Here’s What Bone Broth Does
It fills you up—without adding pounds. Bone broth is rich, complex, hearty, and soul satisfying. It has virtually zero carbs and very few calories, so it’s sin-free and you can indulge in as much as you want. Translation: no hunger, even when you’re fasting.
It’s packed with the building blocks of collagen. Collagen blasts wrinkles, so you can take years off your face at the same time as you lose weight.
It detoxifies your body. Like fasting, bone broth helps cleanse your cellular matrix, energizing and de-aging your cells.
It heals your gut. If you’re battling extra pounds. I’m guessing that you also have digestive problems—constipation, diarrhea, gas, or even all three. That’s because weight gain and digestive problems often stem from a common source: a sick gut. The gelatin and other nutrients in bone broth help heal the gut, curing digestive problems while they facilitate weight loss.
It heals your joints. One reason people become overweight is that as they get older, their joints develop wear and tear and it becomes harder to move. So they exercise less and they sit more. Bone broth gives you a generous supply of nutrients that help heal your joints.
It’s anti-inflammatory. One of the most important scientific findings of the century is that inflammation underlies obesity. To understand why, you need to understand the difference between acute and chronic inflammation.
Acute inflammation—for instance, the inflammation you experience when you have a cold or the flu—typically is a good thing, because it helps your body fight off infections and repair tissues. But if you develop chronic, low-grade inflammation, that’s a whole different story. Chronic inflammation damages your cells, and it leads to biochemical changes that make you put on weight. Fat cells are inflammatory, so when you add pounds, a vicious cycle—inflammation leading to weight gain, leading to more inflammation—begins. This sets the stage for insulin resistance and other metabolic changes that cause you to put on even more weight, develop more inflammation, and so on.
When you break this cycle by healing inflammation with nutrients like those concentrated in bone broth, the pounds start to fall off. Remember this rule: Anything that increases inflammation puts weight on you, while anything that decreases inflammation takes weight off. In addition, dry, rough skin and acne—which are outward signs of internal inflammation—will start to clear up.
When you do twice-a-week mini-fasts combining the power of fasting with the fat-melting qualities of bone broth, the effect is stunning. They can’t believe how little sacrifice they need to make, how little they’re tempted to eat the junk they used to crave, and how fast they see results.
Is The Bone Broth Diet Right For You?
The bone broth diet is not recommended for pregnant women, who anyway shouldn't tinker with their suggested nutrition.
In addition, if any of these conditions apply to you, check with your doctor before starting the diet.
Diabetes. The Bone Broth Diet is a try-able choice for people with diabetes, and is used to reverse diabetes and metabolic syndrome in many patients. (Metabolic syndrome, a precursor to diabetes, is a group of symptoms including large waist size, elevated blood glucose levels, high blood pressure, and unhealthy cholesterol levels.) However, because this diet can swiftly lower your blood sugar levels, your doctor will need to monitor you very closely if you’re diabetic to make sure you don’t experience dangerous hypoglycemia. Start this diet only if your doctor is on board and agrees to carefully supervise you.
Other chronic health problems. The Bone Broth Diet frequently reduces or even eliminates symptoms of autoimmune disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, and many other conditions. Just make sure to get the nod from your doctor if you have any chronic health problems like these. Also, ask your doctor if mini-fasting will affect your medications, if you’re taking any.
An eating disorder. If you have any history of an eating disorder such as bulimia, anorexia nervosa, or orthexia, make sure your doctor says that it’s okay for you to follow this or any other diet plan.
An acute illness or injury. One of the reasons fasting works so well is that it challenges your body. But if you’re already being challenged by an infection or injury, this isn’t the time to add more stress.
Finally, while this diet can be beneficial for overweight children, be sure to get a doctor’s permission before putting any child under the age of 18 on it.
How Long Will You Want To Stay On The Bone Broth Diet?
The Bone Broth Diet is basically a 3-week program for taking off weight fast. However, you can stay on this diet as long as you want. After 21 days, you’ll know which foods to eat and which to avoid, so it’ll be easy to get adventurous in the kitchen.
Initially commit to the Bone Broth Diet for 3 weeks. At the outset of the diet, weigh yourself and take your measurements.
If you’re excited about your results but you want to shed still more weight, then stick with the diet longer. Once you’re happy with what the scale says, you can use my maintenance program to keep the weight off and keep your skin looking young. (I’ll tell you more about this program at the end of the chapter.)
If you’re following the 3-week plan and you do have a “beautifully imperfect” moment at any point, simply start your 3-week clock again. This diet is so easy and so rewarding that spending a little extra time on it won’t seem like punishment.
What Results Can You Expect On The Bone Broth Diet?
Participants in a bone broth diet study lost up to 15 pounds and up to 4 inches in their measurements.
Their wrinkles and “double chins” diminished, their skin tone evened out, and their acne healed.
Why Does The Bone Broth Diet Erase Wrinkles?
Most diets actually wreck your skin. That’s because they pull water, healthy fats, and other nutrients out of your skin cells, weakening and aging these cells. But on this diet, at the same time you’re losing weight, you’ll be losing wrinkles and getting your “glow” back.
Think of your skin cells as healthy, bouncy balls. As you age, they start to lose their bounce and get tired and flabby. (Picture rows and rows of soccer balls slowly deflating.) As a result, your skin matrix becomes weak, rapidly accelerating the formation of wrinkles. At the same time, if you’re eating a diet high in inflammatory grains and sugar and deficient in healthy fats and other key nutrients, your skin gets dry, flaky, rough, and sick—and dry, sick skin wrinkles quickly and deeply.
