One of the most important American holidays is on the calendar this month. After making the USA my home for over 15 years now, Thanksgiving has become one of my favorite holidays too. Oh, that yummy turkey smell and that delicious turkey meat – we just can’t wait to dig our teeth into it, can we?
But make sure you’re biting into something good and not something loaded in chemicals. Buy clean organic free-range turkey, then you will enjoy a really healthy bird without antibiotics, hormones or chemicals.
Let’s get to the bones of the bird. Your first instinct may be to toss out the bones of the turkey. But, don’t! You’ve got the ingredients in those bones to make a delicious, hearty and nutritious broth.
You may already know how healthy bone broth is, especially for your digestive tract lining. When well made, it’s like a balm: soothing, healing, and calming for any intestinal inflammation you might have and not be aware of.
A good broth also seals the broken parts of the intestinal lining tissue which cause the gut to be “leaky,” hence the term “Leaky Gut” that’s so very common nowadays due to the modern diet full of processed foods, sugars, and chemicals that make our foods virtually imperishable.
I come from Eastern Europe and we’re used to seeing a pot of broth simmering on the stove for hours on end. When put in the fridge, that broth becomes a jiggly jello-like mass, literally. The gelatinous nature after chilling is evidence of the collagen leached from the animal bones during those hours of slow cooking, and it’s that collagen that is so healing for the gut.
The disease of the industrialized nations, Leaky Gut is the root problem for many disorders, from digestive issues to allergies to autoimmune conditions and even to neurological diseases. More and more studies track increasingly more chronic ailments to the problematic gut. Thus, your gut health is crucial.
Bone broth is an excellent food choice for many acute conditions too, like a flu or cold, because the nutrients that are found abundantly in well-made bone broth boost the immune function in a variety of ways, and a strong immune system is what you need to kick a bad case of flu or cold. What I mean by a well-made bone broth is one consisting of organic bones simmering for many hours on a slow burner.
That collagen from the bone broth isn’t just excellent for your gut, it also strengthens your nails and hair, and helps them grow better when included in your diet regularly.
Have I convinced you yet that bone broth is an excellent food choice? Yes? Then I’m thrilled! 🙂
You can find many simple recipes for home-made bone broth online, and that’s what I do too, so find one that appeals to you and make it. Since you’re going through the trouble, make a big pot and then freeze it into small containers for when someone in your family is sick and for when you want to use bone stock for stews or other dishes.
To reiterate the point, the quality of bones from organic free-range animals are critical if you want to make a healing broth. Ideally, find a local farmer from whom you can buy your meats and bones, because many small farmers raise their animals with organic principles even if they’re not officially USDA Organic. USDA Organic certification can simply be too costly for many small farmers. Also, many local stores stock good organic brands nowadays.
Use a variety of bones in your broth, but especially bones with joints because you need them to leach high amounts of collagen into your broth. Remember, the feet are good for that too.
As the healing properties of bone broth are becoming more appreciated, more places have started selling bone broth, and some bars in NYC, where I live, now offer bone broth shots as something new.
I can only smile, because to me, there’s nothing new about it. I grew up knowing the health benefits of bone broth, my parents grew up with it, my grandparents grew up with it, and now you can too!
So very truly yours,
Dr. Inna
PS-we love this recipe for bone broth by Dr. Kara Fitzgerald
