Niacin, Exercise, and Sauna—A Simple and Effective Detox Program That Can Significantly Improve Your Health

Click HERE to watch the full interview 

Download Interview Transcript

May 04, 2014

By Dr. Mercola

If you're struggling with chronic health problems, chances are you'd greatly benefit from a detoxification program. But how does one go about it, safely and effectively? In this interview, Dr. George Yu answers this important question. A graduate of Tufts University Medical School, he did his surgical training at Harvard and Johns Hopkins. For the last 35 years, he's been associated with George Washington University.  

Dr. Yu has been, and still is, involved with some very exciting clinical trials to help detoxify people from the Gulf War at present for veterans under the principle investigator David Carpenter of University of Albany and the Department of Defense, and 9/11 rescue workers exposed to toxic debris and in the past Agent Orange.

Integrated medicine and detoxification may seem an odd specialty of a conventionally trained surgeon. His interest in this field began in 2002 when, as a urological oncologist doing surgeries for advanced diseases, he was asked to audit some cases in which caloric restriction was used to treat terminal cancer.

"One of the things that we noticed when we looked at the radiographs with Dr. Peter Choyke at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was that when the tumor regressed, the fat – the visceral fat – also regressed at the same time, and we termed this Visceral Defatting Process," he says.

"Because I was so interested in fat and tumor regression simultaneously, Dr. David Root, who was involved with detoxification for the 9/11 firefighters, and I talked and he asked if residual toxic chemicals remain in fat and brain then what are the future consequences?"

As it turns out, many of the firefighters were heavy, and Dr. Root wanted to find out what happens when one removes toxic chemicals from body fat. How much is left in the visceral fat?

Dr. Yu postulated that some of the fatty tissues may be expelling the toxic chemicals when they undergo the niacin detoxification process of one month, but if they lose weight later they have a chance to further remove these residual chemicals.at the time that they lose the weight.

The classic study done by Roy Walford and John Laseter in the Biosphere 2 study1 in the 1990s and published in 2002 show the same toxic chemical mobilization from fat to blood in the two year period while eating a high nutrition calorie-restricted diet of 1500 to 1800 calorie diet.

The niacin regimen simply happens to mobilize fat and toxins faster using these artificial approaches. In the schematic diagram lipolysis of fat and toxin below showing when lipolysis can occur, even sleep will lead to lipolysis and weight loss, and of course toxic release, along with the use of agents like Niacin and agents like ephedra.

Your Body Stores Toxins in Fat and Other Fatty Organs such as the Brain

In 1990, Dr. David Root, an occupational specialist, had published a paper2 in which he collected fat samples from Yugoslavian capacitor workers exposed to toxic chemicals. Their fat contained 140 to 150 times higher levels of toxins than their blood.

After the use of the detoxification program, the toxic chemicals decreased by 30 percent from the fat so there was residual toxic chemicals still in fat even though these workers felt better.

So that is the question he asked: What will happen to them next if they have residual chemical left even after aggressive treatment? Dr. Yu and Dr. John Laseter then looked at what the levels might be under normal conditions, in people who had not been exposed to highly toxic chemicals. His results were published online in 2011.3

The study assessed the level of toxic chemicals in the visceral fat in the following four different compartments of patients undergoing elective surgery, some for cancers, others for benign conditions. This is a true In-Vivo study.

• The subcutaneous fat - under your skin
• The visceral fat - fat in the abdomen next to stomach, liver, and intestines
• The retroperitoneal fat - fat in the area behind the stomach and next to the pancreas, kidney, adrenal gland, and major blood vessels aorta and vena cava
• The pelvic fat - fat in the area of the bladder, prostate, and lower arteries

He discovered that certain substances, such as dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), which is a metabolite of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), was consistently about 1,000 times higher in fat than the blood serum levels in the average person.

The average person is likely to have more than 500 times higher levels of toxins in their bodies than what is revealed in their blood serum. Interestingly, certain internal organs, such as kidneys and prostate, did not show the presence of toxic chemicals at all. Below are a couple of examples of the average levels of toxins (chlorinated pesticides, and PCBs) found in blood versus body fat.