When you drink bone broth, you’ll mainline the building blocks of collagen straight to your cells, “reinflating” them. It’s better than Botox because it lasts. Remember, Botox’s job is to paralyze the muscles to prevent wrinkles. It doesn’t and never will build or replace collagen.
On the Bone Broth Diet, you’ll build strong and resilient skin cell walls with healthy fats, and you’ll reverse inflammation with anti-inflammatory foods. Plus, you’ll load your body with nutrients that protect against photoaging (for instance, the potent anthocyanins in berries).
How The Bone Broth Diet Works
Are you ready to start losing weight and have younger, healthier skin? Then let’s get down to the basics of this diet.
On the Bone Broth Diet, you’ll have 2 bone broth mini-fast days per week. The other 5 days, you’ll eat three full meals and two bone broth snacks each day.
Here’s an example of Bone Broth diet:
Remember: You can pick any 2 nonconsecutive days for your fast days.
SUN
Mini-Fast Day
6 cups of bone broth (or 5 cups plus a 7:00 p.m. snack)
MON
Nonfasting Day
3 meals of “yes” foods per day plus 2 bone broth snacks
TUES
Nonfasting Day
3 meals of “yes” foods per day plus 2 bone broth snacks
WED
Mini-Fast Day
6 cups of bone broth (or 5 cups plus a 7:00 p.m. snack)
THURS
Nonfasting Day
3 meals of “yes” foods per day plus 2 bone broth snacks
FRI
Nonfasting Day
3 meals of “yes” foods per day plus 2 bone broth snacks
SAT
Nonfasting Day
3 meals of “yes” foods per day plus 2 bone broth snacks
How will your mini-fast days work?
You can pick any days you want for your mini-fast days, and they don’t need to fall on the same days each week. Just separate your 2 mini-fast days with at least 1 or 2 nonfasting days. For instance, try doing a mini-fast on Sunday and the other on Thursday.
On your mini-fast days, you have your choice of two plans.
Plan 1: Bone broth all day. You can have up to 6 cups during the day. This is 300 to 500 calories’ worth per day.
Plan 2: Bone broth until 7:00 p.m., followed by a light snack or a Bone Broth Diet–approved shake.
Which mini-fast plan is right for you?
Plan on beginning a fast when you wake up on your mini-fast day and ending it 24 hours later. Basically, you’ll skip a breakfast, lunch, and dinner, replacing them with bone broth (and with a 7:00 p.m. snack if you choose Plan 2).
Should you weigh in every day?
Ideally, you should weigh yourself only at the start and end of your diet.
There are two reasons to avoid focusing on the scale. First, lots of things can cause your weight to go up an extra pound or two—for instance, constipation or hormonal fluctuations (especially for women). Paying too much attention to these fluctuations can make you crazy.
Instead, focus on the real goal: healing your cells. Make your cells healthy and all else will follow: weight loss, glowing skin, bright eyes, and vanishing wrinkles.
Instead of weighing yourself, notice how your clothes fit at the end of each week. That’s a good guide to how much weight you’re losing.
How will your nonfasting days work?
On these days, you’ll eat three full meals and two snacks. There are just two simple keys to success.
First, you’ll choose everything you eat from the “yes” foods . And don’t worry. These are really, really good foods. No dry toast, egg-white omelets, or weird stuff, And you can also have 2 cups of bone broth each day for snacks.
Second, you’ll become aware of what your body needs. So instead of weighing and measuring food, you’ll simply eat mindfully rather than mindlessly. This is the beginning of your changing your relationship with food. It will feel liberating to take charge of this relationship.
Be Prepared For The “Carb Flu”
If your cells are used to a high-sugar, high-carb diet, switching to real foods can throw them for a loop.
If you’ve been eating a typical high-carb diet, you’ve been burning glucose from your diet for fuel.
When you switch to a low-carbohydrate diet, your body will need to switch to fat for its primary fuel. It takes more work to create energy from fat, and your sluggish cells may complain at first.
As a result, you may spend 3 to 7 days feeling mildly flulike - “tired, cranky, wired, and weird.”
One good way to cope with the carb flu is to keep a daily journal during your diet, describing how you feel physically, mentally, and emotionally. This will help you spot symptoms of carb flu and identify the point at which your symptoms end and you start to feel energized and revitalized. You can also use your journal to describe your cravings for “cheats” (and to congratulate yourself when you resist them!).
In addition, consider recruiting an ally—someone who can keep you on course if you start to waver. Even better, see if you can find someone who’ll go on the diet with you. That way, you can support each other during those carb flu days and celebrate together when they’re over.
How You May Feel Early On
Exhausted: You might feel a bit low on energy, and that’s completely normal. Be patient with yourself during this time, and try to keep your schedule light. If necessary, ease off the intensity of your workouts. Take a nap if you can, and aim to get to bed an hour earlier than usual so your body can rest and adapt. Also, try not to rely too much on caffeine to get you through afternoon slumps.
Right now, your body is beginning its transition from using sugar as fuel to burning fat—and that’s what will turn you into a super–fat-burning machine.
“Carb Flu-Ish”: It’s not uncommon, especially if you’ve typically eaten a diet high in processed carbohydrates and fast food, to feel like you’re getting a cold during this time. This is more evidence that your body is transitioning from using sugar as fuel to using fat.
