We all have certain habits that we engage in most mornings and for some people, these habits may be waking up and getting out of bed at 10 am or skipping breakfast and grabbing a large lunch or walking the dog, etc. Morning habits are things that we regularly do in the morning however our morning habits can either be healthy or unhealthy or a combination of both. Starting your morning off healthy is the smart thing to do because what if our morning habits you know the things that we do in the morning can have a positive impact on our health? What if these very habits can make us more productive, less stressed, give us more energy and so on? Won't you want to practice these instead?


Start your day off healthy with these 7 healthy morning habits.



1. Wake up early

If you're going to wake up early you'll first have to ensure that you get at least 6-8 hours of sleep and to achieve this you'll need to know when you're going to wake up and go to sleep according to that. Additionally, it's important that you don't go to sleep extremely late and then want to/try to wake up early. Sleep is important so don't sacrifice that. An example: If you want to wake up at 6 am and you want to get 7 hours of sleep then the latest you should go to sleep is at 11 p.m. What you don't do is go to sleep at 2 a.m. in the morning and wake up at 6 a.m. in the morning, that will give you about 4 hours of sleep which is not healthy.

So, you know how to achieve this so let me ask you this! Are you one of those people who hate waking up early in the morning? If so then hear me out!

Waking up early basically gives you more TIME. On the other hand, waking up late gives you less or no time to get things done in the morning and this can be very stressful. When you have more time you can make/eat a healthy breakfast instead of grabbing an unhealthy one or skipping breakfast. If you skip breakfast you may make unhealthy choices at your next meal. This can be: you're so hungry and unhealthy foods seem like a good idea or you can end up overeating because you're so hungry.
Skipping breakfast is not a good idea! You've been sleeping for hours and that will put your body into starvation mode which will result in you overeating when you do eat and crave unhealthy foods.


So waking up early enables you to have a healthy diet but how else can it benefit you?

When you wake up early:
- you're more productive
- you get time to exercise and get that out of the way

- you can enjoy a peaceful quiet time/enjoy peace and quiet. Early in the morning is quiet and thus you get to enjoy that peacefully
- you don't have to stress because you have to get a lot done and don't have the time

- you get to mediate
- you see the sunrise, seeing the sunrise is beautiful
- you can read/listen to useful books and Podcasts- fill your mind with knowledge

In conclusion, when you wake up late you won't have enough time. That can be enough time to make a healthy breakfast or exercise and so on. When you wake early you don't have to rush to get things done and stress yourself out.



2. Start your day with water or lemon water





What can drinking water do for you? Drinking water:

- rehydrates the body (Water is great for hydrating the body from all those hours of sleeping).
- flushes toxins from the body
- boost your metabolism, etc.

Alternatively, the highly popular warm lemon water is also another option to consume! Making lemon water the first thing you consume in the morning is a healthy morning habit. Why? The reason is very simple, lemons provide various health benefits and lower your risks of diseases.

First, what is warm lemon water?
Warm lemon water is basically lemon juice added to warm water. Apart from giving water a different taste (a delicious taste by the way) it has many health benefits as already stated above.

 
Ok, let's look at the health benefits of lemons.

The enzyme L-gulonolactone oxidase is not present in humans and as such we cannot synthesize our own vitamin C (ascorbic acid). So, therefore, in order to obtain this vitamin, we need to consume it through our diets. This vitamin can come from certain foods that we eat or we can take tablets/oral supplements. This is where lemons come in; lemons are a rich source of vitamin C and vitamin C is an essential micronutrient that us humans need.

Some roles of vitamin C are:

Vitamin C is an ANTIOXIDANT and acts as a COFACTOR

- This vitamin as an antioxidant protects us from harmful free radicals. For those of who don't know, free radicals are produced during metabolic processes within the body and we can also be exposed to these from the environment.

- Additionally, the consumption of vitamin C may relieve or prevent infections (1).

- Prevent and relieve cold

- Promote the absorption of iron from non-heme iron sources

- Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disorder and vitamin C as an antioxidant can maintain periodontal health.

