Competitive athletes are always on the lookout for ways to improve performance or to speed recovery from events or injury. We all know broths and soups make us feel better when we are not feeling well but recently broths are getting a lot of attention from professional athletes. It wasn’t long ago kitchens would have large pots on the stove top all day making these nutrient dense broths. Today, most consumers settle for the convenience of store bought broths to use in cooking or making soups. Compare the nutrient value of “most” store bought broths to traditional homemade broths and you will see there is really no comparison, one mostly water with real or artificial meat flavor and the other an organic mixture of healthy minerals, collagen, cartilage, and essential amino acids which are highly absorbable. Bone Broth Benefits: Recovery drink - contains natural and highly absorbable electrolytes and amino acids Reduces joint pain and inflammation - courtesy of chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine, and other joint compounds extracted from the boiled cartilage and collagen Inhibits infection - Known as "Jewish penicillin" - broth has been revered for its medicinal qualities at least since Moses Maimonides in the 12th century. Cartilage, found abundantly in homemade broth, supports the immune system in a variety of ways: activator of macrophages, activator of Natural Killer (NK) cells, B lymphocytes, releases Colony Stimulating Factor. Very Anti-inflammatory Amino acids such as glycine, proline, and arginine all have anti-inflammatory effects. Arginine, for example, has been found to be particularly beneficial for the treatment of sepsis (whole-body inflammation). Glycine also has calming effects, which may help you sleep better. Promotes strong, healthy bones: bone broth contains surprisingly low amounts of calcium, magnesium and other trace minerals, but plays an important role in healthy bone formation because of its abundant collagen. Collagen fibrils provide the latticework for mineral deposition and are the keys to the building of strong and flexible bones. See the links below for making your own bone broth. Also check your local health food store for “healthy” bone broths but remember homemade will pack the most health punch. When it comes to bone broth, the health of the animal is very important, so only use the best quality organic ingredients. Interesting to think about how bone broth may have once fit into our dietary regimen. Throughout evolution man would have had access to fresh fruit and vegetables containing minerals throughout the growing season but where did we get minerals and other nutrients in the fall and winter or in colder far north or south climates? One theory is that bone broths were used during these times as they are warming to eat or drink, and allowed us to maximize use of valuable animal food sources.
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