So don’t be alarmed if you feel tired or foggy headed or get the sniffles. These are signs (and temporary ones!) that your diet is working the way it’s supposed to.
Moody: Are you feeling short-tempered or moody for no reason? Actually, there is a reason: Your brain is throwing a hissy fit because it misses sugar, bread, and all the other foods you’re not giving it.
Be patient. This will all pass in a few days, so don’t give in to your cravings or your moodiness.
That moodiness, by the way, is related to your changing blood sugar levels. Eating real foods will eventually regulate your blood sugar and have you smiling again.
Icky: While you’re making the transition to a super–fat-burning state, you may experience a few other odd symptoms. These can include digestive distress, allergies, and even a little acne. Remember that this is your body removing toxins and healing itself. It’s just throwing a small temper tantrum while it does this. At the end of that tantrum, you’ll be rewarded with a shrinking waistline, clearer skin, fewer wrinkles, glossier hair, and glowing health.
Maintaining Your Weight Loss With The The Bone Broth Diet Plus Plan
It’s simple, it lets you cheat, and it’ll still keep your weight and wrinkles from creeping back. Here’s how it works: Eighty percent of the time, eat the same “yes” foods you ate on your nonfasting days during the diet. If you do fine with dairy and legumes, you can add them back in, too; just be sure your dairy is full-fat. Alcohol can make a comeback as well (see more on this in Chapter 4). Oatmeal is okay in limited amounts. So are potatoes, although here’s a caution: The skin of the potato, which you’ve always heard is good for you, actually contains a significant amount of “antinutrients.” Consider skipping it, or add plenty of butter to help you digest it better.
Rice is another food that’s fine in limited amounts during your maintenance phase. It surprises many people to learn this, but basmati rice is my favorite because it doesn’t spike your sugar as much as the other varieties of rice.
You can also eat grains like these:
Amaranth
Barley
Eikorn
Emmer
Kamut
Millet
Quinoa
Spelt
Teff
Triticale
The Weight-Loss, Healing, And Antiaging Properties Of Bone Broth
When you drink bone broth, you just feel good all over. And on the inside, your cells are celebrating, too. That’s because bone broth contains these potent fat-burning and cell-energizing nutrients.
Collagen and gelatin
Do you want to lose weight and have younger-looking skin? Then think collagen and gelatin.
Collagen is an integral part of bone, containing a large supply of amino acids. When you cook bone broth for a long time, the collagen in the bones turns into gelatin. Here’s what that gelatin does for you.
Gelatin strengthens your skin. There’s a reason women have used gelatin for centuries to help keep their skin smooth. The nutrients in gelatin provide you with key building blocks of collagen—and collagen is like natural Botox, erasing wrinkles and reversing sagging and stretch marks.
Gelatin fights inflammation. Research shows that even basic chicken soup helps quell inflammation by preventing proinflammatory immune cells called neutrophils from moving to an inflamed area.1 The glycine from the gelatin in bone broth—an amino acid that has so many important jobs that I’ll discuss it in another section later—is even more powerful, inhibiting both local and systemic inflammation. And remember my formula from Chapter 1: Less inflammation equals faster weight loss. Lowering inflammation also reduces symptoms of autoimmune disorders,.
Gelatin heals your gut. Researchers speculate that gelatin stabilizes your gut mucosa by decreasing damage from excess acid or increasing protective mechanisms such as gastric mucosal bloodflow.2 Studies also reveal that the glycine in gelatin heals and protects the gut via its anti-inflammatory, immune regulatory, and cell-protective activities.
Foods You’Ll Eliminate For The Next 3 Weeks
Grains and Grain-Containing Foods
Barley
Breads
Cereal
Chips
Cookies
Cornstarch and other food starches
Crackers
Granola
Oats
Pasta
Quinoa
Rice
Rye
Spelt
Waffles
Wheat
Corn-Based Products
Corn
Popcorn
Products that contain corn oil (for instance, mayonnaise and salad dressings)
Refined Processed Fats
Canola oil
Corn oil
Grapeseed oil
Margarine and vegetable shortening
Peanut oil
Safflower oil
Soybean oil
Sunflower oil
Vegetable oil
Any foods containing these fats
Artificial Sweeteners
Acesulfame K
Aspartame
Saccharin
Stevia
Sucralose
Truvia
Soy
Hoisin sauce
Soy hot dogs and other soy “meats”
Soy milk
Soy sauce
Teriyaki sauce
Tofu
Dairy Products
Butter (except clarified butter—also called ghee)
Cheese
Cream
Flavored creamers
Frozen yogurt
Half-and-half
Ice cream
Milk
Yogurt
Commercial Condiments with Added Sugar or Artificial Ingredients
Barbecue sauce
Bottled salad dressings and marinades
Ketchup
Sweet-and-sour sauces
Sugars
All sugars including honey, maple syrup, molasses, and jams and jellies
Packaged Processed Foods
Including “healthy” processed foods in boxes or freezer containers, which often contain wheat, soy, sugars, or dairy
Commercial Sauces, Soups, and Stews
These typically contain flour and artificial colors or flavors
Canned Foods with Sugar, Soy, or Additives
Canned fruits packed in syrup
Canned tuna packed in soybean oil
Any other canned food with artificial ingredients or “mystery” ingredients
Sodas, Fruit Juices, Sweetened Coffee/Tea, and Alcohol
Sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened drinks
Wine, beer, and hard liquor
Ice Pops and Frozen Fruit Bars with Sugar and/or Artificial Ingredients
Processed Meats
Lunch meats, bacon, and sausage containing gluten, nitrites, soy, or sweeteners
Note: Lunch meats, sausage, and bacon that don’t contain these ingredients are fine.
