What it is:

Bone Broth

Health benefits:

Bone broth contains amino acids from collagen, vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids that support bone, gut, skin, hair, nail, connective tissue, and joint health. Bone broth can even improve sleep.  Bone broth is different from both stock and broth.  Stock is made from simmering roasted bones with vegetables for approximately three to four hours.  Broth is simmered for the same amount of time but is made with roasted or raw meaty bones, meat, and vegetables.  To extract all the additional nutrition and health benefits listed above, bone broth is made with roasted bones and simmered on low heat for 24-48 hours. It can be used for both cooking as well as drunk warm.

How I use it:

I often make homemade chicken noodle soup using Kettle & Fire’s chicken bone broth for my kids. When I’m on top of my nutrition game, I will prepare a 4 oz cup of one of Kettle & Fire’s bone broths or soups (made with their own bone broths) and enjoy as a morning beverage or bedtime snack.   

How I found it:

Not long before I began using bone broth, I learned about the health benefits of adding collagen peptides or hydrolyzed collagen to my diet.  Unfortunately, collagen in a powdered supplement form may not come from actual animal bones, but animal hides, and may be processed in ways that undermine optimal health.  Moreover, the body is generally better adapted to absorbing and assimilating nutrients from whole foods than it is to supplements. Processing can also deplete food of its original nutrient content and include additives that don’t support health. 

I was so happy to learn that you could find whole food collagen in bone broth and benefit from the added nutrition of bone broth’s naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids.  One of my favorite nutrition podcasters, Shawn Mynar, host of the “Keto for Women” podcast, suggested Kettle and Fire, and I’ve been hooked ever since! 

Why I use it:

My youngest son has had allergic reactions to foods.  When I learned that improving gut health can be an important tool in mitigating allergic reactions, I started preparing homemade chicken noodle soup using Kettle & Fire’s bone broth for both my kids to support and improve the health of their gut microbiomes.  And because the benefits of bone broth go far beyond improving gut health, I felt this was a great addition to our diet to support our overall health.  If there was just one health tool I could encourage each of my clients to incorporate into their diets, it would be a daily 4 oz serving of bone broth! 

I chose Kettle and Fire for a few reasons.  It is shelf stable and can be stored in your pantry for months. The ingredients are organic and what I call super clean.  Most importantly, it is the only bone broth I have tried that in my opinion is truly delicious.  Unfortunately, many of the brands I have tried were so distasteful that I would have been hard pressed to get down 4 oz without significant alteration to improve taste.  And finally, their assortment of flavors and now soups, are robust.  And I love the origin story of this company!  It’s just good food, good vibes, and good intentions!