Ok, so you've just finished destroying a big, grass-fed rib eye and it's time to clean up. You and your family all have their plates cleaned (I hope. Don't be throwing away meat) except for the cow graveyard on your plates. Your first thought is to scrape the leftovers, starting with tossing those old gross bones into the trash. But if you knew how those bones are packed with so many nutrients you wouldn't just toss them out all willy nilly. I want to share with you how to repurpose these old bones into immune building, mood improving and health boosting broth.

Bone broth from properly raised/fed animals is one of the most magical super foods on the planet. But it doesn't stop there. Ligaments, hooves and cartilage are all included in this discussion. Just about all of your table scraps have a place in the pot. Here are a few benefits to throwing those bones in the slow cooker after dinner.

 1. Bone Broth is packed with Collagen

Collagen has many different life giving effects.

Skin: Collagen rests in our skin and gives it that elasticity. It's proteins ensure that skin will regenerate quicker and better. As we age our collagen production is in steady decline. This partly explains our wrinkles, and overall skin quality decline and this is also why we see so many collagen face masks in the cosmetics sections of stores. There is a race to preserve skin quality in the cosmetics field, and while there is merit to a few of those products, one of the best things we can do is actually ingest the collagen.

Flexibility: Collagen also helps increase mobility and stretch in your muscles. This is great for everyone but athletes in particular. Collagen is the main protein in connective tissue, so the more available it is, the better it's absorbed so you can move with better fluidity.

Helps aid weight reduction: Collagen protein helps fill you up and gives you satiety.

Build some mass: Combine collagen with some BCAA's and some L-Glutamine for a perfect post workout re-feed for light to moderate workouts. Collagen also helps form creatine in your body allowing you to pack on some mass

Bone strength: It seems natural that collagen in the bones of animals can help our human bones as well. Supplement with this and you'll have more dense, heavier bones. It also contains Glycine, a non-essential Amino Acid that helps maintain your bone cartilage.

Better Sleep: I've taken collagen at bedtime and it's had a noticeable effect on sleep. Growth hormone release occurs better when taking collagen, which helps you repair muscle tissue allowing you to wake more rested, especially after workouts.

(TIP: Make sure you get high quality, grass-fed collagen)

2. Bone Broth can help heal your gut

If you're suffering from GERD, heart burn or stomach aches, you may have a leaky gut. A leaky gut can cause a number of problems and may even result in an auto immune condition. You may find yourself having chronic stomach problems or a low immune system. Throughout a lifetime of shaky dieting, stress or poor bacteria quality in the stomach, you will develop a gut lining with small pinholes. Think of a colander or even a screen door. The big stuff stays in the gut, but anything tiny still gets in. This means tiny food particles are trickling into your body undigested.

Bone Broth can help you recover by "sealing" your gut lining, which can help stop leaky gut.  The gelatin in the collagen holds liquids in and in so doing will aid digestion.

3. Bone Broth is a go-to when you are sick

Bone Broth helps detox your liver, ridding it of all of the built up garbage that's causing you sickness.

You may walk into a store and see these expensive and junk ridden Detox programs, but some left over bones may be able to detox you far greater than any $40 juice can. Bone broth is packed with Glycine and glycine helps load the liver with the ability to detoxify.

When my wife or I gets sick, we do a 1-2 day bone broth fast. It helps fix our gut biome and knocks out our sickness quickly. So next time you get the sniffles, get some bone broth on the slow cooker for 12-24 hours and cut it off in it's tracks.

Plain and simple, the broth will make you feel fantastic. It will give you a little high a few hours of slurping it down because of how amazing you feel. This should be in your steady meal rotation starting today.