- the transformation of cholesterol to bile acids

- synthesis of muscle carnitine

- maintain collagen

- freshens breath
 

Vitamin C deficiency
Think about it this way! If someone is vitamin C deficient then a number of health conditions will arise in the body like scurvy, anemia, and infections to name a few.

Vitamin C deficiency can occur due to:

• not enough consumption of vitamin C containing foods in the diet
• stress
• tobacco smoking
• pregnancy

Note: These 4 ways that I have listed above are not the only ways that one can become vitamin C deficient.

Furthermore, apart from lemons being a rich source of vitamin C, they are also great for digestion and weight loss.


3. Eat a healthy breakfast





I feel so much better when I start my day off eating something healthy and so will you. There are so many healthy options out there like smoothies, smoothie bowls, oatmeal, fruit and so on just to name a few. I try to at least have some sort of fruit or vegetable and a healthy protein with my first meal.

Some healthy foods/ingredients that you can eat for breakfast/use to make breakfast are:

• yogurt
• chia seeds
• flaxseeds 
• granola
• eggs
• nuts
• almond butter/peanut butter
• fruits (e.g. strawberries, blueberries, bananas, apples, lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit, watermelon, avocados, tomatoes and so on)
• vegetables (e.g. spinach)
• mushrooms 
• whole wheat bread
• whole grain muffins
• honey 
• beans
• quinoa
• plant-based milk (e.g. almond milk)

4. Read or listen to an eBook/book or Podcast





For this, try to fill your mind with knowledge for reading gives you more knowledge and that's never a bad thing. Try to allot time to read or listen to a book or Podcast or you can even listen to a book or Podcast whilst your exercising or eating if you don't have all that time.

Why in the morning? Your brain is more active in the morning and you're able to concentrate more in the morning and retain the information that you gain from reading. Additionally, the morning is calm and so you're better able to concentrate more. Apart from that, reading also offers relaxation, peace, 
and tranquility.


Reading as a way of relieving stress?
Reading is good for relieving stress. I can't tell you the number of times that I've read a book to take my mind off stressful situations in my life. You just lose yourself in whatever it is that you're reading and you don't think about whatever it is that's stressing you out. This works because when you read you're in the present moment of what you're reading and so you're not dealing with the past and future or your stressful life.




5. Exercise

Exercise has many health benefits. One, exercise regulates our weight and when we exercise in a fasted state fat oxidation can increase.


If you exercise in the morning you don't have to worry about it for the rest of the day. However, if you can't in the morning maybe because of time or whatever it is, try doing a couple minutes of some sort of exercise, this will make you feel good like going for a walk or run.

Additionally, we'll have more energy in the morning after a good night's sleep as opposed to the end of the day (tired after work for some of us). Due to less energy, we might not work out or if we do, we won't do it properly or only do a part or the thought of exercising at the end of the day can stress 
us out.




6. Mediate







Meditation can put your mind and body in a state of calmness and relaxation. What I love about meditation is that it trains your mind to focus on the present moment rather than the past or future.

But why in the morning? Well, your mind is clear and free in the morning and additionally, it can be difficult to mediate with distractions (it can be around you or of the day) and so what better time to mediate than early in the morning when your outer world and inner world is quite.

If you didn't wake up that early in the morning it is still great to mediate in the morning because it can give you an energy boost which we all need in the morning by the way.

There are various meditation technique that you can try, just do what works for you (You can meditate for 20 minutes in the morning after waking up).





7. Shower






Morning showers are great because they make you feel so refreshed and what better time to feel so than in the morning when you have your whole day ahead of you.



What are your morning habits? Are they healthy, somewhat healthy or just really unhealthy? Whatever your morning habits are how does it impact the rest of your day? Personally, from implementing healthy habits in the morning, I have had a positive health impact on my mind and body.



 References

1.  Hemilä, Harri. 2017. "Vitamin C and Infections." Nutrients 9, no. 4: 339. 

Image via pixabay.

Human consumption of sugar has increased exponentially over the years and has been linked to many health conditions such as type II diabetes, obesity, tooth decay, heart disease, dementia, high blood pressure, stroke, cancer and the incidence and severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (1). However, these health conditions can occur from the over-consumption of sugar. Sugar can even cause the release of dopamine which is similar to the drugs that people abuse.


