The Healing Power of Bone Broth
Have you heard about the healing properties of bone broth? If you think that bone broth is something that you just make soup with, you are missing out!
Bone broth has many healing properties to the whole body, especially the gut!
Now you probably know by now that I stress the importance of a healthy gut. When your gut is inflamed and unhealthy you will experience things like bloating, gas, reflux, diarrhea, constipation, nausea and you may always be getting sick. This is because your immune cells start in the gut, so if your gut is unhealthy your immune system is not going to work properly.
So what is in Bone Broth that makes it so healing?
Calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, glucosamine, chondroitin, and collagen! Let’s not forget what we get from the bone marrow too! Things like Vitamin A, Vitamin K2, Zinc, Iron, Manganese and selenium. There are many amino acids also in it that are needed for cellular function. Many times we are lacking many of these nutrients, so drinking bone broth is an amazing way to not only heal, but to get these nutrients too.
The amino acids found in bone broth can help your whole body with chronic inflammation. We may all have a degree of inflammation in our bodies, but many are walking around with so much chronic inflammation it is a wonder how they are functioning. Most inflammation is caused by lifestyle. The standard American diet, processed foods, sugar, refined carbohydrates, seed oils and chemical exposures are all linked to inflammation in the body. Chronic inflammation contributes to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, metabolic disease and arthritis.
Gut issues can benefit from bone broth. The gelatin in the bone broth can coat your intestines and stomach so that the food can move better through the GI tract. The amino acids and collagen also have healing properties to help heal the inflammation of the intestinal lining.
Some other things that bone broth is beneficial for are joint health, weight loss support, improving brain function and improving sleep.
Is store bought bone broth or homemade bone broth better?
Homemade is best because it is fresh, you know all the ingredients are and it is cheaper. Some store-bought bone broth may had additives and preservatives that are not good for your overall health.
To make it yourself is easy and very cost effective. You can get bones from the grocery store or your local butcher. They are relatively cheap. I prefer to try and get grass fed bones to make it as clean as possible. Once you make it you can store it in mason jars and freeze to either just drink or to make soups in the future.
Ready to make your own?
Bone Broth Recipe
2-4 pounds grass fed animal bones
approximately 12-18 cups of filtered water
2 tsp Sea salt
Slow cooker
~Place all bones into the slow cooker, add sea salt and fill to the top with water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and let simmer for 12-24 hours.
~Allow broth to cool and then strain it. At this point I put it in mason jars and put in the fridge to cool more. Be careful not to fill the mason jars to the top as they will expand and may break. Leave and inch or so space between the lid and the top of the broth.
~Let cool in the fridge for a few hours. The fat will rise to the top, you can either leave it or you can scoop that out if you do not want the fat. You can store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
~Put in the freezer and have on hand for either soup or to drink regularly for gut health,