Which takes your fancy? A Hungarian goulash or a Vietnamese pho? These broth based dishes are a cornerstone of many traditional food cultures around the globe. They’ve been made and perfected by our grandparents and their grandparents as a tonic for the unwell; because in those days, nothing went to waste and they also knew a thing or two about nutrition…….without having to Google about it. Imagine that?

What is a bone broth?

Simply put, when you simmer the bones of organic fish, chicken, beef or lamb with filtered water, a splash of apple cider vinegar (helps to release the goodness contained within the bones), salt, pepper and herbs for more than 12 hours, it creates a concoction that can deliver remarkable health benefits including; building stronger joints, improving digestion and lowering inflammation which can assist with conditions such as allergies, eczema, hay fever, asthma and more. Bone broth is best when made from a combination of bone, marrow, skin, feet, tendons and ligaments. This is because when these parts simmer for a long period of time they release compounds such as collagen, proline, glycine and glutamine into the liquid; as well as each and every one of our essential minerals such as calcium and zinc that our bodies need to function at their very best.

What are the bone broth benefits?

Bones and joints

Bone broth contains collagen and gelatin. Gelatin acts like a cushion between our joints and provides us with the building blocks to maintain strong bones. Collagen is typically not consumed in our modern diets as it is not present in leaner cuts of meat that we enjoy more of today. However, collagen is abundant in bones, joints, and other connective tissues. This type of collagen can protect our joints as well as being hugely important for skin health, elasticity and even anti-ageing! These “non-desirable” parts of the animal were historically consumed on a regular basis, particularly to make meals go further and to provide nutrition when times were less than abundant.

Gut health, digestive upset, food intolerances and leaky gut

Science has confirmed that our gut is critical to our overall health and well being. Our gut is a hollow tube, similar to a piece of hose pipe that runs from our mouth to our back passage. This hollow tube is coated in mucous; which is made up of proteins and bonds that protect us by keeping out certain elements that can harm us – things like bacteria, toxins, micro-organisms and viruses. This mucous is our intestinal wall and our border with the outside world. Unfortunately, in modern day life; lots of things that we do, consume and abuse our bodies with attack this mucous. Things like drinking too much alcohol, taking too many un-necessary medications, illness, micro-organisms, even inflammatory type foods like high fructose corn syrup/HFCS, gluten and the by-products of our own digestive processes make these bonds and proteins weaker. When this mucous becomes weaker and leakier, we can allow larger molecules of food, bacteria, toxins etc through the mucous and into our blood stream.

Support your immune system

On the other side of our hollow ‘tube’ sits around 80% of our immune system. It sits here in our body……not because there was nowhere else to put it; but to protect us as we’re exposed to so much each and every day through our digestive system. When we allow these larger molecules of food, bacteria, toxins and more through our mucous and into our blood stream, our immune system goes into quick activation mode and it can have a challenging time recognising these larger molecules as friend, and potentially thinks we’re being attacked. One example is when the immune system secretes histamine. Whilst it does this to protect us, it also means that we can suffer with a blocked nose or watery eyes if you have hay fever; or red, itchy and inflamed skin if you have eczema. The Bone broth benefits are beyond amazing as the nutrients contained in it help to regenerate, heal and seal this gut lining, and support our intestinal cells to support healthy skin and joints. It truly is a super food. Once you’ve mastered a good bone broth recipe, you can use it anywhere in your cooking and kitchen that you would normally add a stock cube. It’s relatively simple to add all the ingredients to a slow cooker while you’re at work during the day and add to a soup, stew or a bolognaise sauce so the whole family can reap the amazing bone broth benefits. With bones costing at a maximum a few dollars from your local butcher, it’s one of the most cost effective, nutritious and delicious medicinal prescriptions I can give my patients. Not a big soup eater and can’t stomach the thought of sipping bone broth in place of your morning coffee? No problem. Get the benefits of this wonderment by soaking and cooking your beans and grains in bone broth. Besides adding bags of flavor, all of the nutrients will seep right your food. However, we don’t’ always have the time to stew bones for hours at a time. We don’t all own slow cookers and a lot of us don’t like our homes smelling like a meat factory. Enjoy the convenience of this quality dehydrated bone broth by Nutra Organics. It’s made from certified organic bones and other essential ingredients and nutrients. Just add hot water for highly absorbable, naturally nourishing and healing super food today!!!

Do you have any out of the box ideas you would share for using and enjoying bone broth? I’d love to hear – please leave a comment below!