Bone Broths – How to Heal Yourself with Soup

Bone Broths: How to Heal Yourself With Soup

Your grandmother was on to something when she cooked up a pot of chicken soup when you were sick. There are a ton of healing properties to broths made from bones.

The Jade Institute writes that bone broths are good for both your kidneys and your liver. Broth can even be beneficial in a detox or a cleanse.

The prolonged cooking of bones in water results in a broth rich in nutritional constituents that promote strength, tonify blood, nourish in times of sickness and rehabilitation, and help to prevent bone and connective tissue disorders.

 

Some Powerful Nutrients of Bone Broths

The cartilage in bone broth is great for joints and arthritis pain. The marrow in the bones is great for your cardiovascular health. Glycine and proline are important amino acids present in bone broth. They are good for “the manufacturing of glucose, enhancing gastric acid secretion, soft tissue and wound healing, healthy connective tissue, effective detoxification by the liver and production of plasma.” Collagen and gelatin are good for wound healing, repair of bones, healing of the gastrointestinal tract, and helps digest the protein you eat.

Eating collagen has shown to decrease appearance of wrinkles and cellulite. Now every woman out there will be getting a big bowl of soup today.

There is also a ton of calcium, phosphorous, and magnesium in bone broths.

self-made bouillon de volaille (chicken broth). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How do I cook bone broths?

From Bodyecology.com:

1. Place bones into a large stock pot.

2. Add two tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or wine to water prior to cooking. This helps to pull out important nutrients from the bones.

3. Fill stock pot with filtered water.  Leave plenty of room for water to boil.

4. Heat slowly. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer for at least 6 hours. Remove scum as it arises.

5. Cook long and slow. Chicken bones can cook for 6-48 hours. Beef bones can cook for 12-72 hours. A long and slow cook time is necessary in order to fully extract the nutrients in and around bone.

After cooking, the broth will cool and a layer of fat will harden on top. This layer protects the broth beneath. Discard this layer only when you are about to eat the broth.

You can add carrots, celery, and onions to the broth to make it more flavorful and have more nutrients too.

You can even use your slow cooker 

This is the method I use most often.

The Nourished Kitchen suggest that you can start cooking your bone broth at the beginning of the week. Place your seasonings to the water and bones, then turn the crock pot on low. Take out the broth that you need throughout the week You can filter it through a coffee filter if you need to.

Keep the crock pot on all week and just keep replacing the water… This way you always have a large amount of stock ready on your counter. You can freeze what you don’t use for later on.

This method is pretty useful – Almost like Pho (a traditional Vietnamese Soup). You can add the vegetables you want and make a different soup each day.

a slow cooker Oval Crock Pot (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Not to mention, this will save you a ton of money from buying canned chicken or beef broths.

How do you use broths? What are your tips for adding flavor?