Everybody Loves Soup

Everybody loves soup, especially broth. Soup is the archetypal comfort food that is also loaded with benefits for your body. As French chef August Escoffier says, “Without broth, nothing can be done.” It is so versatile. From Canada to Khalahari, there is archeological evidence of bone broth consumption.

Lets start with the basics. Digesting food takes energy. Digestion can also take energy away from you if its not functioning correctly— overeating, inflammatory foods or gut wall permeability, for exmaple. Soup is very easily digested due to its easy to assimilate nutrients and components. 

Bone broth contains easily to absorb amino acids and proteins from the tendons, ligaments and connective tissues of animal bones. The amino acids glycine and proline are such important amino acids we put them on the VIP amino acid list when they come over for dinner:) Glycine is a building block for neurotransmitters and the master antioxidant in our bodies: glutathione. Proline is a key ingredient for connective tissue repair making it essential for vessels, skin health and wound healing. Muscle meat (most cuts of meat eaten today) contains high methionine which can raise homocysteine. A high homocysteine level is a risk factor for some cardiovascular diseases, mental health conditions and fractures. Glycine helps navigate the over dependance on the amino acid methionine in westernized diets. 

The bones and added herbs and veggies are a great source of minerals like magnesium, calcium, silicon, sulphur, potassium and sulphur. 

Bone broth is also rich in collagen and glycosaminoglycans - these include chondroitin sulphate, hyaluronic acid and glucosamine. These are raw ingredients that are considered superior for muscle, joint and bone regeneration. Nature is very intelligent, and so is glucosamine as it has an attraction to cartilage once in the body. This is important for all of us as we are constantly repairing. It is even more important for those suffering from chronic pain, injuries, and those who have more muscle breakdown/joint tension (athletes), those who use their body for work and active folks. In fact, the cells that produce cartilage, called chondrocytes, are depleted after an injury. Over time the collagen weakens. Broth can help support the chondrocyte cell levels to treat or prevent further degeneration. 

Glutamine is another amino acid found in bone broth that can help with strengthening the gut membrane. This membrane is about 50 microns thick (that’s half the thickness of a human hair). THIN. This membrane is important to know about. Watch for our future articles on gut health to learn more. Back to soup. We love soup. 

Some functional strategies to get more broth in your life include:

1. Making it a ritual - pick a day of the week and call it broth day - enjoy a tasty, health creating broth once a week with your loved ones.

2. Seek out broth based restaurants when eating out - Japanese, Vietnamese, some French, Chinese, Columbian, Jamaican, Italian, Thai … (mostly everyone other than North American pub food…).

3. Save bones from previous meals in the freezer in a big bag. 

4. Save veggie and herb cut offs for an endless stock supply at your finger tips - also so easy to store in the freezer for future use. Into the “broth bag” it goes…

5. Broth elixirs in them morning are amazing. 

6. Use it as base for cooking in soups, braises, sauces and in other recipes.

7. Make bulk broth and freeze the excess. 

8. Add upgrades your broth like ginger, nettles, rosemary, thyme, parsley, garlic, seaweeds, burdock and medicinal mushrooms to increase nutrient density.

9. Vegan broths can be made using miso, carrots, celery, onions and mushrooms. 

How to Make Your Own Health Creation Broth

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs of beef or chicken bones (lamb, pork, fish also work - organic/pastured/non-GMO fed if possible) ** Replace with 3lbs total of one or a combination of raw shiitake, white button, enoki and oyster mushrooms for a vegan option, combined with 3 tbsp sea vegetables (nori, kelp, dulse, kombu, wakame, etc) **

• 4 stalks of celery

• 2 large carrots

• 2 medium onions

• 2 tsp black peppercorns

• 2 tsp sea salt 

• 2-4 bay leaves

• 1 tbsp dried thyme

• 1 cup of left over veggie cut offs 

• 2 tbsp (one “splash”) apple cider vinegar

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F and place bones on a roasting pan for about 10-15 minutes. Cook bones until outsides are golden brown making sure to flip bones half way through. 

2. Place bones in slow cooker (or big pot) and cover with water (around 12-14 cups) adding in all of the spices, herbs, salt, pepper, upgrades and apple cider vinegar. 

3. Cook on low (slow cooker) or gentle simmer with semi-covered pot (stove) for at least 8 hours. 

4. Skim foam that boils to the surface a few hours into the heating process.

5. Strain the liquid from the bones and add vegetables (carrots, onions and celery).

6. Cook for another 1-2 hours. 

7. Serve in your favourite bowls. You can choose to strain the broth from the veggies or keep them in. At this point they are mainly just fibre and their nutrients are all in the broth.

8. Notice the sensation of a nourishing broth in the tummy. Good feels.

Upgrades 

Broths are an excellent way to decoct barks, dried fruits/berries, mushrooms and seaweeds. We may recommend clients add in specific upgrades to enhance the nutrient density and application of their broth. This is tailored for clinical outcomes. Some of our favourites include:

• Seaweed: Dulse, kombu, nori, kelp (and others) contain many minerals, especially iodine. 

• Medicinal mushrooms: reishi, turkey tail and shiitake are our favourites. Medicinal mushrooms are loaded with beta-glucans, a complex sugar known to enhance our immune system.

• Astragalus - a herb that acts to help our bodies build resilience against stress, also great for building immune strength. 

References

Cen, L., Liu, W., Cui, L., Zhang, W., & Cao, Y. (2008). Collagen tissue engineering: development of novel biomaterials and applications. Pediatric research, 63(5), 492–496. https://doi.org/10.1203/PDR.0b013e31816c5bc3

Chen, W. Y., & Abatangelo, G. (1999). Functions of hyaluronan in wound repair. Wound repair and regeneration : official publication of the Wound Healing Society [and] the European Tissue Repair Society, 7(2), 79–89. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1524-475x.1999.00079.x

Hou, H., Li, B., Zhao, X., Zhuang, Y., Ren, G., Yan, M., ... & Chen, L. (2009). The effect of pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) skin gelatin polypeptides on UV radiation-induced skin photoaging in ICR mice. Food chemistry, 115(3), 945-950.

Janet M. Trowbridge, Richard L. Gallo, Dermatan sulfate: new functions from an old glycosaminoglycan, Glycobiology, Volume 12, Issue 9, 1 September 2002, Pages 117R–125R, https://doi.org/10.1093/glycob/cwf066

Kolarsick, Paul A. J. BS; Kolarsick, Maria Ann MSN, ARHP-C; Goodwin, Carolyn APRN-BC, FNP Anatomy and Physiology of the Skin, Journal of the Dermatology Nurses' Association: July-August 2011 - Volume 3 - Issue 4 - p 203-213 doi: 10.1097/JDN.0b013e3182274a98

Proksch, E., Segger, D., Degwert, J., Schunck, M., Zague, V., & Oesser, S. (2014). Oral supplementation of specific collagen peptides has beneficial effects on human skin physiology: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Skin pharmacology and physiology, 27(1), 47–55. https://doi.org/10.1159/000351376

Shanahan, C. (2017). Deep nutrition: Why your genes need traditional food. Flatiron Books.

The disclaimer… The amazing thing about humans is that we all have incomparably unique health profiles and needs. The health-related information contained in this article is intended to be general in nature and should not be used prescriptively or a as a substitute for a visit with a naturopathic doctor. This info is intended to offer general information to individuals. If you have questions about how these strategies could be used in adjunct to your current heath regime, book and appointment with us or consult a licensed naturopathic doctor for individualized care.