Health Benefits
I am a huge believer in the health benefits of bone broth. It is the one thing that I always encourage clients to include in their diet. The gut is the home to the majority of your immune system hence, all health starts in the gut. A good, organic, toxin-free bone broth is a key ingredient to gut health. As your gut heals your body heals.
See below for a printable bone broth recipe.
Natural Multivitamin
A broth made with bones from organically raised, grass-fed animals will be full of easily absorbed amino acids, the building blocks of protein and foundation of the human body. It will also be full of many other nutrients that support digestive function, gut health, heart health and brain health such as collagen/gelatin, a major component of connective tissue.
Every part of your body will benefit from bone broth: skin, hair, muscles, ligaments, intestinal lining, heart and brain. Bone broth is a food that will make you fabulous!
Collagen
I won’t bore you with all the nutrients found in bone broth but I will highlight some important amino acids found in collagen, a key component of bone broth.
- Arginine – Is important for the health of your arteries and your entire cardiovascular system. It is also a key component in the production of protein which is necessary for the growth and development of the body.
- Glutamine – An important component for healthy muscle tissue. It helps maintain the integrity of your muscle tissue while you are exercising and even after you have finished exercising. Glutamine is also very important for optimal gut and immune health. It supports the health and integrity of the intestinal lining and when that’s strong and healthy there is no room for a leaky gut.
- Glycine – A major component of our muscle and skin tissue. Glycine is also important for proper digestive, nervous system and detoxification function.
- Proline – Proline is a real heavy hitter. This amino acid is what helps make skin, hair and nails beautiful. It is also necessary for a healthy gut lining, proper digestive function, joint health and mobility and strong healthy arteries.
If you typically eat organ meats then you probably don’t need bone broth but if organ meats aren’t part of your regular daily diet then you should seriously start making sure that bone broth is.
3 Primary Types of Collagen
Type 1: This type of collagen is strong and stretchy. Think function: wound healing, strong tendons & ligaments, bone growth and strength, plump skin, strong organs (heart). You get this in broth made with beef bones.
Type 2: Supports digestive and immune function and health by repairing and maintaining a healthy gut lining. This is the type of collagen you want to focus on for gut health. Chicken and/or turkey bone broth is where you’ll get the most type 2 collagen.
Type 3: A big part of what makes up organs and skin. This is the stuff that makes your skin look good, think elasticity and firmness. As for organs, think heart health. You get this in broth made with beef bones.
Beef Broth
Good for healthy, beautiful skin, strong, supportive joints, and healthy heart function.
Include larger bones like beef knuckles and marrow bones for the cartilage and collagen.
Chicken Broth
Chicken BrothThe key to a healthy gut! The amino acids found in chicken bone broth are what’s needed to repair and heal the gut lining. If you are suffering from any gut dysfunction you need chicken broth. Chicken broth is what we use in our house and what I always recommend. I have seen it work both with my family and my clients. Here’s a quote from a client:
“I was going to ask you for any advice you could offer & I said to myself, “What would Amy suggest???” I then said I think I will increase my daily dose of the Bone Broth. I did & in 1 day I was able to cope & the next day the cough was essentially GONE!!!!!! The Bone Broth seemed to be the Cure!!!!!”
Gut Health = Immune Health
The majority of the human immune system resides in the gut. A healthy gut will result in a healthy, strong immune system. Help your body work for you, support your immune system.
If you would like to learn more about the benefits of bone broth for health, weight loss, leaky gut, hair and skin check out this article: Bone Broth Benefits, Weight Loss & Digestion. It’s really comprehensive and so full of great information.
Bone Broth Recipe
I love chicken broth. I like the smell of it, I like the taste of it. I really like that it helps gut and immune function. I also LOVE healthy looking skin, hair and nails. For this reason I do like to combine bones. I want all three of the primary types of collagen in my broth. I use mostly chicken bones but I always throw a big beef knuckle bone or marrow bone in with the chicken. If there’s enough room in the pot I’ll throw in both a knuckle and marrow bone.