Average levels of elevated Chlorinated Pesticides found in serum and fat can be 1000x higher in fat compared to blood serum

Average levels of PCB found in serum and fats

The question then became, how does one get these toxins out? Dr. David Root has the most experience detoxifying the veterans with Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam. He used niacin (vitamin B3) as a way to mobilize fat and free up toxic chemicals locked in all lipophilic fatty tissues, i.e. the fat and in your brain. Dr. Yu's program is also based on the use of niacin to mobilize toxic substances from your fat cells.

"Of course, a lot of substances come out from your body. But the two biggest surface areas are the skin and the GI tract. In our clinic, we started thinking that we have to mobilize it not only from the skin by sweating after we use the niacin, but also using the GI tract to pull it out," Dr. Yu explains.

"One of the things that I want to clarify is that people think detoxification is the process. I think it's actually mobilization of the toxic chemicals, and then having a way to eliminate it and to excrete it out.

'Detoxification' by medical terms is only in the liver. That's very important. But to mobilize things quickly, you have to use this kind of [mobilization and elimination] system."

Key Elements of Effective Detoxification

If you lose weight, you will gradually move the toxic chemicals out from the fat with the triglyceride mobilization into your blood, from where they can then be removed. This was clearly demonstrated in a 1999 study.4 This is an important concept, as two-thirds of Americans are overweight.

A simple way to detoxify is to optimize your lean body mass, because you can't store toxins if fat is absent. To mobilize and excrete toxins, Dr. Yu recommends using niacin in combination with exercise and sauna therapy. Exercise is key, in order to eliminate the toxins through your skin, otherwise, they'll just end up being reabsorbed by your body. Using a sauna will also allow for excretion through your pores. Infrared saunas are a great option, and can significantly expedite the detoxification process.

The sauna heats your tissues several inches deep, which can enhance your natural metabolic processes. It also enhances circulation and helps oxygenate your tissues. If you do use an infrared sauna, make sure that is a low or no EMF model as many of the infrared saunas emit very high levels of potentially harmful EMF radiation. Your skin is a major organ of elimination, but many people do not sweat on a regular basis. This may be due to wearing synthetic or tight clothing that does not breathe. Sedentary living and sun damage also inactivate your skin. Repeated use of the sauna slowly restores skin elimination, which can help reduce your toxic load quite significantly.

For added elimination, you can also use substances like activated charcoal (Dr. Yu typically recommends 500 mg, or about five 100 mg tablets), and/or zeolite clay (even oils which also absorb toxic chemicals)—both of which will pull the toxins from your blood and out through your GI tract. In the old days, we used to treat drug overdose with anti-asthmatic drugs, such as theophylline, by simply using a heavy dose of charcoal to absorb the drug through the GI tract.

Just beware that any medicines and supplements you take around the same time will also be bound up by the activated charcoal, and expelled before they can take effect. Similarly, toxic pesticides and industrial chemicals are not the only toxins mobilized and eliminated by the niacin-exercise combination. Other substances that will also be expelled include the following. Dr. Yu actually recommends using this type of detoxification post-surgery (and in cases of drug abuse), to eliminate medications that might otherwise remain trapped in your fatty tissues:

Anesthesia after surgery	Medications	Cosmetic chemicals
Cleaning agents	Food additives	Vitamins

Dosage and Frequency Recommendations

In terms of dosage, people exposed to highly toxic situations, such as the 9/11 firefighters, are slowly worked up to a dose of 5,000 milligrams (mg) of niacin over the course of 30 days. Ordinarily however, 100 mg of niacin, once to twice per week, will be sufficient for most people, in combination with exercise and/or post-exercise sauna or a hot bath to draw out the toxins. If you're engaged in an active weight loss program, you may benefit from daily niacin, exercise, and sauna therapy.

"You have to mix in the exercise because it also causes vasodilation on top of the Niacin flush effect and increased cardiac outputs," Dr. Yu explains. "You're moving things. We insist that we follow the same protocol for the more toxic people: they take [niacin], they exercise, and then they go into the hot room to sweat it out."

A 100 mg dose or higher may give you what's referred to as a "niacin flush," courtesy of the vasodilation caused by the niacin. Typically, this effect will last for about 30 minutes. Taking a cold shower can help ameliorate any discomfort you may experience from the niacin flush. It's also advisable to start with a lower dose, say 50 mg/day, and work up, in order to become accustomed to its effect. The niacin causes a "Rebound Lipolysis" first described by L.A. Carlsen of Sweden when studying Niacin for use in treating hypercholesterolemia—this vitamin first tries to prevent lipolysis and then after one to two hours, it rebounds and leads to massive fat cell release of triglycerides and at the same time release of toxic chemicals. 