People are consuming sugar and don't know it! Are you consuming sugar and don't know it?

You could be because on an ingredient list the word sugar may be absent because manufacturers are using other words for sugar. This is so because sugar has different sources and hence many names and so we might not recognize them on labels. So it does not mean sugar is absent from a food if the food label doesn't have the word sugar listed.



Our kids are also over-consuming sugar!

Young children are also over-consuming sugar because there are so many treats and snacks in the supermarkets these days for kids that are full of sugar and adults are purchasing these for their kids. What's very disturbing is that our childhood diet can impact our choices on the foods that we seek as adults and also increase our risk for obesity according to a study by Frazier et al. (2008) who tested the hypothesis that dietary experience during childhood and adolescence affects adult obesity risks. They found that mice exposed to sucrose early in life preferred and consumed this food as much as non-exposed animals, but in this environment gained more weight than controls (2).



A little background on sugar.

Sugar is basically a carbohydrate that gives our foods and drinks a sweet taste that humans so badly crave.


Where does sugar come from?

Sugars occur naturally in many foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains and so on. This sugar/sucrose is extracted from the tissues of plants such as sugar cane and sugar beet and refined for human consumption. The sugars that are produced commercially are added to our foods (called added sugars) by manufacturers or by us when we cook our foods. The sugar that we commonly use is called sucrose and sucrose is composed of glucose and fructose.

Sugar can be found in lots of foods and drinks. They can even be found in foods and drinks that we might not expect to find sugar in. Examples of foods and drinks that contain sugar are sugar-sweetened beverages such as soda, fruit juices and energy drinks, pasta, bread, granola, BBQ sauce and canned soups.


Sugars come in several forms and they are:

• monosaccharides
• disaccharides
• polysaccharide

Sugars that are made up of single sugar molecules are called simple sugars/monosaccharides. Examples of these are glucose, fructose, and galactose.

When two simple sugars are joined together by a chemical bond they are called disaccharides, the most common of which is sucrose or table sugar. Table sugar is made up of equal amounts of the simple sugars glucose and fructose.

Carbohydrates that are made up of more than two simple sugars are referred to as polysaccharides.

1. sugar
2. high-fructose corn syrup
3. fructose
4. corn syrup
5. buttered syrup
6. brown rice syrup
7. evaporated cane juice
8. molasses
9. honey
10. malt syrup
11. nectars
12. fruit juice concentrate
13. brown sugar
14. malted barley
15. barley malt
16. lactose
17. maltose
18. rice syrup
19. maple syrup
20. caramel
21. carob syrup
22. raisin syrup
23. cane sugar
24. beet sugar
25. castor sugar
26. blackstrap molasses
27. sorghum
28. corn sweetener
29. corn syrup solids
30. white sugar
31. raw sugar
32. date sugar
33. brown rice syrup
34. concentrated fruit juice
35. fruit juice concentrate
36. confectioner's sugar
37. mannitol
38. xylitol
39. sorbitol
40. diaccharides
41. galactose
42. agave nectar
43. coconut sugar
44. grape sugar
45. Florida crystals
46. coconut sugar
47. coconut palm sugar
48. sorghum syrup

References

1. Moore JB, Gunn PJ, Fielding BA. The Role of Dietary Sugars and De novo Lipogenesis in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Nutrients. 2014; 6(12):5679-5703.

2. Frazier CRM, Mason P, Zhuang X, Beeler JA (2008) Sucrose Exposure in Early Life Alters Adult Motivation and Weight Gain. PLoS ONE 3(9): e3221. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003221

Think about this! A harmful bacteria invade your body through a cut on your finger! What would your body do or how would it react to it? If a foreign invader invades the body (in this case a harmful bacteria) the immune system will produce a reaction in order to fight that foreign invader off. The response of our bodies to the stimuli is known as inflammation. Our immune system protects us from harmful invading organisms it's our defense against harmful pathogens.

So, therefore, inflammation is necessary for our survival. It defends/protects us from harmful pathogens and is also involved in the wound healing process. Harmful pathogen and injury will not only trigger inflammation. Autoimmune diseases, chemicals, oxidative stress and so on will also trigger inflammation.


