The Ayurveda Experience Blog
Bone broth strengthens the body and helps you recharge and rejuvenate, particularly if you’re recovering from cold and flu. According to Ayurveda, bone broth benefits are particularly helpful in winter. In this article, we’ll share bone broth benefits (chicken broth) plus a winter bone broth chicken recipe to keep you warm and well nourished.
Here’s what you’ll learn.
Bone Broth In Ayurveda
Ayurvedic Winter Diet
Bone Broth Benefits In Winter
Chicken Breast Soup For Inflammation
Bone Broth For Bone Health, Hair, Nails + Teeth
How To Use Bone Broth
Bone Broth And Weight Loss
The Science Behind Chicken Broth
4-Step Bone Broth Chicken Recipe: How To Make Bone Broth
READ MORE: Meat Use In Ayurveda: This Holistic Science Is Not Vegetarian Or Vegan
Bone Broth In Ayurveda
Bone broth is nutrient dense and easily digestible.
It’s exactly what your tummy likes when cold, flu or a poor winter diet brings about weak digestion.
Bone broth is light (laghu) and easy to digest. It is liquid (drava) and oily (snigdha).
This healing soup is particularly useful in cold, dry months. It keeps you nourished and warm.
Drink a small cup of this mineral rich soup daily to ward off autumn deficiencies.
Ayurvedic Winter Diet
In the northern hemisphere, mid-November to mid-January is the late autumn and pre-winter season. It’s known as hemanta ritu in Ayurveda. The blow of cool breezes brings chill and cold.
The dominating rasa at this time is sweet (Madhura). The dominating elements in the environment (Mahabhutas) are earth (Prithvi) and water (Apa). The energy and strength of an individual is at its highest peak during this part of the year. Pitta Dosha becomes less intense and metabolism (Agni) is increased.
During this season, eat oily, sweet, tart and salty foods. Among grains and pulses, new rice, baked goods and green gram are suggested.
Meats, fats, milk and dairy products, along with sugarcane, fermented foods and sesame are beneficial for the diet at this time. Stay away from Vata aggravating foods.1 That includes anything light like salads, cool like cold beverages and dry like granola.
READ MORE: Winter Practices To Support Your Inward Journey
Bone Broth Benefits In Winter
Bone broth acts as a tonic, allowing your body to restock on much needed nutrient supplies. It also pacifies Vata and soothes the central nervous system. You’ll feel calm, soothed and warm after bone broth soup during these cold months.
Bone broth has been used medicinally for thousands of years. It originates in Chinese medicine.
An inexpensive and simple meal to prepare, it’s a convenient yet powerful health tonic to add to your diet. It has a particular affinity for strengthening the blood, due to its rich iron content, leading to healthy tissue and organ function.
The easy to digest nature of bone broth soup means it transforms in the body tissues with ease, supporting a healthy immune system and increasing overall strength and vitality (ojas).
Bone broth is anti-inflammatory.
It reduces an excess of Pitta while still enkindling digestive strength (agni) and improving absorption of nutrients. Adding a little ghee to your bone broth soup will further enhance the anti-inflammatory, cooling and immunity boosting properties of this meal.
Amino acids present in bone broth include cysteine, histidine and glycine. They are known to reduce gut inflammation.
If you experience constipation, diarrhea, IBS, leaky gut or Crohn’s disease, drink bone broth to re-establish regular bowel movements and a healthy gut flora.
The anti-inflammatory properties and collagen content of this meal soothe and repair a damaged gastrointestinal tract and strengthen the digestive system.
READ MORE: Marma Points For Indigestion And Metabolism
Chicken Breast Soup For Inflammation
When we fall sick, the body sends signals to white blood cells (neutrophils), which migrate to the region and cause inflammation and other such symptoms.
According to a 2000 study published in the journal Chest, chicken soup helps slow down or block the movement and activity of neutrophils. This reduces inflammation in the body.2
This was supported by a 2012 study published in the American Journal of Therapeutics. It was found that a compound called carnosine in soup could help inhibit the pro-inflammatory conditions typically seen in the initial stages of viral infections.3
Carnosine is mostly present in the muscles, especially the breast and wings, and not the bones of the chicken.4
READ MORE: How To Fight The Flu With Ayurveda
Bone Broth For Bone Health, Hair, Nails + Teeth
Ayurveda says that by eating foods with similar qualities of a certain tissue, we can increase the strength of that specific tissues.
For example, adding mineral rich bone broth to your diet will naturally increase the strength and quality of the bones plus your hair, nails and teeth. This follows the Ayurvedic rule of ‘like increases like’.5
In serious cases of bone disease, bone broth has been used under medical supervision as an enema or basti. It helps restore degenerated bones to good health.
The light, clear, liquid qualities of bone broth mean it is easily digested and absorbed and can penetrate and nourish the deeper tissues of the body such as the bone.
It also contains collagen, glucosamine and chondroitin, all essential ingredients for healthy bones and joints.
READ MORE: The Osteoporosis Diet And Lifestyle Plan From Ayurveda
How To Use Bone Broth
When making bone broth, it is important to source good quality bones from healthy animals.
