You’ve heard it on podcasts, seen it on Facebook feeds of friends and health experts, you’ve even seen it on store shelves.
This food is bone broth and it’s is extremely beneficial to our bodies.
What’s the big deal you might ask? Bones are usually table scrapes. How can they possibly help to boost fertility?
Well, with the colder months upon us, there is no better time to talk about bone broth because you know how much we love to talk about warm and cooked foods to boost fertility. We’ll also share a recipe with you that is so easy, all you need to do is–dump everything into a crockpot and “forget about it.”
So here is low-down on bone broth for those who are trying to conceive (both men and women).
When trying to conceive, the body is directing a lot of resources (energy and blood) into the reproductive system. The one thing that can disrupt this flow is stress.
We’ve all been there. We put extra stress on our bodies by over-working, over-thinking, and over-exercising. This creates a “fight-or-flight” response. Our bodies are programmed from its caveman days to shut down functions that are not necessary for survival, and the reproductive system is usually the first to be affected. From a Chinese medicine perspective, energy for the reproductive system is housed in the kidneys (one of its many functions.) As you can imagine, chronic stress on the body inadvertently drains the kidney energy and robs your body what it needs to be fertile.
Now, let’s be realistic here. It’s impossible to live without some form of stress. But, how you manage stress factors has a huge impact on your fertility potential. This is where bone broth comes in. It’s definitely not the “cure all be all,” and it’s only one of the ways to help your body deal with the physical and emotional side effects of stress. But it nourishes your body to cope with all the physiological responses.
Bone broth is full of nutrition, easy to digest, and absolutely delicious. It’s one of the simplest yet most nourishing sources of good fuel that we can put in our system.
Here is the correlation…
Ever wondered how our bodies produce blood? Our bodies produce blood through the marrow. So what would be the best thing we could ingest to help with blood production and quality? You guessed it! Marrow!
From a Chinese medicine perspective, bone marrows come from the deepest energetic layer of the body. It directly affects the Kidney energy, which is THE reproductive energy as we mentioned before. So cooking the bones will definitely boost the kidney energy.
Before you go off thinking, “yuck” and feel nauseated with the thoughts of scooping the marrow out, let us ease your concerns. You don’t actually have to eat the marrow. After hours of cooking, all the nutrients will be integrated into the broth itself. If you don’t like seeing chunks of marrow floating around, simply strain it.
So, the best way to see if you like bone broth or not is to actually make it. We’re going to share our recipe below and give you three ideas on how to use the broth once you’ve made it.
Bone Broth Recipe
Things you will need (all organic if possible):
2lbs grass fed, hormone/antibiotic free beef bones or chicken bones
1 large onion, quartered
2 large carrots, sliced
2 stalks of celery, sliced
4-5 cloves of garlic, crushed
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 6qt slow cooker, or larger (or a large stock pot)
Enough water to cover the bones
Directions:
1. Place bones in the bottom of your crock-pot and cover completely with water.
2. Set on “high” and cook for 8 hours.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for an additional 4 hours.
4. After 12 hours of cooking have elapsed, the meat, if any, should be falling off the bones. If that doesn’t happen, let cook for another hour and check again.
5. Strain the soup if desired to remove floating pieces of marrow. You’ll have less issues with this if you use chicken bones.
Notes:
1. If you’re using a stock-pot, the instructions remain the same except that you’ll need to bring the water and bones up to a boil first, and then bring it down to a low simmer. Then cover the pot and leave it simmering for the duration of cooking.
2. After 12 hours have passed, and the meat is “falling off the bones,” simply pick out all the bones from your broth. You can keep all the meat and vegetables in the broth.
3. You can make yourself a bowl right away or store in the freezer and defrost as needed. When properly stored, bone broth will easily keep for up to a month.
Three uses for bone broth:
1. Drink ½ cup per day with meal or by itself.
2. Have it as a meal itself since it has protein and veggies.
3. Use as base for other soups and stews.
So, we would love it if you could try this recipe and give us your thoughts on it. To contact us, you can simply email info@ipacupuncture.com Or leave a comment on our Facebook page.
