Bone broth is the new "in" thing in conscious eating and alternative dietary concepts.

I was originally amused to hear my colleagues' recent excitement over the growing popularity bone broth. I grew up in Eastern Europe, were having bone broth was at least a weekly occurrence. It was normal and ordinary to have bone broth for lunch or dinner. It was typically chicken or beef, made with a variety of soup vegetables, home-made noodles or egg-drop. There reason why it was so common was because meat was scarce and expensive but bones were easier to come by. Marrow bones were frequent inclusions at weekend dinners.

As an adult, I chose to base my diet predominantly on vegetable foods and was happy to relegate bone broth to the traditional eastern european days. Acupuncture training brought me back in contact with another traditional culture, the chinese, where bone broth is used as a major tonic and longevity agent. It is used specifically to nourish mothers after childbirth, for children and elders, and to ease recovery after an illness. And using the "like cures like" principle, bone broth is included as chinese dietary therapy with any bone related issues, such as fractures, osteoporosis and osteopenia.

We have yet to fully determine the health benefits of bone broth with the standards of modern technology. However, a simmered broth base of beef bones with a variety of vegetables will clearly contain a healthy dose of calcium, magnesium, silica, potassium, boron, zinc, and collagen all of which, ingested in a food based form are much more highly absorbable than any supplements. This can restore our bodies nutrient balance. So for those whose diet includes animal based foods, bone broth is a great source of minerals and a warming food for the cold winter months.

For vegetarians, mineral broth, a broth made purely of vegetables: onions, garlic, leafy greens, carrots, parsnips, parsley and celery root, beets, turnips, cabbage, flavored with sea salt, bragg's liquid amino's, bay leaf, ginger, and other aromatic herbs has similar benefits and is equally delicious and nourishing on a freezing winter day.

Recipes coming soon!