White Potatoes
Beans/Legumes
Beans
Lentils
Peanut butter
Peanuts
Peas
Note: Green beans and sugar snap peas are fine.
Avoid sugar and sugary foods
Sugar drives your insulin levels sky-high. This causes the insulin resistance I’ve talked about, leading to belly fat, metabolic syndrome, and even diabetes.
Sugar is inflammatory. When you eat sugar, your body reacts by activating proinflammatory molecules called cytokines.2
Sugar ages you. As you get older, your body accumulates destructive molecules called advanced glycation end products (AGEs). These aptly named molecules turn protein fibers dry and brittle, making your skin dull and saggy and increasing your risks of diabetes, cataracts, and even Alzheimer’s disease. While we all accumulate AGEs over time, sugar sends the “AGEing” process into hyperdrive.
Sugar causes digestive problems. Fructose, used in thousands of processed foods, is a particular culprit here. Research shows that an extraordinarily high percentage of both children and adults suffer from bloating, gas, digestive pain, or belching after ingesting fructose. For instance, one study found that more than 50 percent of children with unexplained abdominal pain had fructose intolerance.3
One of the best ways to do that, according to researchers, is to stay away from sugar. Studies link a diet high in sugary foods to pancreatic cancer,4 show that a high-sugar diet raises your risk of getting breast cancer,5 and reveal that ingestion of fructose in particular is associated with more aggressive cancers.6 If you ask me, that’s very scary stuff. So if you need an extra incentive to give up sugary junk food, there it is.
Sugar may be the hardest one for you to let go.
Sugar is actually addictive. So be prepared for sugar cravings, and recognize them for what they are: the siren song of a food that’s bad for you in every way.
Sugar goes by many names.
Here are some of sugar’s other names:.
Agave nectar
Barley malt syrup
Cane crystals
Corn sweetener
Corn syrup
Crystalline fructose
Dehydrated cane juice
Dextrin
Dextrose
Disaccharide
Evaporated cane juice
Fructose
Fruit juice concentrate
Galactose
Glucose
High-fructose corn syrup
Invert sugar
Lactose
Maltodextrin
Maltose
Malt syrup
Monosaccharide
Polysaccharide
Ribose
Rice syrup
Saccharose
Sorghum
Sorghum syrup
Sucrose
Treacle
Turbinado sugar
Xylose
Artificial sweeteners
For 21 days, you should say no to diet sodas and other artificially sweetened foods.
Because there’s strong evidence that artificial sweeteners affect your metabolism in ways that make you gain weight.
For instance, in a recent study,7, 8 researchers fed three artificial sweeteners—saccharin, aspartame, and sucralose—to mice. To the researchers’ shock, the mice developed glucose intolerance, which is the first step on the road to obesity and diabetes.
The researchers wondered if this applied to humans as well as mice. To find out, they looked at data collected from about 400 people and found that those who drank lots of diet soda had slightly higher HbA1C numbers than those who didn’t touch it. (The HbA1C test measures blood sugar over time, and even a slightly elevated number is an indication of glucose intolerance.)
Pursuing this trail further, the researchers then asked seven lean, healthy people who weren’t diet soda drinkers to consume the maximum acceptable daily dose of artificial sweeteners every day for a week. Four of the volunteers developed blood sugar problems—and in some cases, their blood glucose soared to levels considered prediabetic!
What caused this to happen? The researchers discovered that artificial sweeteners alter the balance of gut bacteria in a way that can lead to glucose intolerance.
This means that diet soft drinks are doing the opposite of what they should do. Instead of helping you get thin, they’re making you glucose intolerant, which in turn will make you fat.
Control your grain intake
The most important thing to realize about grains is that from your body’s point of view, these foods are just sugar in another form—and that includes those whole grains your doctors probably tell you to eat all the time. In fact, two slices of “healthy” whole wheat bread raise your blood sugar more than a candy bar does.
But grains don’t just jack up your insulin levels, leading to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. In addition, they cause your body to become resistant to leptin.
Leptin is a hormone that your fat cells use to tell your brain how much energy they need. High levels of leptin make you feel full, while low levels make you feel hungry. Leptin is your hunger trigger.
A constant diet of high-carb grains leads to chronically high levels of leptin. That’s bad, because eventually your cells develop leptin resistance. (This is similar to insulin resistance.) When this happens, your cells no longer respond to leptin’s message. So even when you don’t physically need to eat, you experience deep cravings that are nearly impossible to resist.
There are other reasons to give up grains. For one thing, they’re high in “antinutrients” called lectins. Lectins make it harder for your body to use insulin efficiently and can damage the lining of your intestines. Grains are also high in phytic acid, which blocks the uptake of important nutrients.
Finally, most grains contain gluten. That’s bad news, because up to a third of people are gluten sensitive or gluten intolerant.
If you’re one of them, grains that contain gluten can cause intestinal permeability—that leaky gut and trigger wildfire inflammation throughout your body, leading to digestive problems, joint pain, blotchy skin, and a host of other ailments.
In short, grains strike out on all of my three criteria: They boost your insulin, cause inflammation, and damage your gut. And that means they’ve got to go for now.
In particular, you need to make sure that no gluten sneaks into your diet.
