Bone Broth: The Ultimate Recipe
In my previous post I promised you a recipe to make the best, collagen-boosting broth: so here it is. (Don’t worry, any vegans out there can skip straight to the end).
If you were paying any attention at all to my earlier ramblings (and I absolutely don’t blame you if you weren’t – we all have busy lives – but some things are worth repeating) you’ll know that collagen isn’t just the stuff that makes our skin look as smooth as a baby’s bottom. It is, in fact, a crucial protein also found in our hair, bones, joints, muscles and ligaments. Boosting our collagen levels as we age keeps degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, vascular disease and aching muscles at bay.
I mentioned that bone broth is just one way of stimulating your body’s production of collagen, but what I didn’t mention was the other health benefits that drinking broth can bring. Bone broth – or soup – is having its moment in the health and wellness hemisphere and, before I hand over the recipe, here’s why:
Bone Broth helps
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Hair skin and nails
Broth is rich in amino acids that help our bodies produce collagen. It is also rich in calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and other trace minerals that support the nervous system are great for our hair and nails.
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Bones and joints
It is also a good source of chondroitin and glucosamine – nutrients that are great for our joints, bones and ligaments. It is also high in gelatin, a protein with amino acids that help to support digestion, bone, joint, skin and nail health.
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Gut
Studies show that gelatin is also known to help “seal and heal” the gut, helping with “leaky gut” and digestive issues and intolerances. Much of the health of our immune systems starts in the gut, so our grandmothers were on the right track by feeding us chicken soup when we were ill.
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Sleep
The amino acid glycine, which is found in gelatin, has been shown in several studies to improve sleep.
Wisdom
So there we have it. What I love about modern science is that it is now beginning to confirm what our grandmothers instinctively knew all along!
Bone broth is incredibly simple to make, but worth it. At the risk of teaching your grandmother how to suck eggs, here the recipe:
Bone Broth
- Roast the bones of your choice (beef, chicken, lamb or turkey);
- Put in a stockpot, cover with water and add apple cider vinegar. This ensures the minerals will be pulled out of the bones and into the broth;
- After an hour add onion (rich in vitamin C), garlic (anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal and great for the immune system), celery, carrots, a bay leaf and simmer;
- Keep simmering;
- Simmer some more. The longer the better. Some people go for a marathon 24 hours. This ensures that all the nutrients – bone marrow, collagen, minerals, amino acids – are fully absorbed into the broth;
- Add parsley (high in anti-oxidant vitamins A and C) for the final 30 minutes;
- Leave to cool a little;
- Strain and refrigerate or divide into portions and freeze for later use.
The broth can be drunk by itself or used as a base for soups, casseroles or risotto. Delicious!
Vegan options
Plant-based Wannabes are you still with me? I recognise this bone broth is not for you but there are plenty of vegan broth recipes out there. They typically include high amounts of sea vegetables and mushrooms and, while they don’t contain the gelatin, will still have the all the minerals and micro-nutrients that lend to bone and connective tissue healing and carry similar anti-inflammatory properties. A vegan broth also takes FAR less time to make. Bonus!
Do you have any family stories around bone broth? My Czech grandmother would always have a stockpot on the go and made a myriad of soups from the one base broth.