Did you know that inflammation can be both good and harmful? So while it's essential for our survival it can play a role in many diseases which will be listed below.


When the immune system fights against its own healthy cells in the body then that can lead to horrible consequences like:

• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Crohn's disease
• Alzheimer's
• Cardiovascular disease
• Cancer
• Diabetes mellitus
• Celiac disease

Types of inflammation

They are:
Acute inflammation - Lasts for a few days
Chronic inflammation - Lasts for months or years


Causes of inflammation

Some causes of inflammation are:

• Pathogens (bacteria, virus)
• Stress
• Certain foods and drinks
• Food allergies

Symptoms of inflammation
Three symptoms of inflammation are redness, warmth, and swelling.





1. salmon

Image via pixabay.

2. tuna

Tuna sandwich. Image via pixabay.

3. sardines

Image via pixabay.

4. mackerel


Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to reduce inflammation (1, 2, 3). Salmon, tuna, sardines, and mackerel are all fatty fishes that are excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids. For those of who are vegetarian or vegan, you can consume other (plant) sources of omega-3 fatty acids like:

5. algae
6. nut oils
7. walnuts

Walnuts. Image via pixabay.

8. flaxseeds
9. chia seeds

Chia seeds. Image via pixabay.

10. pumpkin seeds

Image via pixabay.

There are three main omega-3 fatty acids (polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids) that are found in foods. They are:

• Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA)
• Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)
• Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)

EPA and DHA are found in fatty fish whereas ALA is found in plants. Interestingly fish obtain DHA and EPA from algae.




Blueberries, citrus fruits, green tea, dark chocolate, and parsley are all examples of dietary sources of flavonoids. Flavonoids belong to the polyphenol class of phytonutrients and they are anti-inflammatory

Cytokines and chemokines are proteins that are produced by the immune system. These proteins result in chronic inflammation but flavonoids can inhibit certain steps within the pathway hence they can serve as natural inhibitors of inflammation (4).


11. blueberries

Blueberries. Image via pixabay.

12. citrus fruits

Image via pixabay.

13. green tea (5)

Image via pixabay.

 
14. dark chocolate

Image via pixabay.

15. parsley

Image via pixabay.

16. Oyster mushrooms (6)
17. Reishi

Mushrooms are edible fungi. There are many health benefits of mushrooms. Mushrooms contain the anti-inflammatory compounds polysaccharides, terpenoids, and phenolics which provide anti-inflammatory effects (7).

Oyster mushrooms are great in stir-fries.


Dark green leafy vegetables like:

18. kale

Kale. Image via pixabay.

19. broccoli

Image via pixabay.

and

20. spinach

Image via pixabay.

Some anti-inflammatory nutrients that kale, broccoli, and spinach contain are omega-3 fatty acids, the anti-inflammatory phytonutrients: flavonoids and carotenoids and antioxidants.


The relationship between free radical and antioxidants

What is a free radical and how are they created?


In the body, oxygen splits into single atoms which results in what we call free radicals. A free radical contains one or more unpaired electrons in their outer orbitals and that makes them very reactive/unstable. One thing that was very clear from the years that I have studied chemistry is that electrons like to be in pairs. So they are going to search the body for other electrons to pair with because in order for it to become stable it will have to react with other molecules to pair that electron with.


Free radicals can react with all the cell molecular components of the body. When that happens a second radical will be generated and in turn will react and so on. In other words, free radicals can start a chain reaction. What makes them dangerous is that excessive free radicals can damage cellular components like proteins, enzymes, DNA, cell membrane and so on when they react with them. When that happens these cells may not function well and die. If cellular damage occurs it can lead to a variety of diseases.

The damages that free radicals cause causes inflammation which will, in turn, lead to more free radicals.


Antioxidants are so beneficial because they can interact with free radicals safely and stop the chain reaction and thus prevent cell damage. Antioxidants repair the damage that is caused to our cells by free radicals. Vegetables like kale, broccoli, and spinach are full of the antioxidants vitamin A, C, and K.