Although Carlsen did these elaborate studies, what is needed is still more studies on the basic science; studies of simultaneous triglyceride and toxic chemical release. This process is where the toxic chemicals are also released. Although there are many effects of niacin, Dr. Yu believes it is the rebound lipolysis phenomenon that is the most important factor in mobilizing fat and toxins. We are now surrounded by so many toxic chemicals, it's virtually impossible to completely avoid exposure. In addition to avoiding known toxic exposures, your best bet is to use a proactive approach to clean out your body on a regular basis.

"The way I look at it... it should be a part of your lifestyle," Dr. Yu says. "You should have a sauna at home. You should be doing this maybe twice a week as part of your exercise routine and it doesn't have to be with Niacin but . use it in graduated doses starting with 50 mg and increase slowly so your body gets accustomed to it once a month or more when you have some exposure.

Remember, hair coloring is a toxic chemical, especially hairdresser, people with large burden of chemicals from massive tattoos, and people who work with chemicals and solvents probably need the cleansing more. I would say [sit in the sauna for] an hour. The temperature has to be high enough, so that you're sweating. Now, you could be sweating even in a bathtub if the water's clean.

If you are on an aggressive weight loss program, it is imperative in our clinic that they use this system as they are expelling large amounts of toxic chemicals in the weight loss program and need to eliminate it otherwise they will reabsorb into both fat and brain. Thus, Yo-Yo diets can be more dangerous than you think.

What is the down side of using Niacin besides the flush vasodilation? Very little! As I and others have seen, mild liver function elevations which are transient. I myself had to go through the program (using up to 3000 mg in a 30 day period) to understand and checked my liver functions without any changes. It is the non flush longer acting niacin which can cause more liver problems, which I never recommend."

In terms of timing, you'll want to begin your exercise 20 minutes after taking the niacin. Exercise for about 20 minutes, making sure you're really breaking a sweat, then get into the sauna for up to an hour. The sauna should be at least 130 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, in order to produce profuse sweating. After you get out of the sauna, you can use activated charcoal or zeolite clay to further help eliminate toxins through your GI tract.

Keep in mind that when you sweat, you lose a lot of minerals and even vitamins, so make sure you replenish with electrolytes and potassium. Coconut water is an excellent rehydrator. It's a powerhouse of natural electrolytes, vitamins, minerals, trace elements, amino acids, enzymes, antioxidants and phytonutrients, and is low in sugar but you need vitamins and minerals especially magnesium, sodium and potassium. Dr Yu's recommendations seems to make sense and I am going to start experimenting with it soon and integrate it into my workout schedule by taking niacin before my Peak Fitness workouts, doing Peak Fitness on my elliptical, and then go into the sauna for half an hour twice a week.

Free Detox Treatment for Veterans with Gulf War Illness

The Gulf War Illness (GWI) Detoxification Program is a research program approved by the Department of Defense. Its purpose is to "evaluate the ability of rehabilitative therapy to decrease the symptoms and improve the quality of life of Gulf War Veterans who suffer from Gulf War Illness." The toxin mobilization and elimination strategies discussed above (niacin, exercise and daily sauna therapy) are employed in this program.

The program is free, and is open to veterans deployed to the Persian Gulf region any time between August 1990 to July 1991, and who are experiencing symptoms associated with Gulf War Illness. This includes but is not limited to fatigue, muscle and joint pain, sleeping difficulties, and memory problems. The therapy facility is located in Annapolis, Maryland. You can obtain more information about this program by contacting:

Crystal Grant, PhD, Clinical trial Coordinator, University at Albany
Tel: 667-217-0218 (M) 
E-mail: cgrant6@albany.edu

David O. Carpenter, MD, Principal Investigator, Director, Institute for Health & the Environment, University at Albany
Tel: 518-525-2660 (O)
E-mail: dcarpenter@albany.edu

Regular Toxin Flush Is an Important Part of a Healthy Lifestyle

When you consider how many toxins you may encounter in your day-to-day life, through your food, household and beauty products, air and water pollution, and more, it would be wise to integrate a mobilization and elimination strategy such as that discussed by Dr. Yu. To recap, twice a week (or more frequently if you're engaged in a weight loss program to shed a lot of weight) take about 100 mg of niacin; wait 20 minutes, then exercise for 20 minutes to break a sweat and stimulate circulation.

