Recently, ‘wellness guru’ and entreprenuer Gwyneth Paltrow revealed her ‘wellness routine’ on a podcast. “I eat dinner early in the evening,” she started. “I do a nice intermittent fast. I usually eat something around 12? And in the morning, I’ll have some things that won’t spike my blood sugar, so I have coffee.” She then added, “But I really like soup for lunch, I have bone broth for lunch a lot of the days.” Apparently, she’s not the only one who swears by bone broth.
In 2020, Kylie Jenner revealed that she drinks bone broth mixed with lavender and lemon every morning, which caused a stir among her fans, as one user stated: “Kylie Jenner said she drinks bone broth w/ lavender throughout the day & idk if I’m feeling that.” Despite all the mixed reviews, there’s no denying the amazing benefits of bone broth.
The Origins Of Bone Broth
While Western celebrities are only starting to discover the wonders of bone broth, Asians have been reaping the benefits of the soup for more than 2,500 years. In Chinese medicine, bone broth was used to strengthen the kidneys and support the digestive health. It subsequently became a staple of traditional Asian meals, and is used frequently as the base for various Chinese, Korean, and Japanese soups.
What Is Bone Broth?
Bone broth is the clear, protein-rich liquid made by simmering the bones and connective tissues of healthy animals. It’s different from stock since it takes longer to make. But, much like stock, it can be used as a base for soups, stews and risottos. The idea is to boil the bones long enough, for at least four hours, so that they begin to disintegrate and release all their nutrients, which bring about all those bone broth benefits.
The Health Benefits Of Bone Broth
Bone broth is highly nutritious, but the nutrient content does depend on the ingredients you use, as each brings something different to the table. From a traditional Chinese medicine perspective, some of the key benefits of bone broth include boosting a person’s qi, blood, yin, and even essence.
Animal bones are rich in calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, and other trace minerals, which are all minerals needed to build and strengthen your own bones. In addition, the animal parts contain protein collagen, which also yields several important amino acids. As the broth simmers, the nutrients released from the ingredients are released into the water in a form your body can easily absorb.
Since bone broth is associated with collagen, which can improve the hydration, elasticity and appearance of wrinkles, it could have anti-ageing benefits as well. Besides, it’s good for digestion and gut health. As there’s an abundance of gelatin that can be found in bone broth, once it’s in the digestive tract, the gelatin binds with water to support the healthy movement of food through the intestines.
Some people even drink it to lose weight. Since it’s a rich source of protein, some claim that it will help you feel fuller for longer periods of time, therefore helping you lose weight. But of course, more research is needed for this claim.
Should You Drink It Every Day?
This is one of the few things you can’t really overdo, so it’s unlikely that drinking it every day would cause any harm. That’s why so many celebs are incorporating it as part of their daily routine. The key is to be consistent with it, since the benefits of bone broth builds over time. While you can just drink bone broth by itself, not everyone enjoys the texture and mouth feel. Below, we’ve included an easy bone broth recipe that you can try:
Bone Broth Recipe
This anti-ageing elixir is surprisingly easy to make, right at home, in either your instant pot, slow cooker, or even in a stock pot on the stove. But, to get the most nutritious, delicious, and gelatin-rich broth, you’ll need to find the best bones for the best bone broth. We recommend finding the knuckles, joints, feet, marrow bones and chicken feet. If you want more flavour, you can even add meaty bones like oxtail, shank, and short ribs. But, if you’re still unsure, you can just ask your local butcher for the best broth bones.
Ingredients:
- Beef/chicken bones
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Salt
- Carrots
- Onion
- Garlic
- Celery
- Herbs and spices
Here’s how you can make it:
Step 1: Blanch The Bones
To get a clear stock, it’s best to blanch your bones beforehand, especially if you’re using beef bones. This is done to remove impurities, coagulated protein, and blood. All you need to do is to put the bones into a pot and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil over high heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes before rinsing the bones with water.
Step 2: Roast The Bones
Once your bones are blanched and drained, preheat your oven to around 230 celsius. Transfer all of the bones and any vegetables you want to include in your broth (carrots, onions, garlic, celery) to the roasting pan and roast for 1 hour. Make sure to gently toss the bones and vegetables when the halfway point is reached. This is an easy way to brown and caramelize your bones without a lot of work.
Step 3: Simmer In A Pot
Once you’ve transferred the bones back to a pot, fill it with enough water to cover the bones and add in some apple cider vinegar and your herbs and spices (bay leaves, peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon sticks). Make sure to cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and bring it to a low boil. Simmer for at least 8-12 hours, or up to 24 to get the most out of the bones.
Step 4: Strain & Store Your Bone Broth
Once the bones have had ample time to simmer, strain the broth through a fine-mesh strainer. As for the leftover meat left on the bones, you can use it for soup! Let your broth chill in the refrigerator and let it cool. You can skim off the top layer of fat so you’ll be left with delicious bone broth minus the fat. Once cooled, it would usually firm up into a jelly-like consistency, and you can use it whenever you wanna make soup or stews. You can store it up to 5 days in the refrigerator!
