6 Reasons to make bone broth and how to do it

Bone broth is becoming somewhat of a superfood these days. But it’s nothing new.

In fact, it may be one of the oldest meals out there dating as far back as prehistoric times, apparently!

It seems like traditional societies back in the olden days already knew how to heal the body with food. But with industrialization and agriculture, humans forgot that food is actually medicine.

So today I’m going to be talking about how you can incorporate this traditional food as a healing staple in your diet. The best part? It’s so easy!

What are the benefits of bone broth?

Bone broth is essentially the boiling of bones and ligaments of animals to extract the different medicinal compounds. You are left with healing properties that have many benefits in the body and have been used for centuries as a remedy for illness and disease.

Gut healing

Bone broth contains amino acids like glycine and proline. Glycine is a precursor to glutathione (the master antioxidant of the body) and can help stimulate the production of stomach acid and bile, essential for digestion. These are commonly depleted especially if you have a history of use of antibiotics, proton pump inhibitors (PPI), contraceptives, NSAIDs (Ibuprofen), steroids, and even factors such as chronic stress and poor diet. These may all contribute to low stomach acid and low enzyme production as well as intestinal permeability. Bone broth is a therapeutic food for correcting these imbalances and helping to heal the intestinal lining.

Glycine, along with Proline are actually the primary amino acids involved in collagen production and are not as readily found in muscle meats (1). Collagen is the most abundant protein found in the body and makes up our connective tissue. Bone broth is a rich source of collagen which has also been shown to help heal gut integrity (2).

Click here for my gut healing guide if you want to know more about how you can support gut healing to reduce bloating, indigestion, and happy hormones!

Stress & Sleep

The amino acid glycine is also an inhibitory neurotransmitter meaning it may help you relax by reducing anxiety and increasing a state of mental calmness. Multiple studies have found that glycine helps promote sleep due to its calming effects (3) (4) (5). Do you have trouble falling asleep at night? A lil cup of bone broth before bed could do you some good!

Joint health

Bone broth is rich in many nutrients that support joint health such as collagen, hyaluronic acid, glucosamine, and chondroitin sulfate. These all have regenerative effects on connective tissue which makes up our joints, tendons, and ligaments. You will often see these compounds listed in joint support supplements but bone broth is a great way to receive them from your diet. Bone broth also supplies some important building blocks for bone formation such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and amino acids. All of these can be found in bone broth making it a synergistic source for bone building and joint support. Collagen seems to be one of the most impactful compounds found in bone broth for bone health as it provides the building blocks for strong bones (6)

If you are an athlete, highly active, or suffer from joint pain or stiffness bone broth may be a great addition for you (7).

Skin

If you haven’t personally invested in collagen supplements for your hair, skin, or nails, I am sure you know someone who does! Collagen has become tremendously popular for aesthetic and beauty reasons. This is because collagen makes up our connective tissue and supports skin elasticity, moisture, and hydration (8)(9)(10) . Many people swear by collagen supplementation for helping to reduce fine lines and promoting healthy growth of hair and nails. Bone broth is a significant source of collagen as well as gelatin and amino acids which can benefit skin health by promoting repair and tissue regeneration.

Inflammation

Chronic inflammation is a growing problem in our society and a leading cause of illness and chronic disease. It is also an important underlying factor in PCOS, so we really need to focus on lowering inflammation every day! One way to do this is consuming bone broth. The amino acids found in bone broth, particularly glycine (11), arginine (12), and proline (13) possess anti-inflammatory effects that may reduce oxidative stress in the body.

Immunity

There may be some validity in your grandma’s chicken soup in that it can fight and inhibit infections due to its medicinal qualities as well as its anti-inflammatory effects (12) . It’s also important to recognize the crucial role our gut health has on our immunity (the majority of our immune system resides in the gut) so by supporting our digestive health we are also boosting our immune function.

But this is obviously quality bone broth we are talking about here, not packaged processed junk you find in most stores!

What you need to know before consuming bone broth

Always choose organic, grass-fed, pasture-raised animal carcasses and bones when buying or making your own bone broth. This is crucial in order to avoid exposure to heavy metals, growth hormones, antibiotics, chemicals, etc. So please avoid the packaged, processed, and canned varieties and find a good butcher or farmers market. Also, a little nutrition tip for you is to add vinegar to the stock. Vinegar has been shown to help extract the nutritional content from the bones into the water, I use this unpasteurized and raw apple cider vinegar.

Bone broth recipe

1 whole free-range chicken or 2 to 3 pounds of bony chicken parts
1 piece of kombu (seaweed - rich in minerals and supports digestion)
4 carrots diced
2-3 garlic cloves diced
2 tbsp turmeric powder
1⁄2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
1⁄2 tsp Himalayan or Celtic sea salt
1 medium onion diced

Instructions.

Place the carcass or bones into a large stockpot or slow cooker and cover with water. Add the apple cider vinegar and vegetables and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer on medium heat for at least 6 hours and up to 24 hours. When ready remove the bones from the broth with a spoon and strain the rest of the little small bone fragments through a strainer.

Looking for more PCOS friendly foods to add to your diet? Check out my FREE guide right here!