05 Jul How to make bone broth and why its BENEFICIAL for your gut health.
Bone broth is one of those old wives tales that has been validated by science. You grandma (or your great grandma) knew that chicken broth or chicken soup was beneficial if you were feeling sick. Chicken broth is usually made from chicken (duh) and also chicken bones… boiling them extracts minerals, collagen and gelatin to help heal and protect your gut. We now know that 70-80% of your immune system resides in your gut. SO this is why broths and chicken soup was beneficial for people feeling unwell.
In western cultures we have lost these traditional methods of cooking because we have so much access to food and crave convenience over effort. Making broth is a cooking staple and has been for centuries. Back in the times when food cousins were being shaped by cultures, meat was hard to come by and it was expensive, if you had meat or raised your own animals for food nothing went to waste and you would boil the bones to make stocks and broth, soups and stews. This is where these traditions have stemmed from. Unfortunately they have slowly been lost over time due to food convenience.
We can learn a thing or two from history. Including foods + drinks in your diet that will not only heal a damaged gut but help you maintain a healthy gut are important to know in today’s crazy fast paced world. We are getting sicker and having issues earlier and earlier because we have lost some of these amazing traditional foods that have supported our overall health and wellness for centuries.
Bone broth is similar to a stock. The difference is stock is mainly used for flavouring food vs bone broth is made to extract the minerals and health promoting goodness from the bones. That doesn’t mean you can’t flavour your bone broth though.
When cooked correctly Bone Broth should extract the minerals from bones (such as calcium, phosphorus, silicone, sulphur) and break down the skin, muscles and tendons on the bones to extract the collagen and gelatin, glucosamine and other healthy compounds from the meat and bones. Not to mention there is usually meat left on the bones too which adds to the amino acid profile (like gut healing L-Glutamine) present in the broth once it’s finished.
When you drink the liquid (which we call bone broth) you are going to be getting all of these amazing minerals and health prompting amino acids and compounds extracted from the bones. Because they have been extracted in the liquid they are very easily soaked up by you because unlike eating food it’s already been extracted. When we digest our food your body has to literally break down the food and compounds to extract any health benefits… You eliminate that process with bone broth so it’s very easily digested and easy on your digestion.
Bone broth is also very cheap to make. I have a pet hate with expensive health foods because they don’t have to be expensive. Real food and a real healthy diet should not be expensive. Buying bones from the butcher is cheap or you can simply save the leftover bones from your roast chicken, chicken drumsticks, lamb shoulders, pork ribs, you name it… you can simply pop them in the freezer to save the bones to make bone broth.
Bone Broth
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 2 kg Chicken bones (approx 2 kg)
- 1 onion
- 2 carrots
- 3 stalks celery
- 1 tbs italian herbs
Instructions
- Roast bones in oven for approx 30 mins to just cook slightly and deepen flavour. Roughly chop all vegetable ingredients and add to slow cooker along with herbs and some salt and pepper. Add bones to slow cooker and fill up with room temperature water. Cook on low for 12 hrs. Check water levels and top up with water if water has evaporated a little bit and continue cooking for a further 12 hrs (approx 24hrs in total). Let cook before strain. Strain and discard the bones and vegetables, the liquid is now ready to use. You can put it in the fridge to cool and store for up to a week or freeze in smaller portion size containers.
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