February 2025

Seasonal Living

• Contemplating The Energy Of Winter
• Love & The Earth
• The Medicine Of Bone Broth
• Seasonal Affective Disorder

Chicken soup, the mythological Jewish heal-all, is a well-known medicine for body and soul. I think of bone broth, the ancestor of chicken soup, as a magical potion. It is highly nutritive and contains minerals and collagen that can increase the integrity of the gut lining.

The Medicine Of Bone Broth

What is bone broth?

Broth is a liquid made by simmering meat, bones, or vegetables for a prolonged time, not just hours but days. While soup is what you think of as having for a meal, broth is an ingredient cooked separately beforehand. There are many types of broths, each used for different reasons; for example, Dr. Bieler’s vegetable broth is used in detox protocol. 

Many people use the words broth and stock interchangeably, but the “experts” refer to stock as having more bones than meat. I will use the terms stock and broth interchangeably, but please note that if you are taking your first steps at broth-ing, using bones in your broth will provide the minerals, amino acids, and collagen that you want to have in your broth.

Extracting the nutrients from the vegetables, meat, or vegetables results from prolonged cooking and adding acids such as vinegar or wine.

Some history

Our ancestors needed access to an abundance of food as much as we do today. Throwing away parts of an animal was unthinkable. Successful hunts were so rare that every part of the animal was precious. That is why broth became a staple food all over the world.

The history of making broth can be traced to prehistoric times. Our ancestors collected the animal parts they could not chew, placing them in stomachs or empty abdominal pouches of the animals they killed while hunting. The mixtures consisted of bones, meat, vegetables, and water. The broth was then cooked over the fire pit. The invention of pots made the making of broths a much easier process.

Asian cuisine developed whole birds and fresh or dried shellfish, with bones, feet, and shells contributing their nutrients to the pot. In Chinese Traditional Medicine, bone broth was used to build the QI or vitality for cold, dry, and fragile people.

In ayurveda, the ancient Indian medicine, bone broth was used for centuries as support for bones, joints, hair, and nails. The Indians glorified bone broth as an anti-aging elixir.

Hippocrates, the father of Western herbalism, said, “All disease begins in the gut.” He recommended bone broth for people with digestive complaints.

In the 12 century, the famous Jewish doctor Maimonides (The Rambam) prescribed broth for his patient, saying it is “an excellent food as well as medication.” Since then, the “Jewish penicillin” has become a healing balm for the body and heart.

Bone broth has many names. The French call it “bouillon .”The Spanish and Portuguese know it as “caldo .”In Italy, it goes by the name “brodo”. But in all cultures, it is revered as the foundation of a good soup or stew and as medicine.

Nutritional Facts

The prolonged cooking of bones extracts all the nutrients in them. Bones and cartilage are part of the connective tissue of the body. Connective tissue connects, supports, and binds cells and tissue. Connective tissue is made out of a substance that cells secrete and binds the cells together. This framework is called the extracellular matrix. The extracellular matrix comprises proteins, fibers, and ground substances (solid, liquid, or gel).

Bone broths contain minerals in forms that your body can easily absorb:

• calcium
• magnesium
• phosphorus
• silicon
• sulfur
• and MORE

Two essential amino acids that are extracted in bone broth are

• Prolin is an important amino acid that the body uses to make collagen.
• Glycine is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory amino acid that modulates the immune system and acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain.

How to make bone broth?

🫕 Making bone broth is easy and takes little time.

🫕 Collect animal bones with or without meat.

🫕 Cover with room temperature water. I recommend distilled water as well water is already rich in minerals, so it will have difficulty absorbing more minerals. City water has fluoride in it.

🫕 Add a splash of vinegar to help extract the minerals from the bones. Remember high school chemistry class? PH balance?? Here is where it becomes handy.

🫕 Bring to a boil and simmer. The minimum is 24 hours. My bone broth simmered for up to a week.

🫕 Strain. Cool the broth and pour it into a mason jar.

🫕 The broth will last for a week if refrigerated.