Broccoli contains sulforaphane. What is sulforaphane? Sulforaphane is an organic compound that contains sulfur as the name suggests. You cannot directly get this compound from the broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables without a process.

Broccoli contains glucoraphanin and the enzyme myrosinase which when come into contact will produce sulforaphane. They will get into contact when you cut or chew the broccoli. How is this compound related to inflammation? Sulforaphane fights inflammation!




21. Watermelon

Watermelon has a high water content and is low in calories. Watermelon is also rich in phytonutrients. Examples of phytonutrients that watermelon is a source of are:

• Carotenoids (such as beta-carotene which is a type of carotenoid)
• Lycopene - Lycopene gives watermelon its red color.

These phytonutrients are anti-inflammatory antioxidants which reduce inflammation and fight free radicals.

This juicy fruit is also rich in vitamin C. Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin. It is an antioxidant because it donates an electron and so it neutralizes free radicals.

Watermelon. Image via pixabay.

22. Bone broth

Image via pixabay.

Bone broth fights inflammation due to its nutrient content. Processed foods, antibiotics and so on can damage our intestinal lining. Gelatin is found in bone broth and it repairs the gut lining and thus reduce inflammation. Proline and glycine also found in bone broth can also heal the gut lining.

Another nutrient that is found in bone broth is glucosamine and it can also reduce inflammation.

Read more on bone broth: Bone broth - What it is, the health benefits and recipes


23. Beets

Beets. Image via pixabay.

Beets are a source of the phytonutrients betalains. The two categories of betalains found are betanin and vulgaxanthin. Together with the antioxidants manganese and vitamin C they reduce inflammation and fight free radicals.

Additionally, betalain pigments give beets their red color.




24. Turmeric

Turmeric. Image via pixabay.

Turmeric is a spice that Indians use in their cooking (An Indian home will always have turmeric!). It gives their food a yellow color. Turmeric contains curcumin and that's what makes this spice so beneficial to us. Curcumin helps with inflammation and it's a great antioxidant.
 
 Aside from putting it in your food, you can add it to your smoothies, teas, and milk.



 25. Avocados

Image via pixabay.

Avocados contain phytosterols, vitamin E and C, magnesium, selenium, and zinc which makes it a great addition to your meals. Avocados have excellent anti-inflammatory properties.

There are so many ways that you can incorporate avocados into your diet! You can add them to smoothies, sandwiches, salads, desserts and so on.



Concluding Remarks
There are so many other foods that are not listed here that fight inflammation in the body that you can also incorporate into your diet. They are so simple to incorporate, you can even put them in smoothies. Try some for your next meal!

Related post: Can these 7 foods cause inflammation in the body?





 References


1. El-Seweidy M.M., Ali S.I., Elsweify S.E., Ali A.A., Mashhour M.M. Omega 3 fatty acids intake versus diclofenac in osteoarthritis induced in experimental rats. Functional Foods in Health and Disease 2017; 7(4); 291-302

2. Alessio Molfino, Maria Ida Amabile, Massimo Monti, and Maurizio Muscaritoli, “Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Critical Illness: Anti-Inflammatory, Proresolving, or Both?,” Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, vol. 2017, Article ID 5987082, 6 pages, 2017. doi:10.1155/2017/5987082

3. Xue B, Yang Z, Wang X, Shi H (2012) Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Antagonize Macrophage Inflammation via Activation of AMPK/SIRT1 Pathway. PLoS ONE 7(10): e45990. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0045990


5. Reygaert, W.C. An Update on the Health Benefits of Green Tea. Beverages 2017, 3, 6.


7. Elsayed A. Elsayed, Hesham El Enshasy, Mohammad A. M. Wadaan, and Ramlan Aziz, “Mushrooms: A Potential Natural Source of Anti-Inflammatory Compounds for Medical Applications,” Mediators of Inflammation, vol. 2014, Article ID 805841, 15 pages, 2014. doi:10.1155/2014/805841

 

Photo by Jakub Kapusnak via Foodiesfeed

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Bone broth has once again been increasingly gaining popularity over the years to the point that it's very popular now. This is pretty interesting since bone broth has been used by our ancestors for so many years. Most modern man don't utilize the bones, neck, feet and so on whereas people in the Caribbean would do so, just check the ingredients for dishes like souse and pepper pot and you will see. As someone who studied Biology, I have come across in my study that carnivorous animals would break the bones just to get the marrow and will eat whatever bone they can manage to eat. On the whole meat and fish eating animals prefer the bones (such as dogs).