To ensure that you clean it out of your pantry, watch out for these ingredients that indicate that a product possibly or definitely contains gluten.
Artificial flavoring
Bleached flour
Caramel color
Dextrin
Hydrolyzed plant protein (HPP)
Hydrolyzed wheat protein
Hydrolyzed wheat starch
Malt
Maltodextrin
Modified food starch
Natural flavoring
Seasonings
Vegetable protein
Vegetable starch
What germ oil
Wheat grass
Wheat protein
Wheat starch
Another grain that often slinks in through a side door is corn. When you read labels, avoid any products that contain these ingredients:
Artificial flavoring
Corn alcohol
Corn flour
Cornmeal
Corn oil
Cornstarch
Corn sweetener
Corn syrup solids
Dextrin
Dextrose
Food starch
High-fructose corn syrup
Maltodextrin
Mazena
Modified gum starch
MSG
Natural flavorings
Sorbitol
Vegetable gum
Vegetable protein
Vegetable starch
Xanthan gum
Xylitol
Your Fat-Burning Bone Broth Diet 'Okay' Foods:
Meats
Beef
Chicken
Lamb
Turkey
Wild boar
Note: Buy pastured meat and free-range poultry if you can afford them. Avoid pork unless you can find pastured pork.
Fish
Fresh or canned. Buy wild-caught fish if possible, and make sure canned fish is packed in water or olive oil.
Eggs
Buy organic/free range if possible.
Organ Meats
Look for organic liver.
Nitrite- and Gluten-Free Deli Meats, Bacon, and Sausages
Note: Read labels carefully and make sure you’re not getting any sugars or artificial additives.
Vegetables
Acorn squash
Artichokes
Arugula
Asparagus
Beets
Bell peppers
Bok choy
Broccoli
Broccoli rabe
Brussels sprouts
Butternut squash
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Celery root
Chile peppers
Cilantro
Cucumber
Eggplant
Garlic
Green beans
Green cabbage
Green onions
Greens (beet, collard, mustard, and turnip greens)
Jalapeño chile peppers
Jicama
Kale
Kohlrabi
Leeks
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Napa cabbage
Onions
Parsnips
Plantains
Radicchio
Radishes
Red cabbage
Rutabaga
Seaweed
Snap peas
Snow peas
Spaghetti squash
Spinach
Sprouts
Summer squash
Sweet potatoes and yams
Swiss chard
Tomatoes (including canned or sun-dried tomatoes)
Turnips
Watercress
Yucca
Zucchini
Notes: Eat starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes, winter squash, and pumpkin sparingly. Add them to a meal only if you need extra fuel after a workout or you’re feeling weak and tired and you know it isn’t the carb flu (see my troubleshooting notes at the end of this chapter).
Buy organic veggies if possible.
Corn is not on this list and is not Bone Broth Diet approved.
Fruits
Apples
Apple sauce, unsweetened
Apricots
Bananas
Blackberries
Blueberries
Cantaloupe
Cherries
Dates
Figs
Grapefruit
Grapes
Guava
Honeydew melon
Kiwifruit
Lemons
Limes
Mandarin oranges
Mangoes
Nectarines
Oranges
Papayas
Peaches
Pears
Pineapples
Plums
Pomegranates
Pumpkin
Raspberries
Rhubarb
Strawberries
Tangerines
Ugli fruit
Watermelon
Note: Buy organic if possible; also, emphasize berries, which are lower in sugar than most fruits. Avoid dried fruits, fruit juices, and smoothies—other than smoothies that contain only foods allowed on the diet.
Healthy Fats
Avocado oil
Avocados
Coconut
Coconut milk
Coconut oil
Ghee (clarified butter)
Nuts
Olive oil
Olives
Tallow
Healthy Meal-Replacement Shakes
These shakes must have protein only from one of the Dr. Kellyann–approved sources.
Collagen protein
Egg protein
Hydro beef protein
Pea protein (not optimal but okay)
Fermented Foods
Coconut kefir
Kimchi
Pickles (unpasteurized, refrigerated)
Sauerkraut
Condiments
Cocoa powder, unsweetened
Coconut aminos (to replace soy sauce)
Fish sauce
Hot sauce, gluten-free
Mustard, gluten-free
Pepper
Pickles, unsweetened and sulfite-free
Salsa
Salt, Celtic or pink Himalayan (instead of regular table salt)
Spices
Vinegar
Note: While regular table salt contains iodine, it also contains additives you don’t want. To get a good supply of iodine, be sure to include sea vegetables (like SeaSnax) and fish in your diet.
Flours and Thickeners
Almond flour
Arrowroot powder
Coconut flour
Beverages
Coffee
Mineral water
Sparkling water
Tea
Note: Try not to overdo caffeinated coffee or tea if you’re experiencing the carb flu—instead, add a little extra fat to your diet to ease your symptoms.
When you eat these foods, you’re going to rediscover a remarkable truth that people have forgotten: Real, nutrient-dense food is powerful. Real food trims your weight, wipes out your wrinkles, and heals your body because it transforms you at the cellular level. It has curative powers stronger than any powders, pills, or drops.
Each of the foods on your “yes” list will contribute in its own way to revving up your fat-burning, as well as smoothing and beautifying your skin and de-aging your body. Here are just some examples.
Pastured beef contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which reduces body-fat mass.
Eggs are loaded with lipotropic choline as well as other fat-burning nutrients.
Citrus fruits, garlic, onions, and cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, and kale aid the liver’s detoxification pathways, helping to cleanse your body.
