Only 3 years ago, the idea of a broth made from bones revolted me. Bone broth was one of those trendy new superfoods that I just couldn’t wrap my head around. I was just starting to come out of vegetarianism, but I still couldn’t get into it.
It took a little time, but once I started to understand bone broth’s nourishing powers and ability to heal the gut, I was officially intrigued. Bone broth had won me over and alas, I convinced myself I needed to try it.
Fast forward three years and today this golden broth is king in my kitchen. I get antsy when I don’t have an extra jar frozen in the freezer. Funny how things change.
Hashimoto’s healing requires broth
The leading factor that caused this change was my health. When my health started to deteriorate, and I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, I did everything in my power to change my habits around food. In order to heal my body and use food as medicine, I needed to look outside my comfort zone. Where once, I was so restrictive and dogmatic, I became open minded and inclusive with trying new foods.
When I first started trying bone broth, I bought an organic chicken bone broth from a health food store. Instantly after consuming it, I began to feel its health benefits. Not only did I feel grounded, but after a few days I could literally feel my gut starting to heal. The science behind this is incredible. The collagen and gelatin present in bone broth has the ability to repair the gut lining and calm down inflammation. If leaky gut or an auto-immune condition is something you are suffering with, I highly recommend giving bone broth a try.
I remember the sensation I felt the first time I tried it. With my first sip I could feel a deep sense of nourishment throughout my body that never existed when I was vegetarian. I realized why so many of our guests on The Ultimate Health Podcast gave bone broth all the accolades as one of the most healing foods. I got it!
Injuries require bone broth
I recently sustained a rib fracture after a bad fall. I surmised that sipping on bone broth to heal a broken bone was probably a very good idea. So for days, I sipped on soothing broth and upped my collagen intake and instead of my injury taking six weeks to heal, it only took three to four. Given that bone broth is anti-inflammatory and heals tissue it did it’s job very well. So if you have recently or even in the past had an injury of any sort, start sipping on the good stuff!
From scratch
So last year, November 27th, 2017, I decided to take the next step and make my very first bone broth from scratch. I had just started to cook whole chickens at home, and I was becoming a pro. Why not take things up a notch and use the bony remains and make a broth?
I finally mustered up the courage and scoured various recipes to come up with what would be my very first gut healing batch of chicken bone broth.
Marni’s First Bone Broth
1 whole chicken carcass
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
1 onion
1 bunch of combined thyme, rosemary, sage
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp sea salt
2 cloves of garlic
6-8 cups of filtered water
Zero Waste Pro Tip: Collect veggie scraps in your kitchen, store in the freezer and use these on demand as needed for your base. This way you don’t actually have to buy new veggies to make your broth, you can just use what you’ve got.
I place this all in my 5 qt. stainless-steel slow cooker from Saladmaster for approximately 8-12 hours depending on how strong I want the broth.
This will provide at least 2 to 4 jars of gut healing soup, in addition to the four meals we had with the meat. Let’s not forget that this is the ultimate way to use every last scrap of food and support the zero-food waste movement. Totally my style.
So now I can officially say, I am fully on board with the bone broth trend. From skeptic to believer, restriction to freedom, my experience with bone broth has taught me that some food trends are worth getting behind. Even if it does sound as crazy as bones in broth!
Please also listen to these super informative interviews on The Ultimate Health Podcast all about the power of collagen and bone broth.
