Switch Your Metabolism Class set for Mondays: Oct 7,14,21, 6 – 7:30;  and Wednesdays: Oct 9,16,23, 1 – 2:30.  The goal: to teach you how to be a Fat Burner and not a Sugar Burner.  We’ll cover the Paleo Diet, Digestion, Blood Sugar (you HAVE to understand your biology to lose weight and get healthy), Power Cooking, Compliance Strategies and much more.  The class will be held at the Marshall Community Center (4133A Rectortown Rd, Marshall Va), which is right off Rt 17 and Rt 66 – it’s easy to get to.  The total cost: $100.  My goal:  to help you understand that your weight and your health are a matter of your Biology, not a low cal/low fat diet that never works, ever; and that you have the Power to change yourself.  Email me if you can attend.  Phone and Skype sessions are available if you’re long distance.

Repeat after me:  If I eat for Health, Weight Loss will be a side effect.  If I eat for Health, Weight Loss will be a side effect.  Repeat again, and work on believing that, because it’s true.

Want to know of a Power Food that will improve your skin, your joints, your hair, your nails, your arteries (your Health)?  Bone Broth.  Keep Reading Please!  Sounds like an old fashioned, boring food, but really, it’s a Secret Elixier, and you should definitely work on incorporating it into your eating plan.

Here’s a few reasons why:  in her book, Deep Nutrition, Dr. Cate Shanahan says,“The health of your joints depends upon the health of the collagen in your ligaments, tendons, and on the ends of your bones. Collagens are a large family of biomolecules, which include the glycosaminoglycans, very special molecules that help keep our joints healthy.”    

Bone broth is LOADED with collagen, and all the cofactors your body needs to use and incorporate it.  Collagen is actually a family of biomolecules, which include:  glucosamine, chondroitin, hyaluronic acid, and more which together are called glycosaminoglycans.  Glycosaminoglycans encourage Fibroblast Cells in your arteries, skin, joints, etc, to lay down their own collagen. (“collagen away your wrinkles!”)

Are you paying for those nutrients in supplement form? Are they working? Are they expensive?  Getting your nutrients from Real Whole Food sources is ALWAYS a more effective form than supplements;  as I said above, all the “co-factors” are included in RWFs.

Another reason to incorporate Bone Broth?  Gut health, especially as a remedy for Leaky Gut.  The cells of the intestinal lining are supposed to be slightly permeable, that way nutrients can leak into the blood stream.  Thanks to a Standard American Diet and Lifestyle ( gluten, cortisol/stress, pharmaceuticals, poor diet, etc) most peoples guts are too permeable. Hello allergies, auto-immune, and chronic illness.  Bone broth is actually a very popular, old, and proven remedy in many gut healing protocols, like the GAPS diet.   The Gelatin in Bone Broth has nutrients your intestinal walls LOVE – let the healing begin!

Your skin? Your hair? Your arteries?  They’re all made of the same nutrients that comprise Bone Broth.  The amount of amino acids (which combine to make proteins) and minerals is EXTENSIVE.  The fatty acid profile depends on which animal it comes from; if you’ve been reading this blog, you know that animal fats from healthy animals have anti-viral, anti-bacterial properties, in addition to building and repair.

Real Whole Foods, like Bone Broth, contain the actual nutrients your body uses to build and repair itself.  They also signal hormones in your brain that convey satiety, which would be completely different from commercially made broths that contain flavors, vegetable oils, and MSG, all of which are appetite stimulating (and health destructive).  Reminder: read your labels!

Unsure of how to make Broth, or incorporate it?  We’ll be talking about that in my Weight Loss Strategies Class (because eating healthy is the KEY to weight loss).  For now though, here’s some pointers:  when you buy meat, buy BONE-IN (not just for the broth, but because those minerals and nutrients leach into your meat = higher nutrient value), and SAVE YOUR BONES.  I keep mine in the freezer in large ziplocs.  You don’t need to make your broth until you want to.  Simmer your bones in a large pot for at least 24 hours and up to 48.  Add a tablespoon of vinegar (white or ACV) because it helps break down the bone matrix (= more nutrients leach out).   When it’s done, filter out the bones and bits thru a sieve/colander, keep some in your fridge, and some in your freezer.  Some people freeze portions in ice cube trays for easy add-ins to vegetables or small meals.  I keep mine in jars in the fridge, and ziplocs in the freezer – I’ve had bad experiences freezing glass:(   When I transfer the frozen broth to the fridge, I thaw it first and then pour it in a jar.  It’s less likely to spill and easier to store in the fridge that way.

Looking for recipes?  Google “bone broth recipes” and you’ll get a little over 2 million.  I don’t just use it in recipes though, I cook most everything in it:  fish, chicken, vegetables.  And I always add it to casseroles, and even scrambled eggs ( it cooks right up, the same as if you added milk or cream).

Back to the original thought:  eat for your health, and weight loss will be a side effect.  Real Whole Foods are honestly the key.  If you’ve been a store-bought, restaurant-bought, processed food fan, and want to make the change, now’s the time!  Planning, prepping, cooking, packing, they’re just skills and habits that become second nature once they’re practiced enough. The difference it will make in your life, and your families life, is enormous.