There are many health benefits associated with consuming bone broth that one just simply can't ignore (me for sure).  These bone broth benefits are due to the fact that bone broth is abundantly rich in nutrients that are beneficial to the body. Which means that our ancestors, carnivorous animals and the people who are eating it are getting these nutrients whereas whoever is not is missing out.


What is bone broth?

When you hear the words bone broth, what comes to mind?

Bone is the main ingredient of bone broth and so most of the nutrients are going to come from it. So firstly what does a bone composed of?

A bone is composed mainly of:

• bone marrow
• cartilage
• collagen (found in cartilage and bone marrow also)

Often times people will ask what is bone broth? Bone broth is essentially broth that is made from bones. The bones that bone broth can be made from are chicken, beef, lamb, turkey, poultry, fish bones or whatever bones you can find. This broth can be made more tasty and nutritious with the addition of herbs, spices, and even vegetables.

When you boil the bones in water for hours, the nutrients in the bones, cartilage, bone marrow and collagen leaches out into the water. You strain it and the end result is a nutritious broth.

As already stated above bone broth is abundantly rich in nutrients that are beneficial to the body. So what are these nutrients?







Glycine, proline, glutamine, and alanine are the most abundant amino acids found in bone broth. These are non-essential amino acids which simply means that the body can produce them. In other words, this usually means that you don't have to consume them. But did you know that you may have to consume it regardless of that statement? So why I may need to consume foods that are rich in them? You may need to consume foods that are rich in them because:

- of certain illnesses or nutrient deficiencies
- poor digestive health among other reasons
Bottom line: the body is not able to produce enough or none under certain circumstances and so we need to consume them in foods.

Other amino acids that are found in bone broth are:
- valine
- serine
- tyrosine, etc.


Collagen

The protein collagen is made up of amino acids (amino acids makes a protein). Collagen is abundant in the amino acids:

1. proline
2. glycine
3. hydroxyproline

The bones and cartilage are two examples of places where collagen can be found. The conversion of collagen to gelatin happens when you cook the collagen containing bones and cartilage. So, therefore, your bone broth is going to give you collagen in the form of gelatin and thus you're consuming collagen in the form of gelatin.



What does collagen do?

Collagen is vital for a healthy youth full looking skin. That is skin that is firm and wrinkle free. It's also necessary for healthy hair and nails- collagen makes up the hair and nails. Collagen holds the whole body together that is it acts as a glue and renews skin cells (in other words it replaces dead skin cells).

As we age we would start to see the onset of wrinkles and fine lines, etc. What happens is collagen production decreases with age particularly around 40. When this happens the skin starts to get wrinkles, fine lines and saggy whereas the hair and nails become brittle.
Age isn't the only factor that decreases collagen production. Tobacco smoking and the sun can also decrease collagen production.
So, therefore, it is important to consume collagen in your diet.

Gelatin lines the gut and improves IBS, leaky gut syndrome, food allergies, etc. It also thickens the digestive juices in the stomach resulting in better digestion.

Leaky gut syndrome arises when the intestines become permeable. When this happens, substances will pass into the bloodstream (think of it like a pot with holes).These substances, however, are substances that the body won't normally allow to pass but because it is permeable these substances will pass. These substances can be substances like undigested food and waste. When this happens the immune system will react by attacking these substances and inflammation will result. This can result in food intolerances, IBS, autoimmune diseases (like Lupus, Crohn's disease, Addison's disease), etc.


