TYLER TOLMAN BLOG
Is Bone Broth Good For You?
Is Bone Broth Good For You?
Have you noticed there is a big trend regarding bone broth benefits right now? Many people are claiming it’s a cure-all for everything, especially as a collagen booster and for skin and joint repair.
Personally, I think it’s a lot of hype and downright disgusting! And I think you can achieve a lot more benefit for all these issues from a variety of vegetables. (Do you really think we were intended to kill animals and boil their bones for health? Sounds more like an “Ogre Diet” to me!)
What is Bone Broth?
Bone broth itself, of course, is not new and has been used for generations as a healing drink. Your grandma probably gave you something like chicken soup back in the day if you had a cold. It’s basically just the boiled down feet, knuckles, tendons and bones of animals. In this process the animal bones become softened, and the inside part (the marrow) is released and makes a gelatinous soup that’s rich in collagen.
Now some folks are saying this collagen can be used to build and strengthen our own bones. William Percy (an Associate Professor at University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine) isn’t convinced that the collagen in the animal bones and joints will do much for your skeletal system, and neither am I! I’ve always said it’s not as simple as that.
How We Make Collagen
To make things like collagen our body requires amino acids – the building blocks. The body puts these building blocks together in very specific ways depending on its requirements and DNA.
Now if I go and eat some collagen from something like bone broth, my body just can’t ‘insert’ that collagen into me. It has to break it down into the amino acid parts and then I have to build the collagen specifically for my body.
Kantha Shelke from Institute of Food Technologies said that “to build collagen you need more than bone broth”. When asked what the best diet to promote collagen production was, the first thing she mentioned was to have a diet rich in leafy green vegetables.
And of course, I couldn’t agree more!
Plant based foods contain all the amino acid building blocks ready for your body to use straight away. It’s a great idea to add in some fruit earlier in the day too to provide all the enzymes needed to break down these things optimally. Some of the best fruit for this are papaya or pineapple.
The Best Way to Boost Your Collagen to Have Brighter Skin and Healthier Joints
If you really want to have better skin or healthier joints, forget the bone broth and get more green leafy vegetables and plants into your diet. Fuel up on green juices, fruit juices, smoothies, big green salads and your skin will be glowing.
Of course, if it’s healing of any kind that you’re after, juice fasting is the ultimate way to go. Nothing is better! Juice fasting is especially great when it comes to skin conditions. I recommend boiling vegetables (any combo of 2 or more carrots, celery, greens, squash, zucchini, beets etc) and having the veggie broth in the evening around 6pm.
I’ve got a section all about Juice Cleansing in the Free Resources area of my website that has loads of information, recipes and everything you need to heal your body. You can sign up for my Free Resources here.
Plus if you ask me, fresh whole foods taste a whole lot better and feel a lot better than eating boiled up bones!
Thanks for reading!