Follow up with up to 60 minutes in a hot sauna, to really sweat out all the impurities. You can finish off by taking either five activated charcoal tablets, or some zeolite clay, which will bind with toxins, allowing them to be eliminated through your GI tract. Just make sure you do not take it in combination with medications or supplements, as these will also be bound up and eliminated.

Source: 

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/05/04/detoxification-program.aspx 

Anxiety Attacks: Drugless Methods to Help Get Rid of Anxiety

No one knows how many people are in prison because of destructive outbursts that normally should have been controlled. Millions of regular folks just barely manage to live within their anxiety every day. They might not be in jail, but they are not radically happier. Many, many millions of prescriptions are written every year for emotional illness. Two out of three visits to family physicians are for stress-related illness, with an annual cost of nearly $75,000,000,000. (Smith and Smith, Personal Health Choices, Boston: Jones and Bartlett, 1990, page 18) 

More can be done for many of these people.  That "more" includes some good, natural remedies and regular practice of a stress reduction technique. 

I know something about stress. When I was an undergraduate at the Australian National University, my anxiety over schoolwork (and being 13,000 miles from home at age 18) caused me actual pain. I felt it in the center of my chest and down the side. The university physician, a rather young fellow himself, did an appropriate examination, got out his prescription pad and started to write. Here it comes, I thought: take thou a tranquilizer. 

Not so. This doctor had written down the name of a book: Relief Without Drugs, by Ainslie Meares, M.D.  (This title might be difficult to find in the United States; try an interlibrary loan through a public library.) 

I was being told to relax and I did not like that. To top it off, the doctor (correctly) assumed that I did not know "how" to relax. He provided a reference so I could learn.  The novelty of this drugless approach is what persuaded me to try it. It worked; the pain went away. For the first time in my life I had a prescription filled not at the drugstore, but at the bookstore. 

While studying at the nearby Canberra Hospital, I learned other stress reduction techniques such as imaging, self-hypnosis, and auto-relaxation from as many staff and consulting psychiatrists as I could locate. Many people I knew and respected began Transcendental Meditation, with evident beneficial results. Treatment of anxiety and tension without drugs? AsLincoln said of the little girl as she put her foot in her stocking, "It strikes me that there is something in it." There is. 

Some alternatives to Valium and similar products might include: 

• NIACIN - vitamin B-3 is so effective against actual psychoses that half of all mental ward inmates in the South were able to be released once a depression-era deficiency of this vitamin was corrected. Niacin in appropriate doses acts as a natural tranquilizer and induces relaxation or sleep.  It is non-addictive, cheap, and safer than any pharmaceutical product. Dosage varies with condition. The best author on the subject is Abram Hoffer, M.D., whose experience dates back to the early 1950's. He routinely gave at least as much vitamin C as he did niacin. 
• LECITHIN - a food supplement that is high in phosphatidyl choline. The body is able to make acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter, out of this. This has a sedating effect.  It is interesting to note that one third of your brain, by dry weight, is lecithin. Feeding the organ what it is largely made of might help it to function better.  (Don't worry: lecithin supplements are made from soybeans.)  Dosage runs in the tablespoons. 
• SUGAR - avoid it, to reduce anxiety symptoms. The swings from high to low blood sugar result in corresponding mood swings. Sugar is not your friend.  Eat complex carbohydrates instead. 
• CHROMIUM - may help even out the sugar mood-swings and perhaps even sugar craving. Chromium deficiency (daily intake under 50 micrograms) affects 9 out of 10 adults. Somewhere between 50 and 400 mcg of chromium substantially improves your cells ability to use insulin. Don't gnaw on the bumper of a '54 Cadillac because that kind of chrome is toxic. Chromium polynicotinate or chromium picolinate are safer and better absorbed. 
• B-COMPLEX VITAMINS - also help even out your blood sugar. In addition, the metabolism of just about everything you digest hinges on one or more of this group of B-vitamins. Taken together, they are especially safe and effective. The body needs proportionally more niacin than the other B's, so extra niacin as mentioned above is still valid. 
• EXERCISE - reduces anxiety.  Is it because you are too pooped to worry? Who cares; it helps. Exercise has many other health benefits, too, so there is no way you can lose by trying it.  Start easily and work up. 
• HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES - such as Aconite, Coffea Cruda and Kali Phos. have been used to treat symptoms of anxiety for nearly 200 years.  These very dilute natural remedies are safe and can help significantly. I recommend that you get a copy of The Prescriber, by J.H. Clarke, M.D.  This very practical book concisely explains this healing approach and helps you easily select the most appropriate remedy. Homeopathic remedies are non-prescription. Many health food stores carry them. I know people who carry a bottle of Kali Phos 6X tablets in their pocket or purse, just in case.
• HERBS - such as chamomile and catnip make a soothing tea. There are certainly other useful herbs to consider as well.  A good herb store or health food store will have books that will help you learn more. 

