Bone broth is an old fashioned food that is newly trendy. There are excellent reasons for this; bone broth benefits for health are potentially profound and target many different parts of the body’s digestive and immune systems.
Source: Draxe
Modern society has gotten out of the habit of nose to tail dining and consuming all parts of the animals – some health benefits have been lost along with that. Bone broth is made by reducing animal bones and connective tissue into a hot soup. It can easily be made at home using kitchen scraps of meat. It is time-consuming to boil the broth down – 10 to 20 hours is optimum, so it’s handy that you can also buy it ready-made in Asian supermarkets and, increasingly, health food stores. It’s a great dietary source of collagen and other proteins that keep you healthy. And it works especially well with keto, paleo and intermittent fasting diets, providing easy to digest nutrients and hydration.
Here are just three of many bone broth benefits that can help anyone who consumes it on a daily basis:
- Anti-inflammatory properties
- Supports the immune system
- Promotes gut health
1. The Anti-inflammatory Properties of Bone Broth
Bone broth contains amino acids, including glutamine, proline and arginine, that have been proven to relieve inflammation within the body. This is especially important because chronic inflammation is thought to lead to a host of problems – from bowel disease to type 2 diabetes and even certain kinds of cancers.
Some users who drink bone broth on a daily basis have been able to gain relief from chronic or acute inflammation-based conditions such as periodontitis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, bronchitis and asthma. Additionally, any injury to the body will result in inflammation – it’s just part of the healing process. Excess inflammation however can cause pain. Drinking bone broth as part of the recovery process can reduce inflammation helping with pain and discomfort.
2. Drinking Bone Broth Promotes Gut Health
Gut health has been the focus of lots of attention recently, as researchers discover its implications for overall health. The digestion system is a complex matrix of organs, enzymes, peptides and other components. In balance, a healthy gut promotes mental health, a strong immune system and efficient digestion. Out of balance, the gut can be the source of many problems throughout the body. It’s no wonder that some traditional cultures have used bone broth as a digestive tonic for millenia.
Consumed daily, bone broth can ease digestive conditions such as leaky gut (a condition in which bacteria and toxins are able to “leak” through the intestinal wall), colitis, constipation and diarrhea and Crohn’s Disease. Scientists and medical professionals are beginning to understand what our ancestors seemingly always knew: that bone broth benefits for digestion are immediate, substantial and grow exponentially with daily consumption.
3. Drinking Bone Broth Supports the Immune System
Because one of the best bone broth benefits is improved gut health, it’s worth mentioning that gut health and the overall immune system are co-dependent. In many ways the body’s defence systems originate in the gut. Rather than dosing with antibiotics when people become ill with colds and viral infections, medical wisdom now suggests that letting the body itself be the first line of defence is a best practice.
The ability of viruses to mutate and become stronger and more drug-resistant has forced the health industry to take a closer look at the power of the immune system and what can be done to support the body’s own healing processes. Along with getting enough sleep, limiting sugar and other strategies, a daily cup of bone broth can keep those defences strong, allowing immune functions to optimally do their work in the event of infection.
By Krisna Garcia (an aspiring writer from California, looking to grow her portfolio and build her specialization and expertise on beauty, lifestyle and health)
Follow her on twitter @Krisna Garcia