The Original Ingestible Beauty: Bone Broth

Bone broth appeared on the ingestible beauty scene in 2014 with everyone from Vogue to Well + Good extolling its health and beauty virtues. Then, in 2015, the bone broth trend went quiet. As the world of ingestible beauty continues to emerge and evolve with brands like Beauty Chef and Reservage, we don’t want Charlotte’s Book readers to forget about bone broth this winter. While we love our Beauty Chef Inner Beauty Powder (and so does Town & Country's Jamie Rosen), bone broth has so many health and beauty benefits: we're bringing it back this year—hopefully for good this time. In case you need a quick reminder: not only is bone broth highly acclaimed by Charlotte’s Book nutritionists everywhere, it also emerged as a celebrity beauty food, responsible for Salma Hayek’s glowing skin and lack of wrinkles. It was hailed in the media as a “Botox alternative” due to its collagen boosting properties. Plus, it's warm, it's tasty, and it's perfect for winter—buckle down and make some bone broth, then freeze it so you can enjoy this natural beauty elixir all winter long.

What Exactly Is Bone Broth?

Bone broth is bones, water, vegetables, and herbs simmered together for a very long time.

So What’s The Difference Between Broth, Stock, Bone Broth?

Broth: Regular broth is simply water simmered with vegetables, herbs, spices and meat, and can include some bones. It is cooked for a short period of time. Stock: The next step up is stock. This is broth but cooked with animal bones and sometimes with some meat still attached. It is cooked for a medium period of time, usually 4 to 6 hours. The goal of stock is to extract the collagen from the connective tissues and bones being simmered, which give stock its thick, gelatinous quality. Bone Broth: Its like broth and stock supercharged. It’s usually made from roasted bones and often cooked for more than 24 hours, and the goal is to not only extract the gelatin from the bones, but also release the nutritious minerals. It is then strained and seasoned to be enjoyed on its own, like broth.

The Skin-Specific Connection

Collagen: we all know how important it is, so we use creams and supplements and eat collagen boosting foods (even drink collagen beer!). But bone broth might just be the ultimate collagen-boosting (and wrinkle-fighting) food. As you age, the collagen in your skin breaks down (it's a familiar story), and as the collagen disappears, your skin becomes thinner and creases (ahem, wrinkles) form. Enter bone broth. Since collagen is abundant in bones, when you cook down animal bones and make bone broth, it breaks down the collagen in the bones so it becomes more easily digestible for you. Charlotte’s Book expert health coach Laura Kraber describes bone broth as "a rich source of skin-supporting amino acids glycine and proline, along with collagen, the ultimate skin food. Bone broth can improve skin elasticity and fight wrinkles.”

Whole Body Benefits 

Digestion: bone broth also happens to be a digestion superfood due to its gelatin content. Gelatin helps digestion by soothing the GI tract. Because your digestive system is in charge of absorbing nutrients, removing toxins and keeping you hydrated, all healthy skin essentials. Laura Kraber notes,”bone broth soothes the intestinal tract and helps heal leaky gut, aka intestinal permeability. With stress, diet, alcohol, caffeine and NSAIDS wreaking havoc on our intestines, anything and everything we can do to help repair the gut is beneficial, as a healthy intestinal tract is essential to overall good health.” Improved Sleep, Mood: Bone broth naturally and easily adds a massive variety of minerals to your diet that are otherwise difficult to incorporate without taking a pile of pills. These minerals influence all manner of things, including sleep and mood. Charlotte’s Book health coach Laura Kraber explains, “As a result of soil degradation, the mineral content of our foods is reduced, and many of us have compromised absorption due to poor gut health. Yet minerals are critical to so many bodily functions and impact everything from our bones to our mood and our sleep. Supplying calcium, magnesium, potassium, silicon, sulfur and phosphorous, bone broth provides an excellent means of boosting your mineral intake.” Magnesium (also found in dark, leafy greens) can help prevent fine lines and acne break outs. Reduced Joint Pain: "Bone broth contains both chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine, which help to decrease joint pain and inflammation," says Charlotte’s Book expert nutritionist Dana James.

Celebrities Love It 

Salma Hayek revealed last year that bone broth is one of her key beauty secrets. So did Gwyneth Paltrow  and Shailene Woodley.

Add It To Your Daily Routine

Making bone broth yourself is easy—you can follow the recipe below from CB verified Health Coach Holli Thompson. Keep about three days worth of broth in the fridge at a time, and drink a cup a day. If you're not the home cooking type, or if you just don't want to wait, check out Bare Bones Broth Company's delicious assortment of ready-made, slow-cooked bone broths.

The Recipe

2 pounds (or more) of bones from a hormone free, grass fed source (turkey, chicken or beef bones with marrow) Water (to fill pot) 2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar Optional, In Any Combination: 1 bunch parsley 2 carrots 2 stalks celery 1 onion teaspoon sea salt teaspoon black pepper teaspoon ground fresh ginger clove garlic

Instructions

1. Rough chop all vegetables (if you’re using them) and add to a large stock pot or slow cooker. 2. Add beef bones or turkey or chicken carcass to pot, and cover with water, almost to the top of the pot. 3. Bring to a boil. 4. Reduce heat to simmer and let cook for 24 hours.

Add more water if you need to, but the point is to make a rich broth: you can always add water to serve. I prefer to make this with veggies added, and then strain using a fine metal strainer for clear broth. Some purists do not add vegetables for the broth, preferring to use only bones and apple cider vinegar.

Image: Bare Bones Broth Company

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CURIOUS about our experts? They’re the best. Learn more about Health Coach Holli Thompson, Nutritionist Dana James, MS, CNS, CDN, and Health Coach Laura Kraber, NTP