Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The Nourishing Benefits of Bone Broth

The benefits of a home-made, long simmered bone broth are endless. Completely endless, yet it's something very few of us actually take the time to make. Allow me to reveal to you the secret of bone broths: they are incredibly simple and incredibly satisfying.
Bone broths, properly prepared are full of minerals, vitamins, amino acids and other bio-available nutrients. Because of their high content of calcium and magnesium from the animal bones they are very alkalizing for the body, a nice contrast to the usual acidic foods in the standard American diet. They are full of the amino acids which are found in the gelatin of the broth. Gelatin has been traditionally use to help digestive issues such as peptic ulcers, diabetes, muscle diseases, infectious diseases, jaundice and even cancer. Gelatin contains arginine and glycine in generous amounts. Arginine is therapeutically used for enhancing immune function and wound healing while glycine is recognized for its calming effects. Bone broths are implicated in aiding anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders because of their high content of this amino acid.These broths are also excellent for joint health as they contain chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine sulfate and type II collagen, all supplements that reduce inflammation in arthritis and are quite costly. Might I suggest making a broth instead, especially because all of these compounds are in their most natural and easily assimilate form in a broth. Bone broths are used extensively in the GAP's diet, a healing protocol for gut and psychology syndromes, particularly autistic children and adults.
 
The list goes go on and on. But I hope by now you are convinced that the addition of bone broths to your diet are irreplaceable. Now let me show you how to properly prepare a wonderful home-made, long slow-cooked bone broth.
The Recipe:
1 whole free-range chicken carcass*
2-3 cups vegetables scraps
4-5 cloves of garlic
2 T apple cider vinegar
spring or filtered water

1. In a large crock-pot place your scavenged carcass bones, meat removed but include the fat, skin, gizzards and giblets if you have them. Do not include the liver as it can give a bitter taste.
2. Add any vegetables scraps you have. I used leek tops and kale stems in this broth but you could use celery tops, broccoli stems, cauliflower stems, onion tops, zucchini and yellow squash ends, the list goes on and on. Adding darker greens gives the broth more minerals.
3. Peel and add garlic cloves, no need to mince.
4. Add 2T apple cider vinegar or other vinegar. This will help leech the minerals like calcium out of the bones.
5. Fill your crock pot to the very top with water. Preferably spring, filtered, reverse osmosis , distilled or alkaline water.
6. Turn on low and leave for 24-48 hours.
7. Once ready let cool and strain through a sieve. Keep in glass jars in the refrigerator for up to a week or the freezer for 6 months.
8. Compost your bones and vegetables.
9. Leave all of the fat if you prefer!!
*Fish carcass, beef bone, marrow bone, lamb bone and other wild game bones are exchangeable.

Tips for making broth:
-Plan ahead and save any vegetable scraps so you have them when it comes time to make your broth.
-Always purchase a whole chicken as you get way more for your buck when you make a home-made broth.
-Buy your bones from a local ranch and be sure they are pastured, grass-fed animals. Beef bones can be brewed for up to 72 hours as they are quite hearty.

Tips for using broth:
-Obviously in any soup recipe.
-Cook grains like brown rice, quinoa or millet in broth instead of water.
-Steam saute vegetables in a little broth. 
-Make sauces like gravy or use as a marinade or baste.
-Drink as a warm, nourishing beverage in place of tea with celtic sea salt.

5 comments:

  1. Dani

    I love your expertise advise! So thank ful ..

    All the best!

    Reta

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Reta, I'm glad you're enjoying it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hope it's true that there are no stupid questions, because the answer to this one seems like it might need to come with a "well duh!" But I'm going to ask anyway...does the chicken carcass have to be raw, or can one be used that has just been cooked?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Some of my friend told me to eat bone broth by I did not listen to them. But after reading the whole article of yours, I think , I should eat it. I never knew that there has so many BONE BROTH BENEFITS which really surprised me a lot.

    ReplyDelete