Bone Broth

Photo: NomNomPaleo

One crucial super-food I'm trying to get more of is bone broth.  Homemade, gelatin, collagen, mineral rich yummy goodness!  Learn more about why bone broth is a super food at one of our favorite sites, Balanced Bites.

My main reason for having bone broth everyday is the gelatin helps your system digest more effectively which evidently I need help with.  Bone broth is a gut healing super food!

Aids Digestion
Yet another benefit of gelatin, bone broth helps your system digest more efficiently, especially milk, meat, beans, and grains. That’s likely why it’s used in GAPS and other gut healing diets. Who doesn’t need a little help digesting everything in our day and age?

Read more at http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2013/02/21/10-reasons-i-drink-bone-broth/#OKdVJyHD2MtOC4yy.99

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10 Reasons I Drink Bone Broth

February 21st, 2013 · 56 Comments · Food for Thought, Frugality, Natural Health

Welcome! If you wish you could eat more whole foods without breaking your budget, you're in the right place. Start here for my top 10 baby steps to better Kitchen Stewardship.

You might also be interested in family-friendly, delicious and nutritious recipes or one of my popular eBooks to help you on your journey.

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485
Would you drink a mug of chicken bone broth? I never drank it before last week.
In that week, my toddler got pneumonia, my second grader threw up, my preschooler coughed for days on end, my husband coughed…and I would get a tickle of a sore throat now and then. It always went away.
Let me also explain that I do not have the perfect diet – I eat too much late at night while blogging and get into the Halloween candy and random Costco chocolates far too often.
I do not get enough sleep. Some nights I only get three hours of sleep, and even that is interrupted at least once by my nursling. The day before Thanksgiving I was up until 3:30 a.m. baking pies and writing a post for Attune, and then I saw my little guy once or twice (maybe three times), my daughter had a nightmare and cuddled in my bed for a few minutes, and by 6 or 6:30, my oldest son was throwing up.

My husband, who slept through me getting out of bed at least six times plus Leah getting into our bed, received the “state of the family’ address at 7:30 a.m., otherwise known as, “Honey, let me catch you up on what has happened while you were sleeping.”
That part has nothing to do with my story except that it’s amazing the man slept through all that, and woefully ironic that he pops out of bed the second his alarm goes off while I have no idea anything happened. He’ll wake me up for a third time and I think it’s only the first.
I digress.
I never promised to be right in mind, just able to fend off illness with a mighty hand…I mean, cup of bone broth.
I wrote the intro to this post in December, hence the Thanksgiving reference, but ironically, in the last two weeks we’ve had two kids with ear infections, three kids with fever, one toddler with pneumonia (again!), lots of coughing, (all of which we fended off without antibiotics) and no bone broth in the house for the last month. Coincidence? Maybe. But I bought a chicken not-on-sale yesterday and have been drinking mugs of it this morning. It’s broth week at Kitchen Stewardship, after all!

485

10 Reasons to Drink Bone Broth

1. Immunity Boosting Fat
The yellow fat from pastured chickens holds immune boosting powers that are only the tip of the iceberg in the power of a properly prepared chicken stock to keep you from getting the next cold or other bug that flies through your house.
2. Warm Liquid is Soothing
It’s okay to mention the obvious. There are plenty of other immune-boosting strategies, like apple cider vinegar water, using lots of raw garlic, and taking fermented cod liver oil, but the soothing feel of a warm liquid on a cold day can’t be beat. (You’ll still want FCLO from Green Pasture for the Vitamins A and D and omega 3s, but you might not want to sip it as you sit at the computer!)
3. Super Mineral Boost
Bone broth contains minerals from the bones that are not only abundant but easy to assimilate into our bodies (unlike the whole mess with whole grains and phytic acid and such – see the soaking grains series for more info on that). Minerals that will help you stay in optimal health include:

• calcium
• magnesium
• phosphorus
• other trace minerals
• (source)

4. Better Carrier for Garlic and Cayenne than Tea
Fresh garlic, ginger, and cayenne pepper are great immunity boosting foods to eat as well, and while ginger makes a decent tea, it’s just weird to sip tea with garlic and cayenne. They taste awesome in broth though…

5. Gelatin for Joint Health
One of the incredible benefits of real bone broth made with the vinegar soak, all the cartilage from the animal and the actual bones is that your finished stock should have a good amount of gelatin. Gelatin is the cooked form of collagen, which makes up about half the protein in our bodies, so you’re truly “body building” when you consume it.
Gelatin provide glycine, an amino acid that promotes healthy cartilage and ultimately aids in avoiding joint pain. Could a cup a day keep the acetaminophen away?
6. Improves Bone Density
The calcium that leaches out of the bones into the stock is ready to be absorbed into your body, the perfect weapon against osteoporosis or weak bones in any way. (source)
7. Aids Digestion
Yet another benefit of gelatin, bone broth helps your system digest more efficiently, especially milk, meat, beans, and grains. That’s likely why it’s used in GAPS and other gut healing diets. Who doesn’t need a little help digesting everything in our day and age?

Read more at http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2013/02/21/10-reasons-i-drink-bone-broth/#OKdVJyHD2MtOC4yy.99

Here's my husband Brad's recipe:
Note: There are many recipes and a lot of them add in veggies.  We've kept it simple here to keep in line with the low-fodmap diet.

Ingredients:

• bag of bones from grass-fed beef, lamb or organic pastured poultry
• a splash of apple cider vinegar to help leach minerals from the bones
• filtered water to cover

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to your slow cooker.
2. Cook on low for 12-24 hours.
3. Skim the fat off the top before drinking.
4. Add salt to taste.
5. Remaining broth can be poured off and refrigerated. Lift off hardened fat before heating and drinking.
6. If freezing, cool to room temperature in a glass, bpa-free container.  Put in freezer and leave top off until frozen to avoid cracking jar.  Replace lid.

You can drink the stock any time and you can use it as a base for soups and add it to recipes calling for water or broth.

OK, so what can I eat on a 30-day FODMAP free journey?  Easier to say what I can't eat.  Depending on whose list you are looking at some things may vary.  I've decided to go with Chris Kresser's list:

FODMAP rich foods to avoid:

Vegetables

·      Artichokes

·      Asparagus

·      Beets

·      Broccoli

·      Brussels Sprouts

·      Cabbage

·      Cauliflower

·      Dandelion Greens

·      Fennel

·      Garlic

·      Green Bell Peppers

·      Green Onions

·      Leeks

·      Mushrooms

·      Okra

·      Onions

·      Shallots

Fruits

·      Apples

·      Apricots

·      Avocados

·      Blackberries

·      Cherries

·      Lychees

·      Mangoes

·      Nectarines

·      Peaches

·      Pears

·      Persimmons

·      Plums

·      Prune

·      Watermelon

Herbs & Spices

·      Chicory

·      Fennel

·      Horseradish

·      Wasabi

Nuts & Seeds

·      Pistachios

Why am I doing this?  My stomach has been hurting with almost everything I eat.  Even a strict Paleo diet wasn't helping.  So, I'm trying to cut out more foods that may be exacerbating my problems.  I just need to clean out a little and see what happens.