When the bone broth movement began several years ago, it was a celebration of a return to traditional, nutrient-dense, healing foods.

Many of us began to recognize that the rise of disease and lack of optimal health, happiness, and energy that we're experiencing is a product of the processed, inferior foods we're buying into. So we began ditching our microwaves, TV dinners, and processed foods in favor of real, ancestral foods once again.

But, as the old adage says, history repeats itself. This is evident in the genesis of products like powdered bone broth and K-cup bone broth. That is, an attempt to take a healing, REAL food and turn it into a processed convenience food.

Here's the problem: all of the studies on the power and benefits of bone broth are done on traditionally prepared broth, not processed versions. By deconstructing bone broth, you lose the very essence of what makes it the nourishing, healing food that it is. Properly prepared bone broth is more than its individual properties:

• bioavailable collagen
• abundant amino acids
• vitamins and minerals
• glucosaminoglycans
• healthy fats and much more!

Bone broth is a synergy of all its properties working together. Add to that the aroma, warmth, deliciousness, energy, love, and nostalgia, and you begin to understand that real bone broth is an EXPERIENCE: you can actually FEEL it nourishing your cells. I dare say you miss that experience when you drink powdered water from a blender cup in your car!

I'm not going to say there are no shortcuts in life. There are some. But bone broth is not one of them. We could take shortcuts and powder our broth. Charge less, and make a huge profit. But integrity does not allow it. In the case of bone broth, you do get what you pay for.

If you're in the market for bone broth, then you likely value your health and wellness. So do your research. Ask questions. How is it being made? Who is making it? Look at reviews and credentials.

While I do sometimes supplement with probiotics or use green powders (from companies that I've researched and vetted for myself), I do so with full knowledge that it isn't providing the same benefits as eating fermented foods or real vegetables. If a green powder manufacturer claimed I would never have to eat another vegetable again if I used their product every day, I would seriously question their ethics.

Bone broth is not a fad. It's a traditional, healing FOOD. And, if done right, it tastes really good!

To learn more about the health benefits of bone broth soup, read my book, Kristina Amelong's Ten Days to Optimal Health.

For those who don't eat meat, find it unpleasant to work with the bones, or do not consume bone broth for other reasons, alternatively I recommend one daily scoop of Ortho CollaGEN Powder dissolved in 8 oz of water. This supplement is formulated to nutritionally support cartilage, tendons, ligaments, fascia, and skin.

Labels: bone broth soup, collagen, food as medicine, healthy fats, nourishment, probiotics, processed food, vitamins