fire burn and cauldron bubble

Sometimes the OH really does deliver – I received the Hemsley Sisters’ fabulous book for our anniversary a few days ago, woop! (maybe that Amazon wishlist helped a little…). Having read a lot recently about bone broth, and noticing that it’s in almost every one of their recipes, I set about making a couple of liters of the stuff. Wow, what a mission. First off the organic beef bones from the butcher (aka diplodocus bones, later played with by Sacha – eech!), then finding the massive Xmas-ham-pan, then boiling and boiling for hours on end, steaming up all the windows and stinking the house out.

But… It tastes delicious, and I’ve been substituting it for my morning cup of coffee with very promising effects so far. Greatly reduced IBS symptoms and more energy (it’s only been a couple of days) – though this could obviously be attributed to cutting out caffeine.

I believe that the no. 1 priority for fibro sufferers is to heal our guts, as the majority of symptoms,  including chronic inflammation, fibro fog, depression, joint pain and allergies originate here.  Although compelling research seems to be a bit thin on the ground, one oft-cited study, published in 2000, showed that chicken stock can ease cold symptoms, at least in the lab. Researchers at the University of Nebraska exposed neutrophils, the white blood cells that fight infections and promote inflammation, to diluted chicken broth. The liquid influenced the movement of the cells, suggesting that chicken soup might have similar effects in the body. The soup tested was from a family recipe provided by the lead researcher. But – here’s the bit that makes the results questionable – canned soups (all but 2) also worked in the same way. Anyway, if it works for us, then that’s good enough – whatever the clinicians say!

I will be making more… with the doors and windows open this time.