The omega-3 fatty acids in fish do double duty, lowering inflammation while they “inflate” your skin cells and make them bouncy.
Bacon (yes, bacon!) is high in fat-blasting choline.
Coconut fat and avocados are incredible wrinkle blasters because their fatty acids strengthen your cell membranes. The lauric acid in coconut oil fights weight gain.
Fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, coconut kefir, and unpasteurized pickles are probiotics that feed your gut beneficial bacteria, helping you digest foods more easily and protecting against leaky gut.
Foods like asparagus, onions, garlic, and jicama are prebiotics. This means that they provide soluble fiber that creates a healthy “soil” for the microbes in your gut.
Fish and seaweed are rich in iodine, which helps optimize your thyroid function.
The nutrients in blueberries promote collagen formation, erasing wrinkles and skin flaws.
The minerals in mineral salt pull water into your skin cells, minimizing eye bags.
The fiber in veggies helps you take off pounds. One study, for instance, found that increasing the fiber intake of adults significantly increased their populations of Bacteroidetes bacteria and decreased the population of Firmicutes. A higher ratio of Bacteroidetes to Firmicutes is associated with a lower body mass index.
Like these foods, all of the other foods on my “yes” list have fat-burning and anti-aging superpowers. Better yet, they work synergistically, boosting one another’s effects. So when you load your diet with them—and especially when you add them to the healing power of bone broth—you’ll see pounds and wrinkles vanish, and you’ll feel younger and more vibrant than you’ve felt in years.
Some people have problems with nightshade fruits and vegetables, which include bell peppers, eggplant, paprika, and tomatoes. If you’re still experiencing digestive problems and inflammation after a week or two on the Bone Broth Diet, try cutting out these foods and see if it helps.
Easy Tips for Portion Control
A Perfect Plate
Protein Portions
A serving of meat, fish, or poultry should be about the size and thickness of your palm. A serving of eggs is as many as you can hold in your hand (that’s about 2 or 3 for women and 3 or 4 for men). A serving of egg whites alone is double the serving for whole eggs. Each meal should include a serving of protein.
Nonstarchy Vegetable Portions
A serving of these vegetables should be at least the size of a softball. You can’t eat too many of them, so fill your plate with at least 2 or 3 softballs’ worth.
Starchy Vegetable Portions
A serving of starchy vegetables (such as sweet potato, jicama, kohlrabi, or winter squash) should be about the size of a baseball for women and the size of a softball for men. Note: Eat starchy vegetables only if you’re recovering from a workout or you’re feeling weak and tired and you know it’s not due to the carb flu (see “Troubleshooting Tips” later in this chapter).
Fruit Portions
A serving of fruit is half an individual piece (half an apple, half an orange) or a tennis-ball-size serving of berries, grapes, or tropical fruits (about ½ cup). That’s a closed fistful, or about ½ cup if they’re diced. Eat no more than 2 servings of fruit per day, and break them up across meals and snacks to distribute your sugar intake.
Fat Portions
A serving of liquid fat should be about the size of a Ping-Pong ball, a typical bouncy ball, or 1 to 2 thumb-size portions (that’s about 1 tablespoon).
A serving of nuts, seeds, coconut flakes, or olives is about 1 closed handful.
A serving of avocado is one-quarter to one-half an avocado.
A serving of coconut milk Is one-third to one-half the can.
Each meal should include 1 or 2 servings of fat.
A Few Cooking Tips For The Bone Broth Diet
First, your cooked broth should become bouncy, just like gelatin, when you chill it. If your broth isn’t gelatinous when you chill it, here are a few things to consider.
Did you select the right bones? The bones need to be cartilage rich, because it’s the collagen in the cartilage that “melts” into gelatin when cooked. If you aren’t using the bones , you won’t get the right results.
The easiest way to add more gelatin to your broth is to use feet. It’s not that awful. After the first time, you’ll get over the ugh factor.
Did you use too much water? Adding excess water can dilute your broth too much. When you make broth, you only need to cover the ingredients in the pot.
Did you boil the broth? When you make your stock, keep it at a low simmer, barely bubbling. Also, use the right-size burner for your pot. Keep it on the smallest burner on low. If your stove cooks too hot for the size of your pot, use a slow cooker, buy a bigger pot (so you can make a larger batch), get a pot with a heavier bottom, or keep the lid off or askew.
Did you overcook or undercook the broth? Follow the timing guidelines in each of the bone broth recipes. Beef will take the longest time to cook and fish the shortest.
Also, be aware that the vinegar in these recipes has an important job: It helps dissolve the bones so you’ll get the maximum amount of nutrients out of them. You won’t taste it at all when your broth is done, so don’t skimp on it.
Once you have the basics of bone broth down, it’s fine (and fun) to experiment! Try different herbs and spices; let your creativity loose. Thyme is particularly nice with chicken or turkey broth, and garlic works well. You can always test a new spice combination in a cup of broth before stirring it into your whole pot.
Now, here’s a really important tip: Since you might use the broth in a variety of recipes, don’t salt your entire batch. Instead, salt just the broth you plan to drink.
If your slow cooker is small (2 quarts or less), you can cut back on the quantities in the recipe. (Your measurements don’t need to be specific when you’re making broth.) However, it’ll be easier if you use a large saucepan or stockpot on the stove top.
Bones
The number of pounds of bones needed will vary based on the size of your slow cooker or stockpot. You want the bones to fill the vessel so you can barely cover them with water. If you have bones from any leftovers, also add those.