Glycine

The structure of glycine

Glycine is very important to the body as it serves many roles/purposes. Some of these roles/purposes are:
It is:
- use to produce collagen
- vital in the production of some acids like bile acids and nucleic acids
- use to produce heme which is a component in blood
- used by the body to manufacture amino acids
- involved in the production of glucose


Proline

Proline is very important to the body as well as it serves many roles/purposes. Some of these roles/purposes are:

- use to produce collagen. Proline is converted to hydroxyproline and hydroxyproline is one of the amino acids that make up collagen.
- it maintains muscle mass
- it is necessary for the functioning of joints and tendons

Kaayla Daniel of the Weston A. Price Foundation has a great article on the essential roles of glycine, proline, and gelatin. You can read this article here.


Minerals

Bone broth contains minerals that are necessary for healthy bones and teeth. Bones and teeth are important to us. Our bones support our bodies, protect our internal organs, produce blood cells, make movement possible [1], etc. whereas our teeth are used to chew and break up our food into smaller particles (aka mechanical digestion). Minerals like calcium, phosphorous and so on are necessary for strong bones and teeth (and to maintain it) and with strong bones and teeth, you may be able to combat osteoporosis and teeth loss. 

The New York State Department of Health states that:

"Osteoporosis is a silent disease that causes bones to become thin and weak, often resulting in fractures (broken bones) in the U.S., approximately 1 in 2 women and 1 in 4 men over age 50 will break a bone as a result of osteoporosis."

Additionally, periodontal problems can be resolved by consuming traditionally prepared bone broths according to Will Revak of the Healthy Home Economist.



Healthy fats


A bone can either contain yellow marrow or red marrow. The yellow marrow is where fat is stored and hence the yellow bone marrow is mostly fatty and not to mention delicious. The red bone marrow is where red and white blood cells are manufactured.
Bone marrow contains essential fatty acids like omega-3 fatty acid. Omega-3 fatty acid has many health benefits but our bodies can't make this fatty acid and so we need to consume it in foods. One such benefit is that it's necessary for brain function. 
Bone marrow also contains vitamins, minerals, iron, etc. 

Bone broth recipes

Ingredients

- 2 pounds of beef bones (make sure that some of the bones contain bone marrow and meat)
- 2 carrots chopped
- 2 onions chopped in quarters
- 6 whole cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- salt to taste/ to your liking
- black pepper to taste
- 1 chili (optional)
- beef seasoning to your liking (optional)
- a handful of coarsely chopped parsley
- water to cover the bones


Instructions

1. Wash and wipe the meat and bones (not applicable if you're using left over cooked bones).
2. If your bones are too large, you can cut them into smaller pieces (very helpful in speeding up the cooking process).
3. Roast the bones and meat in the oven for about 25 minutes or until they are nice and browned at 450 degrees. 
4. Place your roast beef bones and meat into a stock pot.
5. Pour water to cover the bones, add the apple cider vinegar and let it rest for a while. The vinegar will cause nutrients to leach from the bones.
6. Add the remaining ingredients into the pot and bring to a boil then reduce it and let it simmer on low. Let it cook on low heat for at least 12 to 36 hours.
7. Remove any frothy layer that rises to the top.
8. You can add additional water if needed during the cooking process.
9. Strain the broth at the end of the cooking time through a strainer and discard the bones and vegetables.
10. Pour the broth into containers and store however desired (refrigerate or freeze).
11. Remove the layer of fat that has hardened on the top when you're ready to use it.

Ingredients

- chicken bones, trimmings of chicken, chicken necks and foot


Instructions

The same steps as the ones used to make beef broth with a few exceptions.

1. The bones do not need to be roasted.
2. Cook for 8- 24 hours.
3. Use chicken seasoning instead of beef seasoning.

Ingredients
- Fish bones, heads, trimmings of fish and fish


Instructions

The same steps as the ones used to make beef broth with a few exceptions.

1. The bones do not need to be roasted.
2. Cook for 4- 6 hours.
3. Use fish seasoning instead of beef seasoning.

- chicken bones, trimmings of chicken, chicken necks and chicken meat
- fish bones, heads, trimmings of fish and fish
- beef bones (ones that contain bone marrow and meat also)
The same steps as the ones used to make beef broth with a few exceptions.

1. Only the beef bones are to be roasted.
2. Use an all purpose seasoning instead.
3. Cook for 12- 36 hours but add the beef bones at first and then add the chicken bones after the first 8 hours and the fish bones at the last 6 hours.