We spoke with registered nutritionist and founder of the Gut Health Project, Lucy Williamson, to delve a little deeper into why this age-old elixir is so great for your gut.
Is There a Historical Tradition of Drinking Broth as a Health Remedy?
Various cultures around the world have been making bone broth for thousands of years now. More than 2,500 years ago, in Chinese medicine, the bone broth was used to support digestive health. It subsequently became a staple of traditional Asian meals, and nowadays it is frequently used as the base for various Chinese, Korean and Japanese soups. In some Asian cultures, the consumption of soup made from soaking chicken or other bones in vinegar has been traditionally prescribed for calcium or iron enrichment, especially during pregnancy and breast feeding.
In the 12th century, bone broth gained popularity and became known as the “Jewish penicillin” after the famous physician Maimonides started prescribing chicken soup to his patients He described it as “an excellent food as well as medication”. Since then bone broth varieties have been used more and more widely all over the world and is even prepared in areas with a hot climate, such as the Caribbean with its famous “cow foot soup” breakfast.
Bone broth has many names. The French call it “bouillon”. The Spanish and Portuguese know it as “caldo”. In Italy, it goes by the name “brodo”. Bone broth history throughout the years shows that it has kept its reputation for numerous health benefits and incredible taste for a long time. And that is where a big part of its magic lies!
What Are the Nutritional Benefits of Organic Bone Broth?
Organic Bone Broth is a healthy addition to a balanced diet – research indicates that it’s the protein in broth that’s the main advantage to our health. This protein is broken down into collagen which promotes elasticity for firm smooth skin and glycine and glutamine which both promote a healthy immune system and gut lining. Adding vegetables towards to the end of the cooking time is a great way to increase its minerals and vitamin content.
The Nutritional Values of Organic Bone Broth:
Protein
Collagen: with 28 different types, collagen makes up about 30 percent of the protein in your body. It is needed for many different types of tissue in the body, for example promoting elasticity for firm smooth skin. It’s the main protein in bone broth.
Glycine: Glycine is an amino acid (= protein building block) that your body uses to create proteins and is about a third of collagen structure. We especially need it for growth and for making important substances, such as hormones and enzymes. Glutamine: Glutamine, another important amino acid found in bone broth, promotes a healthy immune system and gut lining. Both these amino acids are present in bone broth.
Minerals and Vitamins
Longer cooking times increase the mineral level in bone broth, but in general health claims the mineral and vitamin content of bone broth are often overstated. Bone broth contains only small amounts of calcium (around 5% of our daily needs vs 4-30 times in milk) but could be an extra handy source for people who are intolerant to dairy.
Broth also contains traces of –
● Iron - from the marrow
● Magnesium (supports muscle, nerve & heart health as well as energy levels)
● Zinc (immune system, skin health and hormone balance)
● Vitamin A - from the marrow (immunity and healthy vision)
● Vitamin B12 - from the marrow (healthy nerves and to prevent anaemia)
TOP TIP: An acidic medium is necessary to extract minerals like Calcium, Zinc and Magnesium from your meal. So, when making broth, always add a splash of vinegar in order to extract the most minerals from the bone.
Is It True That Organic Bone Broth is Good For Your Gut?
A well functioning gut and its lining are essential for overall health:
● Good passage of food through our gut
● Healthy mucosal lining which acts as a protective barrier and provides the perfect environment for our vital gut microbes.
● Healthy cells lining our gut, known as epithelial cells, ensuring good absorption of nutrients and prevention of ‘leaky gut’
● Balanced gut microbes providing natural protection against gut inflammation (IBD, IBS, Colitis etc), a well-regulated immune system and many other benefits to our long term health.
Eating bone broth can help the health of your gut in various ways:
● Gelatine is the most abundant protein in bone broth. Once in the digestive tract, gelatine binds with water to support the healthy movement of food through the intestines.
● Gelatin absorbs water and helps maintain the mucosal layer. In a mouse model, gelatin supplementation reduced the severity of colitis by strengthening the mucus layer and rebalancing gut microbes.
● Animal studies suggest gelatine, alongside other amino acids found in bone broth, may have therapeutic potential in Inflammatory Bowel Disease although more research is needed to assess the relevance to humans.
● Glycine has been shown to protect against gastric ulcers as well.
Why is Gut Health so Important to Overall Health?
We all have a unique community of gut microbes as individual as our fingerprint and vital for a long, healthy life. We’re more bacteria than we are human! We have about 100x more bacteria than our own body cells.
Additionally, our gut microbes do the things we can’t do – they thrive on minimally processed, nutrient-rich food (including from animal sources), fibre & plant antioxidants and fermented foods – in return they provide 1000s of chemicals vital for our health.
Our gut health is especially important for a strong immune system, to reduce inflammatory conditions, to protect against chronic illness like allergy, cancer and poor mental functioning/ depression. A key area of interest currently is the gut-brain axis - how our gut is connected to the functioning of our brain.
Is There a Difference Between Conventional & Grass-Fed/Organic Animal Bones?
In 2011 The British Journal of Nutrition published a study, which concluded that eating moderate amounts of grass-fed meat for only four weeks, would give consumers healthier levels of Omega-3 fatty acids and lower levels of omega-6. This fat profile (balance) also helps to reduce inflammation. Other studies continue to show these benefits. Omega 3 is known to protect heart health and mental decline in later years.
Grass fed beef has 2x-3x more CLA, (a type of unsaturated oil) than grain fed beef. CLA is a natural antioxidant (=anti-ageing) and research indicates that CLA protects against heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
There is no firm evidence on how this translates into bone broth but as these nutrients are in the bone marrow it makes sense that this benefit will be transferred into the broth during cooking.
How Often Should I Drink Bone Broth to Feel the Benefits?
Whilst you shouldn't rely on bone broth for your nutrition needs, we would recommend including bone broth in your diet as part of your main meal or even a comforting hot drink between mealtimes.
It’s important to remember that variety in our diet is key. Including different types and colours of plants during the week will help to optimise gut health - minimally processed, organic meat, fish, eggs and dairy provide nutrient-rich sources of vital minerals and vitamins for us.
A great way to achieve this is to incorporate bone broth as part of this balanced diet approach - such as forming the base of a delicious soup, cooked stew, or bolognese. Bone broth has been a part of cooking for a really long time and is famous for its flavour! You can even boost its nutritional value further by adding grains, lentils, pulses, spices, herbs – you name it! This will increase the plant point diversity of the broth and further nourish your gut health and therefore overall health.
Shop our entire organic bone broth range here.