I don’t normally share articles but when our local GU15 magazine for February 2016 dropped through our letterbox and my husband spotted this interesting article, I decided to copy it onto my blog as it so well describes the benefits of bone broth.

I mentioned last October that I frequently make both bone and vegetable broth and try to keep ample supplies in my freezer.   I use this broth as a base for most of my soups, for many recipes, for cooking quinoa, rice etc and my husband often has a mugful a day.

The following article was posted by Astrid Lowe,  an acupuncturist practising classical Chinese acupuncture and cosmetic acupuncture in Chobham.  Whilst I have never visited an acupuncturist myself, I know of several acquaintances who have.

“Why Acupuncturists Love Bone Broth

Easily made, packed with nutrients, tasty and easily digested, bone broth is popular in many cultures of the world. It can make a great base for a soup, but is designed for healing rather than a main dish, and is meant to be drunk from a mug. In New York it has gone mainstream, you can get takeaway bone broth in a cup, just like you’d get coffee or tea.

Let’s look at bone broth as medicine. Simmering bones for a long time breaks down and extracts the collagen from the connective tissue. You get a protein – and mineral-rich medium that is both delicious and restorative.  But let’s look at it through an acupuncturist’s eyes.

Chinese medicine is all about Yin and Yang.  Bone broth is an acupuncturist’s top homecare advice for nourishing the deeper Yin of the body, which is linked with Water (one of the ‘five elements’ within us: Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal). Some signs that make your acupuncturist think about an imbalance in the Water element are: dark shadows under your eyes, lower back pain, ‘bad’ knees, issues with bones and teeth, ear problems and being prone to fear or depression.

It’s a good idea to nourish your Water element anyway. Water is at the origin of life in Chinese philosophy. It stores Jing, your ‘essence’, the root of all your Qi (the vital energy that keeps you functioning). When you are born, you receive this Jing like a genetic inheritance from your parents, enough to last a lifetime, like one big deposit on your bank account. You’ll spend this currency on studying, partying, working, exercising, having children, maintaining or recovering your health etc. Since this Jing is finite it’s important to choose wisely what you invest it in. You can also earn yourself a little interest if you run your ‘Jing account’ well, with a balanced lifestyle and nutrition, including bone broth!

Consider bone broth especially when you:
      Are sick, recovering after illness or surgery, or when in need of an immune boost
      Feel tired or run down for any reason, be it work (physical or mental), exercise or     play
      Want to support the healing of bone fractures or manage arthritis or bone degeneration
      Need to build up strength and stay strong to cope with an intense lifestyle
      Are trying to conceive or are recovering post partum
      Suffer with dryness and need more than water to supplement moisture in your body
      Want to maintain your youthful appearance

My favourite is chicken broth, made with an onion, a few carrots, parsnips, celery sticks and a pack of chicken drumsticks. Buy the best quality ingredients for this ‘medicine’ meant to nourish your ‘essence’. The secret is to add a tiny amount of vinegar and boil the broth for a long time (1.5 hours for chicken, 3 for beef or pork), to get more minerals out of the bones. If you make plenty you can freeze small portions to warm up and drink when you like.”

I was actually in the process of making a new soup when my husband discovered this article and he sat in the kitchen and read it out to me.   The base of the soup I was making was my homemade chicken stock which I had made some weeks ago from the carcase of a roast chicken, an onion, carrots, celery, bay leaf and a dash of vinegar.   Poured into ‘soup bags’ it stores well in the freezer.

I keep a packet in my cupboard from chicken stock cubes to remind me of what I am NOT missing:  Ingredients – wheat flour, salt, dried glucose syrup, flavour enhancer (monosodium glutamate), yeast extract, flavouring, chicken fat, potato starch, sugar, chicken extract (2%), onion extract, colour (ammonia caramel) and this is from a well-known make that has no artificial preservatives!