19 Foods You Should Eat Everyday #4 — Bone Broth
The non-science based, gut-feeling #1 reason I haven’t been sick in years
I’m a certified nutritional consultant. I try my best to stick to a healthy lifestyle based on scientifically proven methods and practices. But there’s one thing I’ve been doing everyday for years now that I believe, but can’t prove, is the reason why I haven’t had the flu, a cold or felt under the weather for as long as I can remember.
It’s late December here in Central Europe where I live. The weather is cold, drab, dark and pretty wet. It feels like the sun hasn’t been out in weeks. I can’t help but notice the various sounds that fill the air around me. In my office, on public transport or on the streets around town, countless people are sniffling, sneezing and coughing, Everywhere I turn I hear throats full of phlegm, lungs full of fluid, noses full of nasal congestion and heavy breathing.
Year after year, I was one of those people. Until I started doing one simple thing that has led me through the winter months illness free.
Your Grandmother was on to something when she insisted you eat chicken soup when you were ill as a child. Conventional wisdom stems from centuries of collective knowledge and often trumps modern medicine in its ability to attack the root of a problem.
The number one reason I believe I haven’t been sick in years is bone broth.
I keep a steady supply of homemade chicken bone broth in my fridge from September to March. Since the day I started drinking a daily cup, I haven’t had the flu, a cold, cough or even a runny nose.
Here are a few facts about bone broth our Grandmothers may not have consciously known, but instinctively understood:
Bone broth is a nutritional powerhouse
You may have guessed that the bones in bone broth are a terrific source of calcium. They also supply us with plenty of magnesium, potassium and phosphorus, all nutritional essentials that are hard to get in our modern-day diets.
The collagen in bone broth supports joint health and keeps us moving free of pain, especially as we grow older. It also keeps our hair, skin, nails and connective tissues healthy, strong and elastic.
The marrow from bone broth gives us loads of vitamins and minerals few other foods can match.
And bone broth supplies our muscles with nourishing amino acids. One cup of chicken bone broth delivers 9 grams of protein, and without the high calorie price tag that comes with other high-protein foods.
Some research has even suggested that bone broth supports healthy digestion and helps the other foods you eat to move freely through digestive tract.
But perhaps most importantly, bone broth has shown to protect the mucosal lining in the intestines and reduce leaky gut, a condition commonly associated with with chronic diseases, inflammation and the many health conditions inflammation leads to.
I believe the root of my annual sniffles, sneezes and flu-like symptoms resulted from a leaky gut. And the fact that they've become all but absent from my life since I started drinking bone broth is all the proof I need.
Science has yet to deliver enough research on the topic of bone broth as a functional healing food and a remedy for inflammation and weakened immunity. But the empirical evidence from thousands of people, myself included, and hundreds of years of collected wisdom and knowledge is clear on this one.
A cup of bone broth a day may just keep the doctor away. The worst thing can happen by testing the theory is enjoying a warm cup of homemade soup on a cold winter's day.
Here are some great bone broth recipes you can try at home and see for yourself.
And here is some more great advice on gut healing from an expert.
More about me
I’m Scott Cohen — I run a coaching business called Kitchen Therapy where I help my clients learn to live with type 2 diabetes, obesity and metabolic disorders by learning how to live without them. https://www.kitchen-therapy-coaching.com/about-me
If you like this article and want to know whenever I publish a new one, please follow me on Medium. I will truly appreciate it!
