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Post by Karen on Mar 16, 2012 19:34:13 GMT -5
I saw a nutritionist last week (she has both endo and thyroid issues) and although I'm doing a lot of things right in terms of my diet, she had a few suggestions for me. One of her suggestions included ingesting gelatin and/or bone broth on a more regular basis. Interesting, right?
Her reasoning is that back in the day, people used to eat all parts of the animal, whereas these days, we just eat the muscle meat. As a result, we're missing out on the benefits of gelatin. You can make your own bone broth by cooking down animal bones and parts, or you can supplement your food with gelatin. Sounds odd, I know, but remember - people used to make soup from bones all the time!
So why did she suggest it? Gelatin is loaded with protein/amino acids, and it's a different kind of protein/amino acids than muscle meat. Since I'm reducing nuts from my diet, she wanted me to be able to supplement another protein source and suggested this because it also has many other properties. Some of you exclude red meats from your diet due to the inflammation it can cause, whereas the protein in gelatin can actually reduce inflammation. In addition, it's supposed to aid in healing digestive issues, arthritis, etc. It's chock full of collagen which can also help with hair and nail strength.
The gelatin she suggested is a bit different than just plain Jello. She gave me two samples to try - one kind that must be dissolved in warm water (I heated up some sugar-free juice and made my own jello with it) and another that can be dissolved in any kind of liquid. I added it to tea all week. I can tell you, within just a few days, my skin feels noticeably softer and tighter. I'm also attempting to make some bone broths - I made a beef one earlier this week and am making a chicken one tonight.
So, anyone else hear of broth and/or gelatin to combat inflammation and add protein? Anyone else try it? Or do you all think I'm crazy!!
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Post by 1234 on Mar 17, 2012 9:57:46 GMT -5
my acupuncturist recommends it for several people dealing with bone loss issues, inflammation, all sorts of things. She is all about the bone broth. Not to me though, since I'm a veggie .
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Post by Karen on Mar 17, 2012 10:21:44 GMT -5
Yes, it certainly isn't available for vegetarians... But, I'm glad others have heard of it!
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Post by batgirl on Mar 17, 2012 13:45:22 GMT -5
Bone broth is the spookiest name for a food ever! I may have to try it for that reason alone ;D I actually have never heard that about gelatin. Do you remember what two types she had you try were? I'm curious to see if that would help me at all! I'm trying to get more protein in my diet, and if I could add it to tea, that'd be awesome! Maggie
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Post by Karen on Mar 17, 2012 19:41:15 GMT -5
Yeah, the bone broth is essentially what they used to make for soups back in the day! Boil some bones in some water for a few hours and voila - bone broth! As for the gelatin, I had never heard that before either. It's not a complete protein so you can't use it as a substitute for meat, but when eaten with a meat diet, is supposed to provide a more complete set of proteins. The kind that she had me try that can dissolve in anything (doesn't have to be hot) and won't gel up is by Gelatin Innovations - gelatininnovations.com/pages/joint_care.html. I just ordered some! The other one that sets up like Jello is by Great Lakes Gelatin or something similar to that. I swear, I noticed a change in my skin instantly so it has to be doing something. I'll report back if it does anything more long term... Let me know if you try it!
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Post by loveshoes on Mar 17, 2012 21:38:25 GMT -5
Stupid question about the bone broth, can you just go to the grocery store and ask for bones at the meat counter to use for this? Do most people make this in a slow cooker for the entire day? I searched online and they said to put wine or cider vinegar into the water to draw out the good things from the bones. Interested in hearing from others who make this bone broth - are there recipes for it? Doesn't it taste bland? Do you flavor it after?
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Post by hellsbells on Mar 18, 2012 7:11:40 GMT -5
Think I might give this a shot. I don't think there's anything wrong with asking a local butcher if he has any bones. I think I might stick a few veggies in, carrots, celery etc
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Post by Karen on Mar 18, 2012 7:55:33 GMT -5
I got some chicken backs from the meat cooler, grilled them for a few minutes, and threw them in a pot with some onions and garlic. It smelled SO GOOD! I'm going to make a soup with the broth this week. My nutritionist said she'll drink a cup of broth a day in a coffee cup, but I'm not sure if I'd go that far. I use broths all the time in cooking so I'll just freeze what I make and substitute with that!
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Post by 1234 on Mar 18, 2012 8:40:31 GMT -5
for what it's worth, when I've heard my acupuncturist giving these instructions to other patients, she hasn't recommended chicken. She's been all about the cows. She tells people to go to a butcher and get their leftover bones and boil them in water. As a veggie, I clearly don't know what I'm talking about, but maybe ask your nutritionist about the cows vs. chickens thing?
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jaye
Full Member
Posts: 165
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Post by jaye on Mar 18, 2012 9:33:32 GMT -5
I love bone broth! I had some for breakfast this morning. There is a specialty diet (GAPS) for treating digestive and autoimmunity issues that relies heavily on bone broth.
