Art of Aging + Bone Broth

Sip yourself young? Many are drinking themselves to younger-looking skin and a more youthful body.
The secret? Bone Broth.
The trick? Sipping a cup in the morning or before bed.
What’s the big deal?  Bone broth has many health and healing properties that benefit our bodies inside and out.
Why is bone broth one of the most powerful foods? First, it’s packed with anti-aging nutrients and second, it is warming
and tasty.

Tasty bone broth

Here are a few of the nutrients:

  • Collagen – This structural protein builds strong skin, protecting against aging and wrinkling.
  • Glycine – Your body is bombarded all day long with toxins that age you. Glycine helps your liver get these toxins out of your body, re-energizing and de-aging your cells.
  • Minerals including calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium – Bone broth is a fabulous source of these anti-aging minerals, and its chemical composition makes them highly bioavailable.
  • Glycosaminoglycans, including glucosamine, chondroitin and hyaluronic acid – These nutrients help keep your joints young and flexible.
  • Iodine –  Fishbone broth is rich in this nutrient, which protects against a sluggish thyroid — a major cause of weight gain, thinning hair, and energy loss as you age.

What’s more, bone broth is rich and soul-satisfying. It fills you up and warms you down to your toes, so you’re never tempted to overeat or snack on junk that ages your face and body.

Basic Anti-Aging Bone Broth

Ingredients

  • High-quality bones or frozen leftover bones You can use beef, lamb, chicken, or turkey bones. If you can afford it, use bones from pasture-raised cows or sheep or free-range poultry.
  • For fish bone broth, buy high-quality, wild-caught fish. Sole and snapper are good choices. The general rule is to avoid oily fish like mackerel — but many people successfully break this rule, so feel free to experiment!

Preparation

Place bones in a big pot with a lot of water and some sea salt. (If you’d like, you can brown or roast the bones first for extra flavor.) Toss in chopped onions, carrots, celery and a little garlic. You can also add a couple of bay leaves, some sage or any other herbs and spices that go well with the type of bones you’re using. Add a Tbsp. or so of apple cider vinegar. This won’t affect the taste but will help pull nutrients out of the bones.

Bring the broth to a boil and then turn it down to a simmer, adding more water when necessary. For meat and poultry broths, I recommend eight hours of cooking at a minimum, and more than 24 hours if possible. (Fishbone broth only takes about two or three hours.) The softer the bones are when you’re done, the more nutrient-packed your broth will be.

Cool the broth and strain it through two layers of cheesecloth or a very fine mesh strainer. Place your broth in glass storage bowls. Store some of it in your fridge to use over the next three days or so, and keep the rest in serving-sized bowls in your freezer. As your broth cools in the fridge, the fat will rise to the top. Skim off this fat and use it for cooking if you’d like. When your broth cools, it will get “wiggly” and gelatinous. That’s exactly what you want to see because it means it’s full of wrinkle-busting, fat-burning collagen!

Shared from MindBodyGreen