Month: April 2017

The Healing Effects of Bone Broth and How To Make Your Own

Without an adequate intake of protein and minerals, your body begins to malfunction. Meat provides minerals and is known as the best source of protein, while dairy products are known as a great source of protein and calcium. But having a glass of milk with your steak dinner is not the healthiest way to ensure that you are getting protein and minerals in your diet.

IGF-1, mTOR, Insulin, and Cancer

Dairy and animal products contain an abundance of protein, with all the amino acids (the building blocks of protein) that your body needs to heal, grow, and function properly. When you consume dairy or animal protein, your body responds by releasing a hormone called insulin and activating two pathways called IGF-1 and mTOR so that you can utilize the protein to promote the growth of your cells. In other words, insulin, IGF-1, and mTOR cater a party for your cells to celebrate the abundance, but as we age cancerous cells start to crash the party.

Related: Homemade, Vegan Nut Milk Recipes and More

When we are children, and even after we finish an intense workout, the amino acids from the animal and dairy proteins we consume tend to aid in the growth of cells necessary for our health like the cells in our bones, muscles, blood, and organs. However, when we are fully grown, rarely workout, and consume many servings of meat per day, cancer cells begin feeding and thriving off of the catering that IGF-1, mTOR, and insulin provide.

One particular amino acid, leucine, is known to be a potent stimulator of the secretion of insulin and activation of the IGF-1 and mTOR pathways. Animal and dairy proteins tend to be high in leucine, which is why things like whey protein and chocolate milk tend to be heavily marketed as “muscle builders”, but they also stimulate the growth and proliferation of cancer cells and disease as well.

Another amino acid that can cause problems when consumed in high amounts is methionine. This amino acid is abundant in dairy and meat proteins, and it leads to an increase in homocysteine levels in the blood. Homocysteine is a significant risk factor for serious diseases like heart disease, stroke, and mental illness.

What About Vegan Sources of Protein?

Protein from beans and vegetables has been found to stimulate little to no increase in IGF-1, mTOR, insulin or homocysteine, which partially explains why a plant-based diet is known for its cancer and disease preventing power.

But when it comes to minerals, many vegetables contain oxalates which can inhibit the absorption of minerals like calcium. Plus many find it difficult to maintain adequate protein intake and a healthy lifestyle with a vegan diet. However, for non-vegans, there is something that you can make at home that comes with all of the benefits of animal protein without the risk, a good dose of minerals, and many other benefits that you won’t get from a steak dinner.

Related: Animal vs. Plant Protein – What’s Better?

Bone Broth and Its Benefits

Bone broth is a savory liquid consisting of the water in which the bones and cartilage of meat or fish have been simmered. The nutritional content of each bone broth varies based on the bones used, cooking time, and cooking method, but you can almost guarantee that you will find these nutrients to some degree in every bone broth (and experience their health benefits).

Collagen and Gelatin

Collagen makes up about 30 percent of the protein in your body and is the main component of connective tissues like cartilage, ligaments, tendons, bone, and skin. Gelatin forms when the collagen is simmered during the process of making bone broth, which gives the broth a Jell-O like consistency when it is cooled.

Although this technically is an animal protein, it has much less leucine than the protein found in meat and dairy. It also has less leucine than common vegan sources of protein like soy. Even without the extra leucine, collagen still supports the growth of muscle tissue, so you may not need the whey protein after all.

Bone broth also contains high amounts other amino acids that maintain health and prevent disease of many organ systems in the body.

Glycine

Collagen contains high amounts of the amino acid glycine, which helps control blood sugar levels and prevents the negative effects caused by having too much methionine that we talked about earlier in this article. Glycine is also important for the production of myoglobin and hemoglobin for oxygen transport in the muscle and blood respectively. This means that it improves your exercise performance and your ability to recover from those exercises.

Glycine aids in digestion by protecting us from gastric ulcers, stimulating stomach acid production, and as a component of bile acid to help us digest fats. The effects of glycine are also felt in almost every cell in the body because it restores the body’s master antioxidant, glutathione.

Proline

About seventeen percent of collagen is made up of the amino acid proline. It helps regulate mTOR, aiding in cell growth and proliferation, while it clears up waste products and free radicals from cells. This makes it less likely that the activation of the mTOR pathway will lead to cancer growth.

Glutamine

Glutamine is abundant in the blood and is one of the few amino acids that can cross the blood-brain barrier. It is essential for the health of the intestinal barrier of our gut and the function of our immune cells because these cells prefer to consume glutamine for energy.

Minerals

Earlier in this article, we mentioned that milk contains many essential minerals for our health. Bone contains almost all of the minerals found in milk and then some. Calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and zinc are all found in bone. Each mineral serves its own essential role for the health and function of your body while providing the raw materials you need to build strong bones.

