The Benefits of Broth

     I woke up this morning to the delicious smells of bone broth. If you have read anything about Paleo foods before, you've probably come across something about this wonderful, magical potion. I feel it necessary to write about it because I can't add any of my favorite soup or egg recipes without including how to make it.

     But first, I would like to go into some of the benefits of bone broth. First of all, this is the stuff that used to cure all ills. This is what your great-grandmother made when people were sick, not that store-bought stuff that's mostly water and salt. Real broth made from meat bones contains glucosamine chondroitin, collagen, gelatin, and trace minerals like calcium ad magnesium. Glucosamine chondroitin has been purported to help with arthritis pain and joint health, and collagen has been linked to better skin, fewer wrinkles and healthier hair and nails.


My nails have never been so healthy. They used to just split all the time!

     The store-bought broth is weak sauce compared to what you can make at home, plus, you get to control the ingredients. Did you know that most store-bought broth contains gluten?

     In the picture above, you can see my fingernails, which is the whole point of the picture. Well, when we started eating Paleo, I started reading everything I could get my hands on and came across a method of getting ready to make bone broth, so that it wasn't such an overwhelming process. It talked about putting a few empty freezer bags in your freezer and labeling them "Beef," "Chicken," and "Vegetable Scraps." Then when you prepare or cook these items, you place the scraps or bones into the appropriately labeled bag. This is what is later used in the broth making process.

     We followed this method, making broth about once a week and using it in soups, and my nails started looking great. They stopped splitting as badly. They started growing longer without cracking and breaking off. Then summer came, and light, fresh salads replaced the warm, comforting soups, and I started to notice my nails getting bad again. I told Ray that it was really important to me to get more bone broth, and we started making it again and adding it to eggs. Now my nails look good again! I feel like I could sing the praises of this delicious stuff all day and not tire of it. It can be added to so many things and used so many ways. You can even freeze what you won't use in a week, but we use so much, we hardly have leftover, and we usually have to make it twice a week.

     By the way, this method uses a slow cooker because I believe it really gets the most out of the bones, and I believe there are three critical things you should have if you want to make delicious Paleo food, and they are a slow cooker, parchment paper, and a blender or food processor.

Bone Broth