What's the deal with Bone Broth?

Ever since I discovered it about a decade ago, Pho has been my favorite meal. For such a simple dish, it always makes me feel amazing, creating a warm, deep satisfaction like nothing else. I’m not the only one who experiences this effect. Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain once crowned Pho as the best meal on earth. When I visit my dad we often go out to eat together at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant, and on one such outing I happened to overhear a woman who was there enjoying some Pho with her family enthusiastically proclaim “I feel fantastic. We are coming here after all my chemo treatments from now on!”

So what makes this meal, this very basic soup, so special? It’s made with Bone Broth.

Bone Broth is simply a stock made from animal bones and other tissues that are simmered in water for a very long time (at least 24 hours) until all the nutrients are leached from them. Vegetables, herbs and spices are often added to enhance both the flavor and nutrition of the broth. Once cooked the remaining solids are strained out leaving a rich, delicious stock that can be drunk as a warm beverage or used as the base for soups, sauces and risotto.

The healing powers of Bone Broth have been known for centuries. For example, in many Eastern cultures it has traditionally been given to woman right after childbirth to help them recover, and long simmered chicken soup was commonly referred to as “Jewish Penicillin”. The exact properties that contribute to its health benefits were determined more recently. Dr. Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, has been studying bone broth for over 25 years and believes it can fill many of the nutritional voids in our diets, the true root of many diseases.

According to Dr. Daniel, bone broth can heal your gut lining, repair joint degeneration, help build muscle and regulate blood sugar, improve sleep, stimulate your immune system and even reverse some auto-immune disorders. How does it do all that? By making available many of the amino acids that are difficult to get in a modern diet.

When bones and connective tissue are cooked for a long time, they release collagen. Collagen is high in the essential amino acids such as Proline, Glycine and Glutamine, all of which are scarce in just about all other foods. Proline is essential for building new collagen, as in the cartilage that pads our joints. Glycine is the simplest amino acid, which means our bodies can use it to synthesize others, and it is utilized in abundance when we are ill, detoxifying, or recovering from physical activity. It can also activate GABA brain function, making us “happier”. Glutamine promotes the growth of villi in the digestive tract, heals damage to the gut lining and is used to build new muscle fibers.

In addition to amino acids, Bone Broth is high in several Proteoglycans, or protein sugars, that are commonly found in joint supplements, such as Chondroitin Sulfate, Keratan Sulfate and Hyaluronic Acid, as well as the glyconutrients Glucosamine and Galactosamine. These compounds are also known to help regulate blood sugar swings and in turn help balance mental health. If bone marrow is included in the broth it can imbibe a bevy of fat-soluble vitamins and iron, and as the collagen matrix of the bone tissue is broken down its mineral content is released, adding calcium, magnesium and phosphorous to the mix. Best of all broth is an extremely digestible, low calorie, zero carb drink that suppresses appetite and can be an excellent weight loss tool.

Dr. John Prudden spent decades documenting the effects of a Bone Broth diet on hundreds of his patients. He claims it to have cured 31 cases of cancer as well as numerous herpes and shingles cases, healed wounds, and reversed auto-immune conditions like osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, IBS, Chrone’s disease and psoriasis. He also witnessed their skin rejuvenate, their cellulite deposits deminish, and the quality of their sleep improve. His research indicates that this is because collagen in the diet stimulates every type of white blood cell the body needs, especially B Lymphocytes and Macrophages, optimizing the immune system’s ability to do its job. When all the necessary nutritional components are met through diet, the body can take care of itself much more effectively.

For me, Bone Broth was the answer to a couple of problems I was facing. As you might imagine, a meat producer like myself ends up with a whole lot of cuts that nobody seems to want. In fact I have a whole freezer dedicated to storing these odd bits - pig’s feet, neckbones and tails, chicken backs and turkey feet, lamb bones and tails. Finding recipes that turned these into edible cuisine had always proved challenging. After I discovered Bone Broth, these went from a storage issue to some of my most coveted cuts. Now I relish in all the cartilaginous, boney goodness I get to choose from when making my broth.

My other problem was that I was not making time to eat a proper meal when things got busy and I was making poor choices because of it, snacking on whatever I could find in the pantry and still not feeling satisfied. I used to be able to eat just about whatever I wanted and not worry too much about it, but since turning 40 I’ve noticed my metabolism slow way down. Now I make a big batch of Bone Broth every week and have a jar of it on hand in the fridge for whenever I get hungry. I heat it up, season it and sip on a cup in the early afternoon before I can get in the kitchen and make lunch. It really fills me up, gives me energy and mental clarity, all of which steers me away from any “hangry” moments.

If you haven’t tried Bone Broth yet, there are some brands on the market you can buy, but the best way is to make it yourself. It’s inexpensive, easy and virtually impossible to mess up. Throw in whatever meat, bones, tendons, veggies, mushrooms, herbs and spices you desire in a stock pot full of water and let it simmer. 24 hours later, strain out all the solids and season to taste. That’s it! You will end up with a rich, delicious broth that will make you feel, and possibly look, younger and healthier.