What is bone broth and why don’t we just call it chicken soup? Is it really that healthy? What makes it so special? How do I make it? How do I consume it? These questions and more, answered here.
1. What Is Bone Broth and Why Don’t We Just Call It Chicken Soup?
Bone broth is the same chicken soup your grandmother and great grandmother made back in the day. It’s that gold-colored translucent liquid you’re supposed to eat when you’re sick. The reason it’s now (less appetizingly) referred to as “bone broth” rather than “chicken soup” is because today it’s hard to know how any particular chicken flavored broth was made. Anything called chicken soup can be made from bouillon cubes (which may or may not contain MSG and other chemicals) or by reconstituting a dry powder. Bone broth, on the other hand, specifically means it was made the old-fashioned way—using the bones of chicken, water, and vegetables.
2. What Makes Bone Broth So Healthy?
There are SO many reasons bone broth is healthy, so I’ll start with the biggest one.
It Restores Gut Health and Integrity—
The lining of your intestines is only one cell thick, and is what allows the nutrients from food to pass from your digestive tract into your bloodstream, thereby nourishing you. When the junctions between those cells begin to separate (due to irritants such as pesticides, herbicides, toxins, gluten, and other inflammatory inputs), it creates a situation commonly known as Intestinal Permeability, or “leaky gut.” In leaky gut, things (like undigested food) that aren’t supposed to get through the firewall accidentally get through, because the holes are too big. When that happens, food intolerances, autoimmune conditions (like psoriasis) and inflammatory reactions occur. Bone broth is like glue. Over time, it seals those holes so that no inflammatory reaction is triggered. In addition, bone broth contains glycine, glutamine, arginine, and proline—all of which play active roles in proper digestion, wound healing, and cell repair.
It Heals Damaged Joints & Bones, & Mineralizes Bones and Teeth—
Bone broth contains easily-absorbed minerals including calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon and sulfur, all of which help build and maintain bones. It can also contain glucosamine, chondroitin, gelatin, and collagen, which help reduce joint pain and inflammation, give your skin elasticity, and build healthy bones, teeth, hair and nails. In addition, glycine, proline, and arginine are all anti-inflammatory, which means they help heal injuries and soothe chronic pain.
It Supports Immune Function--
As per above, all those amino acids help fight infection and boost immunity. Chicken bone broth, a great source of cysteine, also thins mucus in the lungs, making it easier to clear things up when you’re sick.
3. If I Jump On The Bandwagon, Does It Matter What Kind I Buy?
Yes! Any kind of bone broth is healing for your body—chicken, beef, fish, whatever, since the goodness comes from the bones, joints, and veggies. However, if you’re going to do this for health reasons, make sure you find organic bone broth made from animals that ate grass and bugs (called pastured animals), and not animals fed pesticide-laden corn and soy. The two brands I tend to buy are Bonafide and Kettle and Fire. But whatever brand of organic bone broth from pasture-raised animals you find at your local healthy grocer is fantastic.
4. Can I Make My Own If I Don’t Want To Buy It?
Of course. It’s easy to make your own bone broth. Just buy a whole organic pastured chicken, some celery, onion, garlic, salt and a bit of lemon juice, and throw it into a slow cooker (crock pot). Cover it with filtered water and cook on low for 6-8 hours (recipe here). Once done, you can shred up the meat to make tacos or chicken salad, or toss it into the broth. If you make your own broth, don’t toss the fat. Eat it! It’s full of healthy compounds. If you’re looking for a good slow cooker, I like this one: by Hamilton Beach.
5. How Do I Consume It?
You can consume bone broth by warming it up and sipping it out of a mug, like coffee or tea any time of day. Many people do that for breakfast to jump-start their day with a gut-healing boost. Bone broth is also a fantastic tool to use if you’re into intermittent fasting and need something to tide you over. You can also use bone broth as a base for any soup instead of water (eg. carrot soup, vegetable soup), which is an easy way to up the healing factor of any meal while making it taste a whole lot better.
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