B!tchin' Bone Broth

Broth is all the rage these days. If you're here perhaps you're wondering why, and how... Reasons and my recipe is below! Despite being daunting for many, it's actually very very easy.

Why:It's nutrient dense. It's packed with minerals and everything else you supply in the cooking stage.

1. It's good for joints.It's loaded with glucosamine, chondroitin, and hyaluronic acid

2. It's good for skin.It's loaded with collagen for skin lesions, dryness, itchiness etc.

3. It helps heal the gut.Both gelatin and collagen "seal and heal" the gut lining for IBS, bloating, acid reflux, UC and more.

4. It supports bones.It's loaded with phosphorus, magnesium, and calcium. These seep out from the bones during the slow cook to infuse your broth, AND are easily digestible.

5. It promotes healthy sleep.The glycine in it is a neurotransmitter that helps with sleep, memory and mental function.

6. It boosts the immune system and can detoxifyArginine and glycine help the liver, promote healing of tissues and detox chemicals.

7. It promotes antioxidants.Cystein is abundant in chicken and broth. What's eventful in this is that your body converts this to glutathione- which is hands down one of the best antioxidants your body benefits from. Every cell in your body benefits and it it's not understood be orally supplemented with success, consuming Cystein, it's precursor, is your best bet. It's anti-aging and removes heavy metals, fights infection (is used in natural cancer centers in IV form) and supports immunity.

All of the above are in very digestible food forms....operative words "digestible" and "food". The process is as natural and fresh as it gets.

Toss in any veggies or herbs and spices and you gain those nutrients too. Feel free to add turmeric, garlic, anything you want. For example if you are looking for more immune boost, add astragalus. For anti-inflammatory, turmeric.

In Chinese medicine, (including acupuncture) bone broth nourishes our jing....which translates as essence if you will. This correlates to our basal qi, our essence of being and energy. It relates to infertility, sexual drives, core energy, bone health, proper growth, skin and hair. Recovery from severe trauma (maybe cancer therapy or shock or a long haul of deep stress). Pre and post endurance events like a triathlon, or even a 10K if that's your max. It also supports qi and blood which relate to immunity, fatigue, alertness, mood, digestion etc (this list is long).

What: Fish, chicken, beef. Any animal will work, I've had some patients use elk or bear for example. Native Indians often use/d bear but these days our society has normalized fish, chicken, and beef.

Where: Fish should be wild caught, but now with the amount of toxins in oceans, I don't know if I would broth this animal. Farmed has it's own problems and is not healthy. Beef-source where free ranged and organic (see Tip Alert below). Chicken, see beef. Alfafas carries an air chilled brand called Marys. It's an excellent quality of bird.

How:  This is for a chicken but it's a decent start for any animal.<<<<<<HUGE TIP ALERT!>>>> Be sure to purchase the most free range organic massaged cared for animal for this. You are leeching bones, tendon and other deep parts- you do not want essence de Big Pharma like hormones or supplementation of antibiotics or pesticides. This is really important. You want a healthy animal always, but in this case, more so. This also goes for the veggies...>>>>>

1. Cook and enjoy animal for dinner. Select any meat you, your dog, cat, friends, family will eat and store.  Internal temp should read 160-165 in the oven in the thigh (thick part of the meat). Above this will be too much.
2. Throw everything (everything) else into a large (huge) pot right after.
3. Fill pot with (filtered) water, enough to cover all or most of your loot.
4. Toss your bonus goodies. A great start with chicken is: 1 onion, 3 celery, 2-3 carrots. Chopped in half (you can see mine above). This is not laborious which is awesome. See pic above for my fussless concoction. You cna't go wrong here. Add ANY veggie you want. More carrots, garlic, kale, anything. Garlic and kale should be added near the end (last 30 mins).
5. Add 2 tablespoons of Braggs apple cider vinegar. This helps the leaching process. I highly recommend this.
6. Notice the absence of salt? Yep no salt. Give that body a salt rest. Or use quality salt with minerals.
7. Water portion- just fill it to the top. As it simmers, water will evaporate so top it off as the hours go by.
8. Add any spices if you want from here. Add any other veggies, you can't go wrong, really, the above was my starting point and it was delish.
9. Bring to a boil for about 10-15 minutes. Then reduce to a very very lazy simmer for 3-12 hours. It's not uncommon to do 24-48 hours. Less than 6-10 it's considered a stock, and not a broth. Broth implies looong time simmer and to contain more bone nutrients. Chicken bones can cook less than beef for nutrient max. Beef should be at least 12-24 hours.
10. Strain. I recommend letting it cool and then putting it in glass containers. Here's the thing- one brew can make several days worth. Keep about 4 days worth for the fridge and freeze the remainder for about a month. You can do shots of about 1-2 cups a day, or use as a base for healthy rice or quinoa dishes. Or to make your own soups! (here's where you can add the salt)
11. My tip for shots, I pour into ice cube trays. About 4 cubes will yield one cup. It's easy to heat up in a pot and sip. OR use ball jars. A larger one will easily and conveniently store about 5 days worth. Perfect!
12. Personally I love the shots in the morning with breakfast. I find that this is a great sub for coffee or tea.

This should be done for approx. 7 days for a boost. At least 30 days if you're looking to do deeper work like heal a gut lining, clear skin, or performing other internal adjustments. If symptoms get worse, then it's too strong. You might need a stock to start, not a broth. See #9 above.

Happy Brothin'