- 2 lbs. of Bones
- 8 cups of filtered Water
- 1 tsp - 1 TBSP of Apple Cider Vinegar (Bragg's unfiltered is my favorite)
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped
- 1-3 carrots, chopped
- 2 TBSP of Fish Sauce (I use Red Boat)
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced, minced or chopped
- Ginger - 1 inch fresh, sliced or 1 tsp of ginger paste
- 1/4 cup dried mushrooms (optional)
- Salt to taste (I like my broth salty)
- Place all ingredients in Stockpot, Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker, your choice.
- Add water to the pot, making sure all bones and veggies are fully submerged. If using a pressure cooker do NOT fill beyond two-thirds capacity (normal pressure cooker rule).
- FASTEST: Stove Top Pressure Cooker - lock the lid on your pressure cooker and place cooker over high heat. Once pot reaches pressure and there is a steady stream of steam, immediately reduce burner heat to lowest possible setting that allows pot to maintain high pressure - simmer should be fine. Set timer for 45 minutes. When timer goes off, turn off burner and remove pot from heat. Allow the pressure to release naturally, this will take about 15-30 minutes. - I have the Fagor Futuro 6 quart Pressure Cooker, available on Amazon
- MY FAVORITE: Instant Pot Programmable Pressure Cooker - this is currently our go-to method for making bone broth. Fill the pot with the bones and water as outlined above for the stove top pressure cooker but once pot is full, put cover on, hit "manual" and set the time for 120 minutes. You can now leave the house or do whatever you want. You do NOT need to baby sit the electric pressure cooker. If we have the time we'll run two 120 minute cycles so 4 hours.
- SLOW COOKER - Cover and set to cook on low for 20 - 36 hours (ideally 30 hours) - it can actually simmer for days, the longer the better. The advantage to the slow cooker is that you can leave the house while it’s cooking. Down side, it take a long time. If you don’t cook it long enough it won’t gel. If you are using chicken bones and you want it to gel, 24 - 30 hours should do the trick. If you are using meat bones it will have to cook longer.
- STOCK POT - Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Skim off the scum, and turn down the heat to maintain a low simmer. Cook, covered, for 12 - 24 hours or until the bones are soft. Check occasionally and add water if needed to keep the bones and veggies covered. You can also start it on the stove and set your oven to a very low temperature and put the whole stock pot in the oven over night. When broth is done, strain it. We use a mesh strainer. I've heard cheesecloth suggested for straining but I don't think that's necessary. I guess if you feel there is to much "scummy stuff" you could use a cheesecloth but we have not had that problem. Add salt to taste.
- Let broth cool in fridge. Once cooled it often will be jiggly like jello (that's the collagen) and it should have a hard crust of fat on top. You can leave it or you can scoop it off and toss it. I scoop it off. The broth will keep, covered in refrigerator for about a week and in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- The three main ingredients are bones, water and apple cider vinegar. The ACV helps pull the nutrients from the bones. After that go crazy, put whatever you want in the broth. Herbs are also great to add. We cut fresh herbs and just stuff whole branches in the pot.
- I also put 2 chicken feet and 1 chicken head in my bone broth. I don't really like to "eat the whole animal" meaning, I don't like organ meats so much. I try to get as much of that as I can in my broth hence the feet and the head ; )
- The recipe that got me started is in the cookbook Nom Nom Paleo: Food For Humans by Michelle Tam and Henry Fong
Of the four, I have tried Epic. I can find Epic and Ancient Nutrition at a local grocery store. I haven’t tried Osso Good or Kettle & Fire both of which you can buy online.
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Eating well will make you feel good and when you feel good you have fun!
Cheers
I’m Amy a board certified holistic nutritionist, certified functional nutritionist and lifestyle practitioner and certified Life Coach. I help women in midlife understand the changing needs of their body so that they can stop dieting and lose weight permanently. At 56 I live what I teach. Don’t believe the story that your best years are behind you. They are not. Your best years are just starting!