Grass fed beef bone broth benefits…try saying that five times fast! (No, really, try it, it’s hard!)
But in all seriousness, if you shake your cold soup does it wiggle-jiggle or splash-splosh?
Most cold soups splash about while gelatin-rich broths will wiggle and jiggle, which is called a “gelled broth”. The difference is the protein in the broth. Gelatin-rich broths are deeply nurturing to our bodies because of the mineral and amino acid content. There’s even an old proverb that “good broth resurrects the dead.”
Bone Broth in Traditional Cultures
Traditional peoples all had different diets based on what was available to them locally. However, across many traditional cultures, broth was a staple, a central component of their diet.
Weston A. Price, a 20th century dentist, observed cultures without access to processed foods, and he determined that, as a consequence, these peoples had far superior health in comparison to modern Westerners. He traveled the globe and studied primitive cultures in an effort to restore knowledge lost in industrialized societies.
The Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) is dedicated to educating people today about how to use traditional foods and therapies to heal from the diseases of modernity, using the diet of our pre-industrialized ancestors.
The WAPF has digested Price’s work and synthesized 11 principles to help guide our dietary choices. This article is the seventh in a series to address and add context to each of the principles. This article relates to the following “Principle of Traditional Diets”, which states:
“All traditional cultures make use of animal bones, usually in the form of gelatin-rich bone broths.”
Muscle meat consumption can raise cortisol because of high cystine and methionine (amino acids) without balance of glycine and lysine.
Bone Broth Benefits
Rich source of amino acids glycine and lysine, which are highly anti-infammatory and lower cortisol
Source of minerals, notably sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium
Source of calcium that the body can highly assimilate
Basic Beef Bone Broth Recipe
The basics of beef bone broth is to simmer bones over low heat for a long time, ideally at least 12 hours. You can add apple cider vinegar to help bring minerals out of the bones. Vegetables like onion, carrot, leek, and celery are all wonderful options to add depth of flavor, as are other aromatics like bay leaf, garlic, and ginger.
A shortcut I often use is to make bone broth in the instant pot so that I don’t have to continuously monitor the simmering. Read more about the instant pot method to save yourself time!
Bone Broth Hot Chocolate
This recipe is from the infamous Fallon @fallondanae on Instagram.
½ cup bone broth
1 cup whole raw milk
1.5 T maple syrup
1-2 T cacao powder
Few drops of vanilla
Pinch of sea salt
Warm bone broth and milk over medium heat. When desired temperature is reached, whisk in remaining ingredients and enjoy warm!
Bone Broth Popsicle
This recipe is from the Kettle & Fire blog.
2 cups frozen fruit
2 cups bone broth
Blend together all ingredients until smooth. Place mixture in popsicle molds and freeze at least 3 hours until frozen. Enjoy on a hot day!
Savory Bone Broth Oatmeal
This recipe is from the Kettle & Fire blog.
1 cup bone broth
½ cup chopped mireoix (onion, celery, carrots)
½ cup shredded chicken
1 large egg, beaten
½ cup rolled oats
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
¼ tsp paprika
In a small saucepan, heat up broth over high heat to boil mirepoix. Add chicken and beaten egg, stirring constantly for a few seconds. Remove from heat.
Stir in oats and cover. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Uncover and season with salt, pepper, and paprika.
Autumn-Spiced Bone Broth Tea
This recipe is from the A Life of Heritage blog.
1 cup bone broth
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 T lemon juice
1 t ginger
¼ t cinnamon
1 T honey
Dash of cayenne, nutmeg, clove, turmeric
Bring bone broth to boil. Add all other ingredients, except honey, to mug.
Once broth is boiling, add to mug, and stir to mix along with honey.
If you try one of the unconventional bone broth recipes, take a photo and share it on Instagram or Facebook (& tag us, too)!