If it’s difficult to get chicken or turkey bones from your butcher, you may be able to get backs and necks. These make excellent bone broth.
If you use chicken feet, you need to remove the outer yellow skin if the butcher hasn’t already done so. To do this, immerse them in boiling water for 10 to 20 seconds, and they will peel easily. If you boil them any longer, it’s nearly impossible to peel them because they become rubbery. It’s also easier to peel them before they’re frozen. You can cut off the claws if you choose.
Beef feet are rich in cartilage, so add them to your beef broth if you can get them. Adding a pig’s foot if you can’t find a beef foot won’t change the flavor. If you don’t eat pork, be sure you have plenty of beef joint and knuckle bones in your beef broth.
Meaty bones add great flavor to beef broth—don’t skimp on these. If you choose, you can roast the meaty bones in a 350°F oven before placing them in the pot, but roasting is not necessary.
Chicken Bone Broth
Prep Time: 15 Minutes • Cook Time: 4–6 Hours
Yield: Varies depending on pot size; these ingredients are sufficient for 1 gallon of broth
3 or more pounds raw chicken bones/carcasses (from 3–4 chickens)
6–8 chicken feet or 1 pig’s foot
1 whole chicken and 4 –6 additional legs, thighs, or wings
¼–½ cup apple cider vinegar, depending on the size of the pot
Purified water to just cover the bones and meat in the pot
2–4 carrots, scrubbed and roughly chopped
3–4 ribs organic celery, including leafy part, roughly chopped
1 onion, cut into large chunks
1 tomato, cut into wedges (optional)
1–2 whole cloves
2 teaspoons peppercorns
1 bunch parsley
Place all the bones and meat in a slow cooker or large stockpot. Add the vinegar and enough purified water to cover everything by 1". Cover the pot.
Bring the water to a simmer over medium heat. Use a shallow spoon to carefully skim the film off the top of the broth. If you’re cooking in a slow cooker, wait for about 2 hours until the water gets warm before skimming, but continue with the next step.
Add the carrots, celery, onion, tomato (if using), cloves, and peppercorns and reduce the heat to low. You want the broth to barely simmer. Skim occasionally during the first 2 hours. Cook for at least 4 hours or up to 6, adding water as needed to ensure the bones are always covered with water and adding the parsley in the last hour. (You will have to add water during the cooking process.)
When the broth is done, turn off the cooker or remove the pot from the heat. Using tongs and/or a large slotted spoon, remove all the bones and meat. Save the chicken for another recipe. Pour the broth through a fine mesh strainer and discard the solids.
Let cool on the counter and refrigerate within 1 hour. You can skim off the fat easily after the broth is chilled, if desired. When chilled, the broth should be very gelatinous. The broth will keep for 5 days in the refrigerator and 3 or more months in your freezer.
Turkey Bone Broth
Prep Time: 15 Minutes • Cook Time: 6–8 Hours
Yield: Varies depending on pot size; these ingredients are sufficient for 1 gallon of broth
3 or more pounds raw turkey bones (backs and necks are usually available)
6–8 chicken feet or 1 pig’s foot
4–5 pounds turkey thighs or drumsticks
¼–½ cup apple cider vinegar, depending on the size of the pot
Purified water to just cover the bones and meat in the pot
2–4 carrots, scrubbed and roughly chopped
3–4 ribs organic celery, including leafy part, roughly chopped
1 onion, cut into large chunks
1 tomato, cut into wedges (optional)
1–2 whole cloves
2 teaspoons peppercorns
Place all the bones and meat in a slow cooker or large stockpot. Add the vinegar and enough purified water to cover everything by 1". Cover the pot.
Bring the water to a simmer over medium heat. Use a shallow spoon to carefully skim the film off the top of the broth. If you’re cooking in a slow cooker, wait for about 2 hours until the water gets warm before skimming, but continue with the next step.
Add the carrots, celery, onion, tomato (if using), cloves, and peppercorns and reduce the heat to low. You want the broth to barely simmer. Skim occasionally during the first 2 hours. Cook for at least 6 hours or up to 8, adding water as needed to ensure the bones are always covered with water. (You will have to add water during the cooking process.)
When the broth is done, turn off the cooker or remove the pot from the heat. Using tongs and/or a large slotted spoon, remove all the bones and meat. Save the turkey for use in another recipe. Pour the broth through a fine mesh strainer and discard the solids.
Let cool on the counter and refrigerate within 1 hour. You can skim off the fat easily after the broth is chilled, if desired. When chilled, the broth should be very gelatinous. The broth will keep for 5 days in the refrigerator and 3 or more months in your freezer.
Beef Bone Broth
Prep Time: 15 Minutes • Cook Time: 12–24 Hours
Yield: Varies depending on pot size; these ingredients are sufficient for 1 gallon of broth
4–5 pounds grass-fed beef bones, preferably marrow, joints, and knuckle bones
1 beef or pig’s foot
3 pounds meaty bones such as oxtail, shank, or short ribs
¼–½ cup apple cider vinegar, depending on the size of the pot
Purified water to just cover the bones and meat in the pot
2–4 carrots, scrubbed and roughly chopped
2 ribs organic celery, including leafy part, roughly chopped
1 onion, cut into large chunks
2 dried bay leaves
1–2 whole cloves
1 tablespoon peppercorns
Place all the bones in a slow cooker or large stockpot. Add the vinegar and enough purified water to cover everything by 1". Cover the pot.
