Dear Reader,

Let’s start with the recipe! This homemade broth features in much of my cooking. I’ll talk about why it’s a powerhouse in healing autoimmunity after the recipe.

How to make bone broth

Ingredients

(organic wherever possible)

1 whole chicken (I just got a good one at Trader Joe’s – but most grocery stores carry them)

3 bay leaves

2 yellow onions – chopped into large chunks

5 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled

1 tablespoon sea salt

1/2 tablespoon black pepper (unless you’re going for a strict AIP diet; if so, eliminate pepper)

handful of fresh thyme, on the stems

handful of fresh rosemary, on the stems

1 tablespoon parsley

3 carrots, washed and chopped in half

3 or 4 celery stalks, washed and chopped in half

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Enough filtered water to fill your crock pot, covering the chicken completely.

Method

Place your chicken in your crock pot. Make sure giblets have been removed.

Add all the rest of your ingredients.

Cook on high for 4 hours.

Turn to low.

Remove chicken and place in a large glass dish. Using 2 forks, pull the chicken meat off the bones. I always use this meat in a recipe.

Dump the entire chicken (minus the good meat) back into the crock pot.

Cook on low heat for 18 to 20 hours.

Turn crock pot off. Using hot pads, move your pot from the heating element and place on top of the stove, or on another burn free surface.

Allow to cool for 15 minutes.

Place a big stock pot in the sink and place a mesh strainer (with small holes) over it. Pour the broth through the strainer, catching the big stuff, and only allowing the broth to go into the pot.

Discard everything that was caught in the strainer.

Pour the broth into tempered glass containers, like canning jars with lids.

Place in the freezer, keeping one out to use tonight, if desired.

Now you’re stocked with broth, and can remove the jars as needed to thaw in the fridge and use in your cooking.

Healing autoimmunity is complicated, because it’s a complicated disease.

Taking your thyroid hormone (although this can be very important), does not heal the underlying mechanism of autoimmunity.

If you’re diagnosed with Hashimoto’s or Graves, it means autoimmunity is turned on in your body. Your immune system has gone haywire.

If you do nothing to heal the root causes of your immune system freaking out, your thyroid will continue to be attacked.

A few factors must be in place for autoimmunity to turn on.

A major one has to do with the health of your gut – your small intestine especially.

The walls of this vast organ are the barrier between all that you eat, and your bloodstream.

If this barrier is compromised, particles will escape from it and enter your bloodstream.

In a healthy gut, the food is broken down well. Only the tiniest little particles are allowed to pass through the semi-permeable walls of the small intestine, where they enter the bloodstream to be carried to the tissues of the body for nourishment.

But what happens if the walls of your small intestine have tiny holes due to a sensitive system, and years of irritation?

Larger particles that haven’t been properly broken down are allowed to escape into the blood.

Now your immune system says ‘Hey wait! Intruder! Attack!’

If this continues, the immune system becomes over zealous.

The butterfly shaped Thyroid gland becomes the target of its confused wrath.

And you feel like junk!

One aspect of healing, involves healing the gut.

Enter bone broth.

The collagen that you get from the broth actually fortifies and heals the precious tissue of your small intestine.

The only caveat is if you’re dealing with histamine issues (evidenced by hives). Bone broth is a high histamine food. So be careful; take it slow and monitor your reaction.

In any case, this powerhouse of a healing food will fortify and strengthen you in all the best ways.

Look to future posts for recipes to include it in your cooking.

Wishing you wellness,

Amanda Rose Baker

Ayurvedic Lifestyle Consultant

None of the information in this blog is meant to replace the advice of your medical doctor. This blog is a lifestyle blog with tips to help you live a healthy life. None of the tips are medical advice. Follow the advice at your own risk. May you glow with health!