Revitalize, Recharge, and Rejuvenate
Treat yourself to a comforting cup of homemade bone broth, a nourishing elixir designed to strengthen your body and restore your energy, especially during times of recovery. Whether you’re overcoming an illness or seeking to replenish your vitality, bone broth is a time-tested remedy. I relied on it daily when my fiancé sustained severe back injuries, and its nutrient-rich, easily digestible properties were instrumental in his healing. Homemade bone broth is gentle on a weakened stomach, offering a chance to rest, recharge, and rebuild our digestive health and boost our overall immunity.
Grounding, Warming, and Nourishing
This light yet fulfilling recipe is particularly beneficial during cold, dry seasons, helping you stay grounded and cozy. A small daily serving of this mineral-packed broth can help prevent seasonal deficiencies and fortify your body. Acting as a tonic, it replenishes essential nutrients, calms the central nervous system, and balances Vata energy, leaving you feeling soothed, centred, and on the path to recovery.
Adding in spices such as ginger and cumin will be beneficial for balancing the Vata dosha.
Support Your Gut’s Health and Resilience
For centuries, bone broth has been celebrated in traditional medicine, including Chinese practices, for its medicinal benefits. Affordable and simple to make, it’s an invaluable addition to modern diets. Rich in iron and other nutrients, bone broth strengthens the blood, supporting healthy tissue and organ function. Its easily digestible nature ensures efficient absorption, boosting immunity and enhancing overall vitality (ojas).
In addition to supporting the immune system, bone broth’s anti-inflammatory properties make it ideal for soothing digestive issues. It balances Pitta energy while maintaining strong digestive fire (agni) and improving nutrient absorption. Adding a dollop of ghee or a sprinkle of turmeric to your broth amplifies its anti-inflammatory and immunity-boosting effects. Amino acids such as cystine, histidine, and glycine further help reduce gut inflammation, making bone broth a powerful ally for intestinal health.
If you struggle with digestive disturbances like constipation, diarrhea, IBS, leaky gut, or Crohn’s disease, bone broth contains l-glutamine, a vital amino acid and the caretaker of your gut and gut flora, assisting with regulating your bowel movements and reducing the toxin load in our body. Its collagen content and soothing properties repair damage to the gastrointestinal tract, promoting long-term digestive strength and resilience.
Fortify Your Bones Naturally
Homemade bone broth is a natural way to enhance bone health. According to the Ayurvedic principle of “like increases like,” consuming nutrient-dense bone broth strengthens bones, hair, nails, and teeth. Personally, I suffered with a toenail that repeatedly cracked until I introduced bone broth into my diet, and I have not experienced a broken nail since!
Its light and clear qualities allow it to penetrate and nourish deep tissues effectively. Packed with collagen, glucosamine, and chondroitin, bone broth supports joint health and helps maintain strong, healthy bones.
For the best results, source high-quality bones from healthy, grass-fed animals, such as those from organic butchers or local farmers. You can experiment with different types, including beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, or fish, to find your preferred flavour. I drink beef bone broth daily and make chicken broth for cooking some of my favourite curries and for boiling all of our rice in (the beef is a great flavour to cook rice in too and another great way to sneak the healing properties of broth into our kids diet).
If you have a Kapha constitution, balance the broth’s richness with black pepper or fresh ginger to aid digestion. Bone broth can assist to regulate our sleep patterns, and is beneficial in weight loss, which our Kapha constitutions can struggle with.
Enjoy bone broth as a standalone drink or incorporate it into various recipes as a flavourful stock like I do.
Simple and Effective Recipe
Bone broth requires just three essential ingredients: bones, water, and vinegar. The vinegar helps extract vital minerals from the bones, creating a nutrient-rich base for this healing, versatile meal.
Bone Broth Recipe
Collect bones from leftover roasts or pick up some stock bones from your local butcher or farmers market (bones with or without meat and skin are fine). Organic/Grass fed and finished are best to reduce the chemical load. I prefer beef bones, but I also make chicken broth (and freeze it) for curries and for cooking rice in. Anything you would normally add water in cooking, I use broth instead.
If you pick up bones from your butcher roast them on a tray prior to making your stock (this helps to prepare the bones). I cook for around 20 minutes at 180 degrees. I drain all the fat from the tray into the pot with the bones too, so everything is brewing together.
Place bones into a 5L stock pot and add filtered water to just below top (leaving room for any desired veges).
Add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (preferably organic and with ‘mother’ - this helps to draw out the minerals from the bones).
Add any desired veges (preferably organic - I typically add carrots, celery, onion, its different every time depending on what I have leftover in the fridge), or just leave as is if you intend on rendering the tallow for cooking meals with as a healthier cooking oil option that can handle high heat.
Bring bones to the boil and them simmer for as long as possible. I put it on in the morning, turn it off at bedtime. Then turn it on the next day, turn it off at bedtime. By the third morning it is cool and I can strain & bottle it up. I have only just cottoned on to the slow cooker which is awesome and I can leave it on for a day/night without worrying and it cuts down the prep time.
In summer I usually pop it in the fridge to make the fat hard so that I can choose how much fat I want left in the mix. It is good to leave some fat in there to assist with transporting the nutrients into your tissues. It also helps to sustain your hunger.
The longer you cook it, the more nutrients are pulled from the bones. Remember to check the water level and top up as needed.
Once finished remove bones and discard. You can reuse the veges for a soup if you want to otherwise you can discard them also. Filter through a sieve and then funnel into bottles. I use 2 x 2L milk bottles, one goes in the fridge and the other goes straight into the freezer to keep it a bit longer.
Broth will keep for up to 5 days in fridge or can be frozen. Aim to drink 3-5 cups per week and always add to rice, stews, sauces, soups, and gravies as desired. It makes everything more delicious.
I will also add herbs both during and after cooking, specific for my dosha, so be experimental and try different herbs each time to find the perfect flavours for your palette. Try not to add extra salt. It should be salty enough.
Enjoy all of the wonderful health benefits, I have a cup every day for my dose of vitamins, nutrients, fats etc. I prefer beef to chicken. I don’t drink chicken at all, I only use it for cooking, but each to their own – you may love chicken broth and if so – go nuts!