Bone broth may be a little too oily for Kapha, but you can add some black pepper or fresh ginger to the pot to enhance digestion.
Bone broth alone may not offer a lot of health benefits but there are ways to make it healthier. Add your favorite veggies to the broth or whip up some interesting spices to go with it. It is very soothing and warming during a bad attack of the flu.
Bone Broth And Weight Loss
A pilot study published in the European Journal Of Clinical Nutrition6 studied the effect of glutamine on non-dieting obese humans.
The study concluded that the amino acid glutamine reduced body weight greatly, even without any change in diet or physical activity of the subjects.
Moreover, an animal study also found this amino acid to aid weight loss.7
READ MORE: Triphala For Weight Loss
The Science Behind Chicken Broth
Anti-Inflammatory Effects
A 2000 study published in CHEST suggested that the mild anti-inflammatory effect conferred by chicken soup could be one of the reasons behind the soup’s ability to mitigate symptomatic upper respiratory tract infections like the common cold.
Typically, when an individual comes down with a cold, the body responds with inflammation in the upper respiratory tract. The inflammatory response in turn signals white blood cells (WBCs) to migrate to the region. This migration of WBCs into the upper respiratory tract may contribute to the commonly encountered cold symptoms, such as stuffy noses.
When the researchers measured the ability of the WBCs to migrate through a filter from one side of a chamber to the other side, they found that fewer cells migrated to the other side of the chamber in the presence of chicken soup.
As a result, the scientists of the study propose that some ingredient in the soup may be responsible for slowing or blocking the migration of these WBCs to the upper respiratory tract and thus aid in relieving cold symptoms.
Nevertheless, the researchers were unable to identify the biologically active compound from this study of chicken soup. 2,8
A 2012 study published in the American Journal of Therapeutics suggested that a compound called carnosine, which is found in sources like chicken soup and chicken breast, could help inhibit the pro-inflammatory conditions typically associated with the initial stages of viral infections and prevent the development of the common cold. 3
Increased Movement Of Nasal Fluids
Although hot fluids typically aid in the movement of nasal mucus, chicken soup can be superior to hot water in increasing the movement of nasal mucus, clearing the airways, and easing congestion.
This insight into chicken soup is based upon a study that examined the nasal mucus velocity of 15 healthy subjects who drank cold water, hot water, or chicken soup.
The results of this research, published in a 1978 article in CHEST, demonstrated that compared with hot water and cold water, hot chicken soup led to improved nasal mucus velocity.9
Furthermore, according to a 1998 report from Coping with Allergies and Asthma, chicken soup or broth may improve the ability of the tiny hairline projections in the nose called cilia to prevent infectious particles from afflicting the body.10
As the winters has already arrived, warm yourself up with a steaming bowl of homemade bone broth.
READ MORE: Detox Dal: Ayurvedic Winter Soup For Cleansing
4-Step Bone Broth Chicken Recipe: How To Make Bone Broth
Use this simple 4-step bone broth chicken recipe to rest, recover and reset your digestive strength.
1. Place chicken bones in a pot and cover with water.
2. Add two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and let sit for one hour. This will help leach out minerals.
3. Coarsely chop onion, celery and carrots and add to the pot. Then, boil for one hour at a minimum or 24 hrs in a slow cooker.
4. Strain and serve.
References
1. K.R. Srikantha Murthy, Ashtanga Samgraha of Vagbhata, vol 1 (Sutra Sthana), Chaukhamba Orientalia, 2017, Chapter 4, page 61, verse 14-18.
2. Chicken soup inhibits neutrophil chemotaxis in vitro. Rennard BO1, Ertl RF, Gossman GL, Robbins RA, Rennard SI. /www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11035691.
3. “Management of the virulent influenza virus infection by oral formulation of non hydrolized carnosine and isopeptide of carnosine attenuating proinflammatory cytokine-induced nitric oxide production.” Am J Ther. (2012).
4. Kim, Seung-Ki, Yu-Mi Kim, In-Kee Baek, and Joong-Hyuck Auh. “Carnosine and anserine in chicken: Distribution, age-dependency and their anti-glycation activity.” Kore.
5. Dr. Shashirekha H.K., Dr. Bargale sushant Sukumar, Chaukhamba Publication, New Delhi, 2017, Vol 1 Sutra Sthana, Chapter 1, verse 44, page 13.
6. Aviano, A., A. Molfino, M. T. Lacaria, A. Canelli, S. De Leo, I. Preziosa, and F. Rossi Fanelli. “Glutamine supplementation favors weight loss in non-dieting obese female patients.
7. Opara, Emmanuel C., Ann Petro, Allyson Tevrizian, Mark N. Feinglos, and Richard S. Surwit. “L-Glutamine supplementation of a high fat diet reduces body weight and attenuates hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia in C57BL/67 mice.” The Journal of nutrition 126, no. 1 (1996): 273.
8. “Chicken Soup Really Is Good for a Cold.” abc new.go.com. (2000).
9. “Effects of drinking hot water, cold water, and chicken soup on nasal mucus velocity and nasal airflow resistance.” CHEST. (1978).
10. “Chicken Soup for Allergies and Asthma.” Coping with Asthma and Allergies. (1998)