Glycosaminoglycans

When you make bone broth using bones with the tendons, ligaments, and cartilage still attached you will guarantee that you are getting natural sources glycosaminoglycans.

Not familiar with the term?

How about the popular joint support supplement called chondroitin sulfate? This is a glycosaminoglycan that is found in the cartilage, and it protects our joints from wear and tear.

Glycosaminoglycans are complex carbohydrates that attach to proteins to form parts of your connective tissue and synovial fluid, the lubricant that surrounds the joint. They also play an important role in skin health by promoting skin hydration and wound repair. Combine this with the beneficial effects that collagen has on reducing cellulite and protecting the skin from UV damage, and you have a skin health supplement in your bone broth that actually works.

Specific glycosaminoglycans serve other important roles in the body. The glycosaminoglycan called heparin sulfate has been shown to help regulate immune system function, and the most well-known glycosaminoglycan, chondroitin sulfate, plays an important role in boosting our cognitive abilities.

Order Out or Make Your Own?

Now you know that bone broth contains nutrients essential for the health of every cell in the body, and it can be a valuable addition to any diet, but how do you get it?

It is best to get your bone broth from people that source their bones from healthy animals. Here are some high-quality bone broth sources that will ship to directly to your place:

But if you’re feeling ambitious and want to guarantee that you will get all of the benefits from the bone, tendon, cartilage, and ligaments, I suggest making your own bone broth.

The Simplest Bone Broth Recipe

Making bone broth is easier than you think. All it takes is high-quality bones, water, heat, and patience.

Step 1

Save the bones and cartilage from something you already ate, or purchase bones from a quality source like U.S Wellness Meats or White Oak Pastures.

For example, you can use the bones from a chicken, duck, or lamb leg that you just ate from dinner.

Bonus Tip: The best broth that I’ve ever made was from two pig feet. It was filled with so much gelatin and glycosaminoglycans that it became completely gelatinous at room temperature. Using parts of the animal that have very little meat, but a lot of cartilage, ligaments, tendons, and skin is the best way to make bone broth that is filled with gelatin and glycosaminoglycans. Fish heads, chicken feet, and pig feet are all perfect examples of this and make the healthiest broths.

Step 2

Put the bones in a pot, a slow cooker, or a pressure cooker and cover them with water.

If you’re using a pot, bring the water to a simmer and cook the bones for 8-24 hours.

If you’re using a slow cooker, cook the bones on the low setting for 8-24 hours.

If you’re using a pressure cooker, you only need to cook the bones for 2-3 hours.

Bonus Tip: Add 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to the water and let the bones soak for 30 minutes to modestly increase the mineral content of your bone broth.

Flavor Tip: Add a small onion, a couple carrots, a stalk of celery, and a pinch of sea salt to improve the flavor of your broth.

Step 3

Sift out all solid particles by using a mesh strainer, so that you have a liquid broth with no solid particles floating in it.

Step 4

Use the broth as a base for soups, add the broth to smoothies, drink it as a hot beverage, store it in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze it.

Enjoy!

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How to Build a Rain Garden Step-by-Step & Why It Helps Protect the Environment

Rainwater harvesting is one of the most important things anyone can do to help preserve our environment. We don’t have an unlimited amount of fresh water at the moment. Plus, rainwater that runs off your roof is better off being used than running down the drain. Roof rainwater is typically filled with heavy metals and chemicals that leach from roofing materials, animal droppings, and many other pollutants. This polluted water will make its way down the drains and into our rivers.

Rain Gardens Are the Perfect Solution

Rain gardens allow homeowners to collect rainwater, put it to good use by growing beautiful plants, ensure that it is conserved in the ground and filtered before it passes into lakes, rivers, and the groundwater. Water can be diverted from driveways and roofs into the rain garden, plus the way the garden is designed will mean most water in a storm will naturally flow into them instead of ending up in places that could hurt our health.

We’re going to look at the steps you need to take to create one, but first, make sure your tool shed is in order. You’ll need tools, so ensure the clutter is gone so you can find them and they’re all stored away neatly. Once you’re done we’ll proceed to focus on the individual steps you need to take.

A quick Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Rain Garden

1 – Choose Your Location

Make sure your rain garden is at least 10 feet away from your home, plus it should be at a low point in the ground to help it attract water naturally. The downspout on your house and garden shed should be able to reach it too. This can easily be achieved with downspout extenders for short distances and non-perforated drain tile for longer distances. Another option is to collect the water in large barrels or troughs straight from the gutters. The disadvantage is that you’ll have to hand-carry water in smaller buckets to the garden. The advantage is that you won’t have a large volume of water rushing into your garden during a storm, damaging plants, washing away soil and defeating the environmental purposes for your rain garden. Controlled watering from a container with a dispersing head produces gentler watering that is targeted and less wasteful.