Copyright 2003 and previous years Andrew W. Saul.

Andrew Saul is the author of the books FIRE YOUR DOCTOR! How to be Independently Healthy (reader reviews at http://www.doctoryourself.com/review.html ) and DOCTOR YOURSELF: Natural Healing that Works. (reviewed at http://www.doctoryourself.com/saulbooks.html )

Source:

http://www.doctoryourself.com/anxiety.html

Bone Broth—A Most Nourishing Food for Virtually Any Ailment

Click HERE to watch the full interview!

Download Interview Transcript

Visit the Mercola Video Library

November 23, 2014

By Dr. Mercola

Bone broth has a long history of medicinal use. It's known to be warm, soothing, and nourishing for body, mind, and soul...19

Physicians harkening as far back as Hippocrates have associated bone broth with gut healing. And while the importance of gut health is just now starting to fill our medical journals, this knowledge is far from new.

In fact, you could say modern medicine is just now rediscovering how the gut influences health and disease.

Many of our modern diseases appear to be rooted in an unbalanced mix of microorganisms in your digestive system, courtesy of a diet that is too high in sugars and too low in healthful fats and beneficial bacteria.

Digestive problems and joint problems, in particular, can be successfully addressed using bone broth. But as noted by Dr. Kaayla Daniel, vice president of the Weston A. Price Foundation and coauthor (with Sally Fallon Morell) of the book, Nourishing Broth, bone broth is a foundational component of a healing diet regardless of what ails you.

How Broth Has Been Used Through the Ages

While our ancestors used to have a pot of soup continuously puttering over the hearth, this changed with the advent of the industrial revolution, at which point many poor people simply couldn't afford the fuel to keep the fire going.

Bouillons and broth powders got their start at that time, as the need for more portable soups arose. A major turning event was when Napoleon put out a call for portable soup to feed his army.

The winner of Napoleon's competition was Nicolas Appert1 (1749-1841), whose canning process paved the way for the modern day canned goods. Later, John T. Dorrance came up with a process to create condensed soup, which led to the empire now known as Campbell's Soups.

In the early 1900s, Campbell Soup was a decent product, boasting the best ingredients, including lots of butter, and recipes from the most famous chefs of the era. As noted by Dr. Daniel, it was a very different product from what we find in grocery stores today.

Today, if you want truly high-quality bone broth or soup, your best bet is to make it yourself. Fortunately, it's easy. The trickiest part is usually going to be finding organic bones.

Bone broth, Dr. Daniel says, is actually a fast food. It just requires a little planning. One efficient way to create your broth is to use a slow-cooker or crockpot.

This will allow you to put a few basic ingredients into the pot in the morning, turn it on low heat, and by the time you get home in the evening it's done.

Besides being convenient and efficient, it's also safe, as you won't have to worry about leaving a pot puttering on the stove, which could pose a fire hazard if left unattended. "It's an old-fashioned remedy for the modern world," Dr. Daniel says.

Benefits of Bone Broth

Leaky gut is the root of many health problems, especially allergies, autoimmune disorders, and many neurological disorders. The collagen found in bone broth acts like a soothing balm to heal and seal your gut lining, and broth is a foundational component of the Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) diet, developed by Russian neurologist Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride.

The GAPS diet is often used to treat children with autism and other disorders rooted in gut dysfunction, but just about anyone with suboptimal gut health can benefit from it.

Bone broth is also a staple remedy for acute illnesses such as cold and flu. While there aren't many studies done on soup, one study did find that chicken soup opened up the airways better than hot water.