I cook up a pot almost once a week and freeze what I don't drink. Soup bones are one of the cheapest cuts and so nutritious if you know how to prepare it.
I add celtic sea salt to the pot of water and bones and always a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to break down the bones. I cook mine for at least 24 hours - the bones are breaking apart. Delicious.
Chicken bones are very nutritious but you'll get better omega-3 ratio with even grain-fed beef bones. So if you only have chicken or other fowl bones, don't be afraid to make and eat bone broth with them. If you have the option of beef (or lamb or goat or venison) bones, they are going to be a slightly better option. Sort of "don't let perfect be the enemy of good."
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Post by loveshoes on Mar 18, 2012 9:56:44 GMT -5
jayeDo you make this in a pot and just leave the stove on simmer? or is this in a crock pot? Can you please give me some detailed instructions on how to do this - I'd like to try. Thanks!!
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Post by Karen on Mar 18, 2012 10:18:02 GMT -5
Ha, Jaya, I figured you'd have some experience with this! Have you noticed any changes since you started on it? Do you drink the broth straight up, or use it in cooking? If you use it with cooking, do you have any favorite recipes that you use it with?
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jaye
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Posts: 165
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Post by jaye on Mar 18, 2012 16:53:44 GMT -5
loveshoes - Either stovetop or crockpot will work. I do stovetop but know people that use a crockpot. I work from a home office where I can let it simmer all day. So I start it the morning of day one. I use as many bones as I can fit in a stew pot (2 gallon pot I think). Then I cover them with water. Then I add celtic sea salt (himalayan is good, too) and 2 T apple cider vinegar. On the stovetop, I let it go all day from when I wake up to when I go to bed and turn it off at night. I usually cook it about 3 days. In a crockpot, you could shorten the cooking time by letting it cook at night. You can tell when it's done by the bones - thinner parts should crumble. If you are using big thick beef bones you might have to judge it just by time since I've not seen them fall apart. You can make bone broth with bones you buy at a butcher shop but you can also save bones from steaks, roasts, crockpot chicken, etc. and freeze them until you have enough to make a pot of broth. I drink it straight a lot (with added sea salt to taste) but my husband prefers soups and stews so I use it to cook with, too. There really is nothing like real broth. Pre-packaged store broth doesn't even come close. karen. I did notice some differences. Skin texture was one. It could have been a coincidence but I noticed my face first. It's hard to describe but it seems that the skin is thicker and shinier but not in an oily way. And the little wrinkles seem not so noticeable. Later I noticed it on other parts of my skin. I also think it helped my digestion. I didn't have terrible digestive problems before but it seems like after I started adding bone broth, I didn't have as many cravings and the time for food to go through my GI tract seemed to shorten. Lastly, I have a really physical job, working on really steep slopes. I used to feel like my knees were going to blow out when I walked down steep hills. The pain was getting worse with age. I don't seem to have that anymore. All three of these things could be a coincidence and just products of the rest of my diet. I eat a lot of fermented foods, too. And started that about the same time as the broth so that might be the answer to the improved digestion. For soups, I'm the type of cook that throws what I have in a pot. I usually get inspired by a recipe and get excited by an ingredient combination, then just decide what else I have in the house will compliment it. If I think of a recipe that I can remember/repeat, I will post it.
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Post by loveshoes on Mar 18, 2012 17:22:53 GMT -5
Thanks. I wonder because I'm now Gluten Free if I can use the apple cider vinegar, I never use it but I think I read that it's not good because it's not GF. I also don't eat any red meat simply because it makes me sick - so I avoid it now and it's also part of the endo diet which I don't follow completely but I like I said I am GF, wheat free, no red meats, eat mostly fresh/organic now. I wonder since it's only bones if that is different or if I should still avoid and stick to poultry bones? Sorry, 1 more question, you said you let it simmer all day long from morning to night and then do that again for another day or two - do you just leave it on the stove overnight to cool and then start it up again in the morning or does it have to be refrigerated inbetween so you don't cause anything to grow to make you sick. Sorry for all the questions, I have never done this before but am game for anything. I just picked up D3 and started that and am also taking chia and hemp seeds daily. I am considering adding tumeric as well.
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Post by Karen on Mar 18, 2012 17:53:28 GMT -5
It's funny - within a few days on the gelatin, I noticed the same about my skin! It feels softer all over, and my face feels more firm and shiny, but in a healthy way. My skin has been looking pretty rough the last 2 years and I just chalked it up to aging - quite a nice surprise to see a change in it! I'm not too convinced I'll keep up with the bone broths on a regular basis, but I think it'll be really easy to at least get the gelatin in my diet daily.
I'm glad to know there's someone else out there that's doing it and seeing results! Just goes to show there's a reason why our ancestors used all of the animal.
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