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Bone Broth For A Healthier You
When most of us hear the words bone broth I think soup usually comes to mind. However, did you know there is a big difference between broth, stock, and bone broth? Broth is generally made with meat and a small amount of bones and only simmered for a short time. Stock is generally made with bones and water and is simmered for 3-4 hours.
Bone broth is made with bones and cartilage and sometimes a little meat that was left on the bones after roasting. Then, a couple of Tablespoons of organic unfiltered apple cider vinegar is added, sometimes vegetables, it is simmered either on the stove or in a crock pot for a long period of time, usually up to 24 hours. Although I’ve heard of people leaving it for days.
The benefits of drinking and cooking with bone broth are well, amazing really.
Bone broth has the ability to:
~ Increase your body’s ability to absorb minerals
~ Heal leaky gut syndrome (which many doctors agree is the leading cause of food allergies)
~ Support connective tissue
~ Grow stronger, healthier hair and nails
~ Keep your joints healthy
~ Heal adrenal fatigue
~ Detoxify the liver because it is high in glycine
~ Give us healthier bones, ligaments, tendons, and skin because it is packed with glycine and proline which is the biological glue that holds our bodies together
~ Calm an overactive immune system and help to rebuild stronger and healthier cells
~ Heal autoimmune conditions by healing the gut
~ Aid digestion by regulating bile and gastric acid
~ Balance blood sugar and help reverse heart disease by reducing plaque build up
~ Improve nervous system function
~ Help with inflammation
~ Aid in thyroid health and hormone balance
Who knew something so incredibly easy to make could be so beneficial for our health? Now, let’s get down to the brass tacks. Here are the absolute MUSTS of making bone broth:
You can use beef bones, chicken bones, turkey bones, lamb bones, buffalo bones, fish bones…but they MUST be 100% healthy. Which means no hormones, chemicals, GMO feed, and they need to be free range, preferably grass-fed, etc. That might seem a tad overwhelming, but what kind of sense does it make to boil bones for 24 hours and then drink condensed chemicals and God knows what else? There’s a bit of sticker shock when it comes to organic meat/bones, but once you get used to that, it’s smooth sailing from there. Look for sales, find a local butcher who may even be willing to give you the bones at a discounted price, find a local (very good) farmer and work out a deal. There are options! And the more we support organic farmers and ranches, the less expensive it will be in the long run. More demand helps the farmers to better afford to do things organically and brings the price down, if you can believe it.
You MUST use just a bit of organic, unfiltered, apple cider vinegar. About 2 Tablespoons for a big pot. This helps leach all the good stuff out of the bones. You MUST also use joints, cartilage, even chicken feet or turkey feet add a ton of gelatin benefits. I used filtered water, you can also use spring water. I don’t know if this is a MUST, but it makes sense to me. If you fill your very expensive pot of bones and goodies with chlorine and fluoride and who knows what….what’s the point really? You can add whole organic veggies, veggie scraps, and organic herbs if you like. If you don’t want the smell of food in your house, you can put your crock pot in a safe place in the garage or basement. But beware, if your garage or basement get really cold, you run the risk of cracking your pot. This very thing happened to my sister-in-law and she came out to the garage to find broth running down the front of whatever she had set the crock pot on. The thought of leaving it in our garage all night freaked me out a little, so I went ahead and left mine on the kitchen counter. I had already been cooking our Thanksgiving meal all day, so really, the smell of food for another several hours was not a big deal.
You can cool the broth and scrape off the fat layer, or not, it’s up to you. You can drink it hot in a cup like tea, use it in soup, or cook with it.
So there you have it. Bone Broth. Loaded with all kinds of good reasons you should make it and use it in your daily cooking. I plan to drink at least a cup of it each day. This week it’s turkey bone broth, next week I’m going to do a post on beef bone broth.
There’s so many easy and tasty things we can do each day to take control of our own health. If you’re ill, have food allergies, migraines, hormone issues, skin issues, mood issues, weight issues, blood pressure issues, whatever the problem may be or even if you’re healthy as an OX…don’t wait around for something to change and someone else to tell you how to take control of your health. Do a little research, see what ailment alternatives are out there that may benefit you and your family. Partner up with your physician for a healthier you!
Resources:
Townsend Letter, The Examiner of Alternative Medicine
Oh Lardy, Everything You Need To Know About The Benefits of Bone Broth
Dr. Jockers, Supercharge Your Health, The Amazing Benefits of Bone Broth
Real Food RN, The Health Benefits of Bone Broth
Coconut Mama, Benefits of Bone Broth
Eat Naked, Healing Foods 101, Seven Reasons To Add Bone Broth To Your Daily Diet
12 Comments on “Bone Broth For A Healthier You”
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gluten free zen 
I just learnt a lot of things about bone broth. I think I’m done for the day now. Cheers my friend 🙂
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Bone broth.. that’s a first for me, I haven’t read of this before. How healthy it must be, you can tell just from the color of it! It would be perfect for those days when you’ve got a cold, wouldn’t it? xx
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It’s supposed to be extremely healthy. We’ll see! 🙂
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I’m with Barb. Although I make stock every year using the turkey carcass, April, I’ve never heard of bone broth. Letting it cook for 24 hours must truly get as much flavor and nutrients out of those bones as is possible. It must taste wonderful.
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I was happy to see how gelatinous it was when I took it out of the fridge yesterday morning. That’s what you’re aiming for. It means you’ve extracted all of the “good stuff” out of the bones during cooking. This one turned out like a very thick jello after cooling. I’ll admit, it made my stomach churn when I scooped it out of the jar to warm it. Ha! But once warmed with a little salt added, it was delicious. And of course it melted, so I didn’t have to think about the gelatin affect. Next time I will also add herbs and vegetables before simmering to help even more with the flavor. 🙂
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I love your canning jars and wish I could find some here. This was a really interesting post and I had no idea there are so many benefits to eating broth. That’s a great use of your leftover turkey bones xx
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Charlie, do you ever order off of Amazon.com? I paid for Amazon Prime (I think it’s 50 or 75$ a year) and that gets you 2 day delivery with free shipping on EVERY order. I’m not sure how it works for international shipping, but it would definitely be worth looking into. You can buy anything on Amazon, even canning jars. 🙂
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