“A good broth can raise the dead.”
(South American Proverb)
Abel James is an entrepreneur, real-food crusader and the New York Times bestselling author of The Wild Diet: Go Beyond Paleo to Burn Fat, Beat Cravings, and Drop 20 Pounds in 40 days. With the #1-rated Health podcast in 8 countries, Abel’s award-winning web series Fat-Burning Man has helped millions reclaim their health through cutting-edge science, outdoor workouts, and outrageously good food.
After meeting him at the 2016 Paleo f(x) conference in Austin, Texas, I first introduced Abel to the Happy Living community a year ago with his post: How to Take Your Health into Your Own Hands. Then, at the 2017 conference, I was inspired to add bone broth to my daily nutritional practice; so naturally, I turned to the Fat-Burning Man for guidance.
I am pleased to welcome Abel’s voice back to Happy Living. In today’s guest post, he shares how you can make bone broth to heal your gut, reverse aging, and cure the common cold. His recipe is easy, delicious, and super good for your health.
Abel says:
What is it about “soup” that makes it good for us when we’re sick?
Homemade bone broth is one of the most powerful superfoods on the planet. It’s made by simmering the bones of a (preferably pasture-raised) animal for 10 – 24 hours in a slow-cooker, or 24 – 48 hours for beef bones. This low, slow cooking draws out the collagen, marrow, and other healing elements from the bones, including amino acids, minerals, glycine, and gelatin—which helps heal the gut and reduce inflammation.
My wife and I pretty much always have a batch of bone broth simmering on the counter. I’ll drink a cup of it in the late morning with a bit of sea salt, or we’ll use it to make soups and stews. Broth can be a powerful weight-management tool, it keeps your joints lubricated, provides your bones with necessary nutrients, and makes your skin soft and elastic.
Broths are rich in nutrients that are difficult to source elsewhere—incredibly high in vital minerals like calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, and potassium.
You can use the bones (and legs from poultry, which are rich in restorative collagen) from pastured chicken, grass-fed cattle, fish, crustaceans, or anything else that was Recently Alive and Well (R.A.W.). Leftovers work well, too—take the picked-over carcass of a roasted fowl or the leftover bones from a roast or seafood meal. If you’re in a hurry, you can even throw in a whole fish.
Not only are bone broths packed with nutrition, they’re an excellent way to save money on your grocery bill because you’re skipping prepared soups and broth. Plus, you’re doing your part to use the whole animal and reduce waste.
Unlike real bone broth, processed soup from a can like Campbell’s or Hormel is packed with sodium, preservatives, cornstarch, wheat, artificial flavors, MSG, sugar, and none of the things that make real homemade soup nourishing.
Traditionally, chicken broth is made from slowly simmering a whole chicken for hours along with vegetables and seasonings. Finally, the bones are removed, the chicken stripped off, and chopped vegetables are added.
Alyson, bless her heart, always whips me up bone broth soup when I’m under the weather. It takes less than 10 minutes to prepare, but it can cut the duration of your cold in half. It has plenty of bug-fighting goodness that will fix you right up in no time.
Abel, thank you for sharing your voice with our community at Happy Living.
Take one more click to see Abel’s complete post as it was last updated on January 4, 2016.
Image via Unsplash | This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click and then purchase we will receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for reading & supporting Happy Living!