Health benefits of bone broth
Bone broth is the super food that everyone should be drinking. It has far-reaching healing properties that can benefit everyone from prevention of diseases to healing and recovery from a wide range of medical conditions. It is a cheap and easy way to stay healthy and nourish yourself, without the use of supplements and other drugs. There is a recipe at the end of this blog post.
If you are interested in optimizing your overall health and preventing disease and infection you need to be drinking bone broth.
Bone broth is jam-packed with nutritional goodness and has been linked with curing a long list of medical conditions. It has extremely healing qualities which help us fight and prevent infections, diseases. But it also noticeably improves the condition of your hair, nails and skin. The high collagen content leaves skin cells plumper, reducing wrinkles and cellulite!
Drinking bone broth is a great way to boost your immune system (particularly with the colder months approaching) I would recommend drinking a cup of bone broth a day. If you are currently unwell and dealing with a medical condition you can drink around 3 cups a day. You can drink bone broth on its own, make it into delicious, warming and nourishing soups, add it to gravies, stews, sauces, casseroles or even add a couple of tablespoons to your stir-fry.
Key Components of Bone Broth
Bone broth contains four key Amino Acids Proline, Glycine, Glutamine and Alanine.
Proline
Proline helps us produce healthy collagen and cartilage, which play a vital role in keeping our bodies strong and supple.
We produce less collagen in our bodies as we get older and as a result, we are likely to get injured more easily. In our modern day lifestyle we tend to take anti-inflammatory drugs to help us with the pain of injuries. But inflammation is actually our bodies healing response – it is the first step that signals the area of pain in the body which then leads to more nutrients being sent to the site. By adding more collagen to our diets we are providing it with the building blocks it needs to heal itself.
Glycine
Glycine helps us produce healthy blood. It also plays a key role in reducing inflammation throughout the body and wound healing. When the body is under stress or compromised through illness or infection its needs for glycine are increased. This is a key reason why people are advised to drink soup when they are sick. It is wonderful for helping the body heal and reduce inflammation. Pregnant women also have a higher need for glycine.
Glycine also assists the body in reducing the risk of heart disease, cancer, premature aging and other health problems.
Glutamine
Glutamine is vital for gut health (I’m so passionate about gut health, this should be reason alone to drink broth in my opinion). Glutamine helps the villi (these are like tiny hairs) inside the small intestine heal and grow. Villi are responsible for absorbing nutrients from our food and people who suffer from leaky gut, celiac disease or Crohn’s disease typically have villi that are damaged.
The benefits of glutamine to our bodies is huge. It aids recovery from injuries, wounds, stress, and surgery. It can even help with side effects suffered from chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants. It also helps with liver health and detoxification. And to top it all off, because Glutamine crosses the blood-brain barrier it has been linked with assisting people with depression, anxiety, mood swings, ADD and ADHD and even Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.
Alanine
Alanine aids in liver function and the production of glucose. It is typically used by athletes and body builders for assisting with endurance and building muscle mass. It can also be beneficial for improving the physical functioning of the elderly.
The healing power of fine broth is extensive and far-reaching. It has been linked to the healing and prevention of a long list of illnesses and diseases. The list is really quite mind-blowing. Here is a brief outline of some of medical conditions that can be alleviated or healed with the help of bone broth:
Oseteoarthritis
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Warts
Psoriasis / eczema
Wound healing – recovery from surgery
Infectious diseases – colds, flus, tuberculosis, urinary tract infections
Auto-immune disorders – Crohn’s disease, hashimotos,
Digestive disorders (healing the gut!) – celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, heartburn, nausea, bloating, flatulence, stomach ulcers
Cancer – this is mostly due to the cartilage content in bone broth which has been dubbed an ‘anti-cancer agent’ *
Mental Health – mood disorders, depression, anxiety, memory loss,
Sport and Fitness – injury recovery, endurance, building muscle mass,
Anti-aging – bone broth improves skin, hair and nails, it smoothes out your skin and reduces wrinkles – including cellulite!
*as stated in “Nourishing Broth” by Sally Fallon Morell and Kaayla T. Daniel