Processed, canned soups will not work as well as the homemade version made from slow-cooked bone broth. If combating a cold, make the soup hot and spicy with plenty of pepper.

The spices will trigger a sudden release of watery fluids in your mouth, throat, and lungs, which will help thin down the respiratory mucus so it's easier to expel. Bone broth contains a variety of valuable nutrients in a form your body can easily absorb and use. This includes but is not limited to:

Calcium, phosphorus, and other minerals	Components of collagen and cartilage
Silicon and other trace minerals	Components of bone and bone marrow
Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate	The "conditionally essential" amino acids proline, glycine, and glutamine

These nutrients account for many of the healing benefits of bone broth, which include the following:

1. Reduces joint pain and inflammation, courtesy of chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine, and other compounds extracted from the boiled down cartilage and collagen.
2. Inhibits infection caused by cold and flu viruses etc.
Indeed, Dr. Daniel reports2 chicken soup — known as "Jewish penicillin"—has been revered for its medicinal qualities at least since Moses Maimonides in the 12th century. Recent studies on cartilage, which is found abundantly in homemade broth, show it supports the immune system in a variety of ways; it's a potent normalizer, true biological response modifier, activator of macrophages, activator of Natural Killer (NK) cells, rouser of B lymphocytes and releaser of Colony Stimulating Factor.
3. Fights inflammation: Amino acids such as glycine, proline, and arginine all have anti-inflammatory effects. Arginine, for example, has been found to be particularly beneficial for the treatment of sepsis3 (whole-body inflammation). Glycine also has calming effects, which may help you sleep better.
4. Promotes strong, healthy bones: Dr. Daniel reports bone broth contains surprisingly low amounts of calcium, magnesium and other trace minerals, but she says "it plays an important role in healthy bone formation because of its abundant collagen. Collagen fibrils provide the latticework for mineral deposition and are the keys to the building of strong and flexible bones."
5. Promotes healthy hair and nail growth, thanks to the gelatin in the broth. Dr. Daniel reports that by feeding collagen fibrils, broth can even eliminate cellulite too.

How to Make the Most Nourishing Broth

The more gelatinous the broth, the more nourishing it will tend to be. Indeed, the collagen that leaches out of the bones when slow-cooked is one of the key ingredients that make broth so healing. According to Dr. Daniel, if the broth gets jiggly after being refrigerated, it's a sign that it's a well-made broth. To make it as gelatinous as possible, she recommends adding chicken feet, pig's feet, and/or joint bones.

All of these contain high amounts of collagen and cartilage. Shank or leg bones, on the other hand, will provide lots of bone marrow. Marrow also provides valuable health benefits, so ideally, you'll want to use a mixture of bones. You can make bone broth using whole organic chicken, whole fish or fish bones (including the fish head), pork, or beef bones. Vary your menu as the many types offer different flavors and nutritional benefits.

If you're using chicken, you can place the entire chicken, raw, into a pot and cover with water. Add a small amount of vinegar to help leach the minerals out of the bones. Alternatively, you can use the carcass bones from a roasted chicken after the meat has been removed. To ensure the broth is really gelatinous, Dr. Daniel suggests adding some chicken feet when you use the carcass of a roasted chicken, as some of the collagen will have been leached out already during the roasting process. You can also add vegetables of your choice into the pot.

The most important aspect of the broth-making process is to make sure you're getting as high-quality bones as you can. Ideally, you'll want to use organically raised animal bones. It's worth noting that chickens raised in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) tend to produce chicken stock that doesn't gel, so you'll be missing out on some of the most nourishing ingredients if you use non-organic chicken bones. If you can't find a local source for organic bones, you may need to order them. A great place to start is your local Weston A. Price chapter leader,4 who will be able to guide you to local sources.

You can also connect with farmers at local farmers markets. Keep in mind that many small farmers will raise their livestock according to organic principles even if their farm is not USDA certified organic, as the certification is quite costly. So it pays to talk to them. Most will be more than happy to give you the details of how they run their operation.

Sample Beef Broth Recipe

Below is a classic beef stock recipe excerpted from Nourishing Broth, as well as lamb and venison variations. For more nourishing broth recipes, I highly recommend Hilary Boynton and Mary Brackett's new GAPS cookbook, The Heal Your Gut Cookbook: Nutrient-Dense Recipes for Intestinal Health Using the GAPS Diet.

