Restore Gut Health with Bone Broth

In Part of Me is Missing we found out that our modern lifestyle often destroys the normal flora (microorganisms) in our guts which leads to a leaky gut and inflammatory response in other parts of the body.

So what can we do to restore and rebuild the gut?

For a delicious way to start being kind to your gut drink bone broth.

What? You’ve never heard of bone broth?

Actually it was a healthy staple in the diets of prior generations. Somehow they knew about its nourishing powers even if they didn’t realize how much in contributed to gut health.

You’ve probably thrown away a lot of valuable minerals and other nutrients in the past when you got rid of those chicken or turkey carcasses or beef bones.

So start mining the “gold” out of them now. Making bone broth is so easy! Just throw those bones in a pot, cover with water, add some vegetables, add something acidic to help leach the minerals out of the bones, and bring the water to a simmer for 12 to 24 hours. A crock pot works well to make bone broth.

If you start with a whole chicken instead of just the bones, after about 2 hours of simmering remove the chicken from the pot long enough to cool so you can comfortably pick the meat off the bones. Eat the meat or place it in the refrigerator. Put the bones back into the pot and simmer 10-22 hours longer.

The longer you simmer it the more minerals will release from the bones into the broth.

Ideas to help you choose your ingredients for your broth:

Bones:

Ideally use bones from grass fed organically raised animals

Include the joints and ligaments attached to the bones

Buy beef bones that still have the joints attached

The cartilage attached to the joints will dissolve into the liquid to help nourish your joints

Acid:

Apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar – others may be strong and impart a bad taste to the broth

Lemon juice

Acidic tomatoes or juice (some tomatoes are low acid and may not work as well)

Vegetables:

Carrots, onions, celery are old standbys in making broth

Green beans and zucchini add minerals like potassium and magnesium to the broth

Consider adding green onions, leeks and garlic

These vegetables may make your broth bitter but if you like them, why not experiment with them? Broccoli, turnip peels, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, green peppers, collard greens, or mustard greens

Herbs and spices:

Salt

Pepper

Whole peppercorns

Red pepper flakes

Parsley

Bay leaf

Rosemary

Thyme

Sage

Ginger

Others that you really like

Here’s a bone broth recipe to give you some ideas:

1 organic whole chicken

8 c of water

4 -6 stalks of celery

½ onion

1-3 cloves garlic

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon of apple cider vinegar

Combine all of these ingredients in a pot and simmer for 8 -12 hours or more.

When the meat starts falling away from the bones, separate the meat from the bones. Then return the bones to the pot to simmer some more.

Garlic, onion, salt, pepper and paprika, carrots and potatoes in a pot of beef bones (or a roast with the bones left in) really spices up the broth; one of my favorite combinations.

Some people like to dice up the vegetables before adding them to the pot, but why bother. They cook to pieces from simmering so long and it’s easier to remove the vegetables when they’re in larger pieces.

So after I came in from harvesting my garden crops this morning, I pulled some frozen chicken bones out of the freezer, threw them in a pot and added enough water to cover them. Then I checked the frig, found half an onion, a carrot and some green beans and added them to the pot. That concoction has been simmering on my stove top for seven hours now. I will drink a cup of the broth with dinner and let it continue to simmer a bit longer.

You notice I didn’t add any herbs or spices to that combination in the pot because I want to do some taste experiments using different herbs in each cup I make. Maybe I will discover a really unique and tasty combination.

To harvest the broth, let it cool to lukewarm. Then strain the broth into a bowl. Discard the vegetables because they’re wimpy after cooking all day and most of their nutrients have gone into the broth anyway. Pour the broth into glass jars to store it after it has cooled!

But save the bones! You can use the bones over and over to make broth until they get soft. Then discard them. For safety’s sake store the bones in the freezer until you’re ready to make another batch of broth.

Making bone broth is so fast and easy – easier than reading this article, so get started right away as an aid to restore your gut health.

And if you’re not convinced yet, we will discover the benefits of drinking bone broth regularly in the next article.

9 Benefits of Drinking Bone Broth

Blessings to you,

Dr. Jo