Recently I’ve been writing about options to get our gut back on track after the overindulgences of the festive season. I’ve written about a great supplement containing the amino acid glutamine plus other herbs. Last week I wrote about fermented foods being helpful for our gut health. Another food that is great for our gut health is bone broth. I’m sure we all know someone who has been talking up the benefits of bone broth recently and with good reason. Bone broth has become extremely popular over the past few years because of its many health benefits.

Bone broth is a nutrient-dense stock which is created by cooking up animal bones and connective tissue.  This broth is generally made from the bones and connective tissue of animals such as chicken, fish or beef.

Making it is pretty easy. Just add 2kg animal bones, 5 litres water, 40ml apple cider vinegar and simmer for 12 hours or longer if you wish. Then after cooling strain, leaving only a clear broth to drink. To add flavour, you can add herbs, spices and vegetables when cooking. Note that apple cider vinegar is helpful in extracting the nutrients out of the bones.

For convenience, bone broth is also available in a powdered form and also a paste which can then be added to soups and other foods or you can simply use it as a nutrition warm drink. We do also sell pure bone broth in a jar.

This highly nutritious broth is rich in minerals and vitamins, plus essential fatty acids and amino acids.  If we are using animal bones, we may benefit from the high content of minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and other trace minerals. The benefit of using fish bones means we will also gain the benefit of extra iodine which we know may be helpful for our thyroid health.

The marrow which is used during cooking contains other minerals such as iron, boron, manganese, selenium, and zinc. It also contains omegas 3 and 6 plus vitamins A and K2.

Fortuitously, all these animal parts contain collagen which is extracted when cooking and becomes gelatin. It is now well-known gelatin has many health benefits especially when it comes to gut health. Not only is bone broth easily digested so that we are able to more readily obtain all of these nutrients, but the gelatin contained in bone broth may also help shield and heal our gut lining. The bonus is the amino acid glutamine which is contained in gelatin is also extremely helpful in preserving the function of our intestinal wall thereby assisting in maintaining good gut health. Drinking bone broth regularly may also be helpful for IBS and other inflammatory bowel diseases.

The gelatin found in bone broth is also believed to be helpful for our joint health and drinking bone broth regularly may be helpful for treating and preventing arthritis. When it comes to treating arthritis, I’m sure we’ve all heard of glucosamine and chondroitin which are the compounds contained in cartilage. Bone broth contains glucosamine and chondroitin. The amino acids known as proline and glycine are also contained in gelatin. These amino acids are used by our body to form connective tissue including our ligaments and tendons.

Even if you don’t suffer from gut problems or you have no issues with joint health, it makes sense to regularly drink bone broth because it is so nutritious.

For more information about bone broth, call down to Go Vita Batemans Bay at 5 North St, Batemans Bay or phone the store on 0244729737.  Don’t forget to tune into Bev on 2EC every Wednesday at 12.45 pm.