belly2brain blog

January 15, 2021
by belly2brain

Boost Your Immunity now - With Bone Broth!

Why your granny's chicken broth was the best remedy when you got a cold

Bone broth with fresh lemon juice, freshly ground pepper, and sliced fresh turmeric, delicious. In crazy times like these, when everyone is worried about their health, it makes sense to go for anti-inflammatory foods and beverages. Everyone recalls granny’s chicken bone broth, which quickly restored our health when we had the flu. Additionally, ginger and turmeric are particularly good anti-inflammatory spices. Freshly grated turmeric adds a nutty flavour. The effect of curcumin is enhanced with black pepper and lemon. I winter I love to start my day with Brodo (bone broth), an immune boosting soup, with easy digestible proteins and its highly bioavailable mineral content.

How to make bone broth with optimal health benefits?

Bone broth really works best when cleanly sourced and traditionally made. Make your own broth, you can trust it is MSG-free, has no added flavors, yeast, additives, and damaged proteins. My homemade broths are made with bones from sources I trust. Since my meat consumption is very low, bone broth feels like a great compromise. I add fresh herbs or sprouts and fresh lemon juice in order to increase digestion… and frankly, taste;)

It is best to cook a whole lot with a slow-cooker, like a crockpot. I use a well sealed multi-function pot – the Instant Pot. Unlike an other label, with the Instant Pot there is no such thing like a smelly house from cooking bone broth. I than can either store the broth in jars in the fridge or freeze them portion-sized in silicone molds. Cook at least for 8 Hours under 100°C/200°F… I let it simmer for even up to 20 hours. Add veggies and fresh herbs the last hour or gradually and then take out, to prevent a bitter taste... I love to cook my broths in a well-sealed slow cooker, in my Instant Pot. If you roast the bones in the oven first, you get an extra intensive caramel-like flavor and more of that highly-indulging umami taste.

More health benefits from consuming bone broth

Thanks to the Paleo movement, the art of making traditional bone broth has celebrated a renaissance. Gluthatione is one of the most important crucial nutrients that protect us from the attack of free radicals. The amino acids required for building gluthatione. Instead of taking supplements, you can just simply slurp your bone broth. According to studies, bovine cartilage increases the number of killer cells. By stimulating the lymphocytes that form antibodies and fights off foreign antigen. It is worth providing bone broths for curing infections, or even better, prevent them in the first place! I have found an informative source about the benefits of bone broth from the perspective of functional medicine, here. You can increase the alkalinity of the broth by adding all the greens you can find. Use kick-ass polyphenols and minerals: potatoes, onion, garlic, celery, cabbage, carrots, fresh dark leafy veggies… Here a tip though: add fresh greens ad a later stage for a milder taste, especially if you are not used to a bitter flavor. Speaking of bitter: turmeric, ginger, dark leafy veggies, and other bitter vegetables are some of the liver’s favorite goodies. If you support the liver, your gut works better and so do your hormones. And last but not least: the immune system. There is evidence that bone broth:

improves joint health,
reduces cellulitis and wrinkles,
is beneficial to the health of the gut,
and boosts the immune system.

What’s for certain: most cultures have some sort of bone broth as a foundation of their traditional cuisine.. they consider a rich broth as an energy-boosting ingredient for many dishes.. so there must be something to it. In an other post, I will explain in detail, why bone broth is good for you by looking at some science explained by Catherine Shanahan, M.D. She outlines the four pillars of human diet. One of them is ‘meat on the bone’, and here bone broth comes into play. So, in the meantime feel free to check out her book Deep Nutrition – Why Your Genes need Traditional Food.

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