying to heal from an infection, address an auto-immune disease, or reduce inflammation, high levels of dietary glycine are critical and bone broth provides a delicious way to improve those conditions.

The most important thing to keep in mind when making bone broth is to make sure that all bones are sourced from animals that not been given hormones or antibiotics, are grass-fed and grass-finished, or pastured and free-range. If making a bone broth from fish, make sure that it was wild-caught, not farm raised. Remember, everything that the animal ate, how it lived, and where it lived will factor into the health benefits of your broth and directly affect your health. Click on "Organic and Local Sources" on the main page of our website, then click on "Local Harvest" it is a great reference for finding quality bones from local farmers, ranchers, and whole foods markets- just be sure to verify quality before you buy.