Vicki Edgson - Broth: Nature’s Cure-All for Health and Nutrition, with Delicious Recipes for Broths, Soups, Stews and Risottos

INTRODUCTION

From broth to brodo

Broths, stocks and brodos as the Italians lovingly call them have been used as the cornerstones of some of the worlds best-loved dishes for hundreds of years, but recently there has been a growing realization that these simple-seeming mainstays of every chefs kitchen are, in fact, nutritional powerhouses that contain the building blocks of good health.

Now, more than ever, we are placing increased value on foods that are cooked from scratch at home and were turning back to the basics from which our food traditions originate. The last 20 years have been dominated by a food culture centred around speed and convenience, but this legacy has left us with rising rates of diabetes and obesity, which we are only just starting to address. This newfound awareness of the importance of good nutrition and the impact on our health of what we put into our bodies is leading more of us back into the kitchen, happy to invest our time and effort to ensure that what were feeding ourselves and our families is not only delicious but also nutritionally sound; the rising popularity of bone broth is clear evidence of this trend.

In the following pages, we show you how making your own broths from scratch can transform your entire culinary repertoire, and, with very little effort on your part, you can be confident that the dishes you cook are packed with healthy, life-enhancing nutrients. And for those of you with a busy work schedule and lifestyle, broths can be made in large batches, frozen and defrosted as needed, so you never again have to reach for a stock (bouillon) cube. The sheer scale and variety of dishes that you can make from them is truly astounding and the flavour is so superior to the commercial alternatives.

From fresh-tasting soups and warming stews to creamy-textured, unctuous risottos and fragrant curries, the easy-to-follow recipes in this book are full of flavour, look great and will make you feel good. You dont require any specialist skills and its especially reassuring to know that you are creating something as nourishing to your body as it is to your soul.

Make broth your herbal medicine

Whether consumed on their own or used within the recipes featured later in this book, broths are among the most nutritious foods you can eat, full of amino acids and minerals. Listed below are some of the key ways you can utilize broth to improve your overall health as well as information on how it can augment your existing diet.

GUT HEALTH

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BONE HEALTH

Bone broths are packed with calcium and magnesium, both of which are essential for bone repair. Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the human body, but if you dont get enough of it from the food you eat your body will use the reserves stored in your bones to maintain normal cell function, leading eventually to weakened bones and possible osteoporosis. Magnesium works hand-in-hand with calcium, as it allows your body to uptake and absorb it into the bones. Without magnesium, excess calcium deposits will not be assimilated in the correct way and they can end up in the lining of delicate arteries, contributing to atherosclerosis and subsequently heart disease.

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECTS

Many of the minerals and amino acids found in bone broth possess anti-inflammatory properties and, as such, can help with the prevention and treatment of many illnesses. In particular, chondroitin sulphates (a structural component of cartilage), glucosamine, zinc, calcium and magnesium are vital for reducing inflammatory effects within your body, which are now recognized as one of the main causes of illnesses such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), asthma and psoriasis.

HAIR, SKIN AND NAILS

The human body is very clever at finding the resources it needs to stay healthy. Because of this, essential nutrients and minerals are often borrowed from our less vital organs, such as nails, skin and hair, when the body is going through times of healing or repair. Collagen, fibrinogen and elastin are found mainly in bone broths, rather than vegetable ones, and can help to top up any deficiencies and repair the damage that has been done.

BROTH TO SUPPLEMENT DIET

Owing to their rich nutrient content, broths can work in a number of ways to enhance your diet. The bone broths can be used within a healthy weight-loss plan to ensure you are getting the most complex source of amino acids to promote your general wellbeing. They are also a superb way to manage fasting-style diets as they are relatively low in calories while providing a plethora of vital nutrients. In addition, they are perfect on any low-GI plan, being rich in protein, which helps to balance blood sugar levels this also makes them especially useful if youre following the 5:2 diet. And because they are so nutrient-dense and make use of the bones and carcasses of animals that most people throw away, they make good sense for people on the Paleo diet, too. The essential nine amino acids are all required for the production of energy at a cellular level, making bone broth a good way to enhance athletic performance, stamina and endurance-based diets.

The health benefits of broth

As Ive already stated, broth has remarkable health-giving properties and its packed with vital nutrients that our bodies need to repair themselves and to stay healthy at a cellular level. At specific times of their life cycle, our systems crave different nutrients to fulfil a wide range of functions. Outlined below are the ways in which drinking and cooking with broth can help support and promote your health, as well as your familys, at every stage of life.

BABIES

Broth of any kind is never a replacement for a mothers breast milk or for formula. However, as babies grow older and start being weaned onto solids, its worth considering adding some freshly-made chicken broth, or other bone broth, to their diet. Its packed with vital amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein, and when these are combined with calcium, magnesium, boron and manganese, they help in the formation of strong bones. As well as being rich in all these minerals, broth contains high levels of zinc, which is needed for building a healthy immune system, especially at this early stage in a babys life.

As you start to wean your baby onto his first solids, adding a little of any of the animal broths will provide excellent nutrients for promoting growth, immunity and healthy gut development. Its a good idea to pure the broth with root vegetables, such as carrots, sweet potato, swede (rutabaga) and parsnip. They are a good source of antioxidants and have a natural sweetness that is appealing to a baby trying out new flavours. In addition to the bone broths, you may also use the has too strong a taste for a young palate and can cause wind or even colic in some babies with under-developed digestive systems.