  • Downspout extenders ($12-$25 each)
  • A 50-foot coil of drain tile ($24-$30 each)
  • 50-gallon rain barrel with lid ($35-$70)

2 – Ensure It’s Large Enough

When you’re collecting water from a roof it’s going to have a big surface area, so you want your rain garden to handle it easily. You’ll have to work out if the area is large enough while taking the type of soil into account.

3 – Designing Your Rain Garden

You’re not just trying to protect the environment at the expense of your beautiful garden. The rain garden needs to be attractive too, which will mean sitting down with a piece of paper and coming up with the perfect design.

  • Graph paper pad ($4-$6)

4 – Choosing Specific Plants

The same kind of thing applies when you’re choosing plants. You want to pick the ones that will make your garden more aesthetically pleasing. One big piece of advice is to use native plants as they’ll be able to handle the environment. The experts at your local gardening center will assist you in selecting native plants that will do well in local soils. Consider digging a hole and selecting samples from the topsoil and underlying soil layers to take with you for the plant expert to inspect.

5 – Start Mapping It Out

Now you will have to create the shape you plan on using based on your previous design work. It needs to be mapped before you do anything else. It’s also worth finding out at this point if there is anything like pipes underground. In the US and Canada, use the Call 811 service, and someone from the local utility company, usually at no charge, will locate and mark pipes and wiring on your property, so you can avoid the danger and damage of hitting them.

  • 22-foot tape steel tape measure or 50-foot fiberglass tape, depending on the size of your project ($4-$24)
  • Wood marking stakes ($4-$8 per bundle)
  • Sisal for outlining garden boundaries before digging ($3-$5)

6 – Now It’s Time to Dig and Fill

Once you’re sure everything is clear you’ll be able to start digging the soil away. You want to make sure you dig between 4-8 inches deep and measure it just in case. Use some of the soil if you want to build a berm around the edge. If your soil is clayey, this depth will likely be sufficient. If you have sandy soil, especially where your climate is dry, consider digging down 12 inches and lining the bottom of the garden bed with rotting timber from nearby woods or locally purchased firewood. This is an eco-friendly permaculture technique like hügelkultur but in bed form. Timbers absorb water, requiring far less watering of the space should little rainfall. The humus and nutrients produced by the rotting wood encourage plant health too. In sandy soil, a layer of clay can be effective for water retention and for filtering pollutants. Soil scientist Gary M. Pierzynski of Kansas State University says, “Many soil clay particles have a negative charge and will attract any constituents in the water that have a positive charge (e.g., some heavy metals, salts, organic chemicals, and pesticides).”  Minimizing the negative impact of these contaminants on the soil and groundwater is a primary reason for building a rain garden, of course.

  • Locally sourced firewood ($50-$70 per cord, sufficient for a 10’x20’ garden bed)

7 – Getting the Soil Ready

You’ll want to add 2-3 inches of compost into the hole you’ve dug, but it will also need to be mixed in with most of the soil until the ground is level again. You need to ensure you mix everything together properly. The greenest source of compost is your own yard and non-meat food waste. Fruit and vegetable rinds, seeds, egg shells, bread, grass cuttings, tree pruning waste and much more can be composted. Here’s a comprehensive list of things you should and should not compost and instructions to guide you.

8 – Planting Your Flowers

Go back to the design you came up with earlier, and lay your plants in the ground. Make sure they are roughly 12 inches apart. Once they’re safely in the ground you can use your hand trowel to put flowers and grasses into the spaces.

9 – Mulching the Rain Garden

When you’re mulching it’s good to use coarse wood chips as they won’t fly away when the weather gets bad. It should be around 2 inches deep once you’re finished, which will help to lock all the moisture in.

Conclusion

Let’s summarize the many advantages of harvesting rainwater that falls on your roof.

  • The polluted water is diverted from storm drains that empty into lakes and streams
  • It can be filtered through soil before entering groundwater
  • Water can be conserved in a permaculture garden so that fresh water isn’t required for keeping the garden green and growing
  • Research shows that, with specific precautions, harvested rainwater can be used to grow edibles

If you’re looking for a project that is good for people and the planet, planting a permaculture-based garden and watering it with harvested rainwater is a very earth-friendly choice.

Editor’s Note

There are some roofs, even some asphalt roofs, where the water can be collected and then be filtered and used as drinking water. It may be worth some research and lab testing. Before you use rainwater collected from a roof in a food garden, and especially for drinking, it is usually a good idea to get it tested.

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