Bone broth serves as both a winter warmer and fashionable elixir
This season, healthy trend-setters are looking beyond wheatgrass shots and juicing recipes and serving up a more traditional—but newly trendy—warming winter remedy: bone broth.
Acolytes from California to New York City are lining up to buy cups of the clear, concentrated liquid, often made with chicken. The contents of the bones themselves provide health benefits:
- Amino acids
- Collagen
- Minerals (like magnesium and calcium)
To release the nutrients, bones—preferably those containing fatty marrow and cartilage, like necks and joints—are boiled down through long cooking. Vinegar or another acid is added to help breakdown the meaty bits, as well as optional flavorings, like herbs or onions.
The savory stock’s cure-all claims range from alleviating upper respiratory tract infections and joint pain to healing wounds. And while not all of the purported benefits of bone broth have solid scientific standing, a few do, like boosting the immune system and replacing electrolytes post-workout (which is how this tonic gained celebrity-athlete advocates like the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant).
So whether you’re bogged down by the common cold, a Paleo-practitioner or just chilled to the bone this winter, to reach for a nourishing bowl of broth, if nothing else, returns us to the kitchen and to homemade health.