CLASSIC BEEF STOCK. Excerpted from the book NOURISHING BROTH by Sally Fallon Morell and Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN. © 2014 by Sally Fallon Morell and Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN. Reprinted by permission of Grand Central Publishing. All rights reserved.

Makes 4-5 quarts

Good beef stock requires several sorts of bones: knuckle bones and feet impart large quantities of gelatin to the broth; marrow bones impart flavor and the particular nutrients of bone marrow; and meaty ribs and shanks add color and flavor. We have found that grass-fed beef bones work best--the cartilage melts more quickly, and the smell and flavor is delicious.

Ingredients

• About 4 pounds beef marrow and knuckle bones
• 1 calf, beef, or pig foot, preferably cut into pieces
• 3 pounds meaty bones such as short ribs and beef shanks
• 1 small can or jar tomato paste (optional)
• 4 or more quarts cold filtered water
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 3 onions, ends removed and coarsely chopped (skin may be left on)
• 3 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 3 celery sticks, coarsely chopped
• 1 bouquet garni made with parsley sprigs, thyme sprigs, and bay leaf, tied together
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, or green or white peppercorns, crushed

Directions
Place the knuckle and marrow bones and optional calves foot in a very large pot, toss with vinegar and cover with cold water. Let stand for 1/2 to 1 hour. Meanwhile, place the meaty bones in a stainless steel roasting pan. For a particularly aromatic stock, brush the bones with tomato paste. Brown at 350 degrees in the oven, about ½ hour. When well browned, add these bones to the pot. Pour the fat out of the roasting pan, add cold filtered water to the pan, set over a high flame and bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon to loosen up coagulated juices. Add this liquid to the pot. Add additional water, if necessary, to cover the bones; but the liquid should come no higher than within one inch of the rim of the pot, as the volume expands slightly during cooking. Bring to a simmer and carefully skim any scum that comes to the top. After you have skimmed, add the vegetables, bouquet garni, and peppercorns.
Simmer stock for at least 12 and as long as 24 hours.
Remove bones with tongs or a slotted spoon. Strain the stock into a large bowl or several 2-quart Pyrex measuring cups. Let cool in the refrigerator and remove the congealed fat that rises to the top. Transfer to smaller containers and to the freezer for long-term storage.

Note: The marrow may be removed from the marrow bones a couple of hours into the cooking, and spread on whole grain sourdough bread. If left in the pan for the entire cooking period, the marrow will melt into the broth, resulting in a broth that is cloudy but highly nutritious.

Variation: Lamb Stock

Use lamb bones, especially lamb neck bones and riblets. Ideally, use all the bones left after butchering the lamb. Be sure to add the feet if you have them. This makes a delicious stock.

Variation: Venison Stock

Use venison meat and bones. Be sure to use the feet of the deer and a section of antler if possible. Add 1 cup dried wild mushrooms if desired.

Bone Broth—A Medicinal 'Soul Food'

Slow-simmering bones for a day will create one of the most nutritious and healing foods there is. You can use this broth for soups, stews, or drink it straight. The broth can also be frozen for future use. Making bone broth also allows you to make use of a wide variety of leftovers, making it very economical. Bone broth used to be a dietary staple, as were fermented foods, and the elimination of these foods from our modern diet is largely to blame for our increasingly poor health, and the need for dietary supplements.

"I would like to urge people to make as much broth as possible," Dr. Daniel says in closing. "Keep that crockpot going; eat a variety of soups, and enjoy them thoroughly."

Stay Up-To-Date on the Latest Health News

If you haven't already, here's your chance to subscribe to the world's most popular newsletter! My FREE newsletter is instrumental in changing the lives of many people across the world. If you want to take control of your health then you won't want to miss out on this opportunity.

When you subscribe I guarantee:

• You'll be the first to hear about fast-breaking health news and hard-to-find tips for improving your emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being
• You'll save money because I'm committed to helping you stay healthy, so you won't need expensive prescription drugs or doctor's visits so often
• You'll get straight talk from me in plain English that shatters all the myths and misconceptions about health, aging, and fitness

Source:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/11/23/nourishing-bone-broth.aspx?x_cid=20150801_ranart_nourishing-bone-broth_facebookdoc