Bring the water to a simmer over medium heat. Use a shallow spoon to carefully skim the film off the top of the broth. If you are cooking in a slow cooker, wait for about 2 hours until the water gets warm before skimming, but continue with the next step.
Add the carrots, celery, onion, bay leaves, cloves, and peppercorns and reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. You want the broth to barely simmer. Skim occasionally during the first 2 hours. Cook for at least 12 hours or up to 24, adding water as needed to ensure the bones are always covered with water. (You will likely have to add water during the cooking process.)
When the broth is done, turn off the cooker or remove the pot from the heat. Using tongs and/or a large slotted spoon, remove all the bones and meat. Save the beef for another recipe. Pour the broth through a fine mesh strainer and discard the solids.
Let cool on the counter and refrigerate within 1 hour. You can skim off the fat easily after the broth is chilled, if desired. When chilled, the broth should be very gelatinous. The broth will keep for 5 days in the refrigerator and 3 or more months in your freezer.
Try Bone Marrow, Too!
Like bone broth, bone marrow is packed with healing nutrients—and it’s delicious. Bone marrow is considered a delicacy in many cultures, and more and more fancy restaurants are adding it to their menus in the United States.
Here’s an interesting historical fact: Specially shaped marrow bone spoons were very popular in Europe and England in the 19th century because they made it easy to scoop out and enjoy this delicacy.
You can add these bones to any meal as a special treat on a nonfasting day. Enjoy!
Roasted Marrow Bones
Prep Time: 1 Minute • Cook Time: 30 Minutes
1 or more pounds beef marrow bones
Celtic or pink Himalayan salt
Ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Place the marrow bones in a shallow roasting pan and bake for about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Save the bones for your next batch of bone broth.
Fish Bone Broth
Prep Time: 15 Minutes • Cook Time: 1 Hour 15 Minutes
Yield: Varies depending on pot size; these ingredients are sufficient for 1 gallon of broth
5–7 pounds fish carcasses or heads from large nonoily fish such as halibut, cod, sole, rockfish, turbot, or tilapia (see Notes)
2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
1–2 carrots, scrubbed and coarsely chopped
2 ribs organic celery, including leafy part, coarsely chopped
2 onions, coarsely chopped
Purified water to just cover the bones in the pot
1 bay leaf
1–2 whole cloves
2 teaspoons peppercorns
1 tablespoon bouquet garni or a small handful of fresh parsley and 4–5 stems fresh thyme
Wash the fish and cut off the gills if present.
In a large stockpot, melt the ghee over medium-low to low heat. Add the carrots, celery, and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes.
Add the fish and enough water to cover everything by 1". Increase the heat to medium and bring the water to a bare simmer. Use a shallow spoon to carefully skim the film off the top of the broth. Add the bay leaf, cloves, peppercorns, and bouquet garni or parsley and thyme and reduce the heat to low. Cook at a bare simmer for about 50 minutes, uncovered or with the lid askew. Continue to skim the surface as needed.
When the broth is done, remove the pot from the heat. Using tongs and/or a large slotted spoon, remove all the bones. Pour the broth through a fine mesh strainer and discard the solids.
Let cool on the counter before refrigerating. You can skim off the fat easily after the broth is chilled, if desired. When chilled, the broth should be very gelatinous. The broth will keep for 5 days in the refrigerator and 3 or more months in your freezer.
NOTES:
Nonoily fish is necessary because the fish oils in fatty fish such as salmon become rancid in cooking.
The cartilage in fish bones breaks down to gelatin very quickly, so it’s best to cook this broth on the stove top.
Thanksgiving Turkey Bone Broth
Prep Time: 5 Minutes • Cook Time: 5–10 Minutes
Yield: Makes 4 cups (1 quart)
4 cups (1 quart) Turkey Bone Broth
2 ribs celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 small clove garlic, crushed
¼–½ teaspoon ground sage or Bell’s Seasoning (see Note)
1 clove
Celtic or pink Himalayan salt
Ground black pepper
Heat the broth in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot, garlic, sage or Bell's Seasoning, and clove. Reduce the heat to medium-low or low so the broth barely simmers for 5 to 10 minutes, or just until the carrots and celery are tender.
Remove and discard the garlic and clove. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
NOTE:
Bell’s Seasoning is a salt-free blend of herbs and spices containing rosemary, oregano, sage, ginger, and marjoram.
Spice Up Your Broth
The herbs and spices in bone broth will tickle your tastebuds—and at the same time, they’ll boost your metabolism, burn fat, and promote good digestive health. Here’s a look at what some of these herbs and spices do for you.
Ginger: This warming spice has anti-inflammatory properties. It also soothes your intestinal tract. Ginger may have thermogenic properties that help boost your metabolism.
Garlic: A nutrient-dense food, garlic is rich in antioxidants. Allicin, a powerful antioxidant, is released when you smash, cut, or chew garlic. Garlic also reduces LDL cholesterol, which may lower your risk of heart disease. Garlic reduces oxidative damage from free radicals, slowing the aging process. It’s been used medicinally for thousands of years. The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, often called the father of Western medicine, prescribed garlic to treat a variety of medical conditions.
Turmeric: Curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric. It slows the formation of fatty tissue and may contribute to lower body fat and enhanced weight control. It’s also an anti-inflammatory agent and reduces insulin resistance.
Black pepper: Piperine is the compound that gives pepper its pungent flavor. Piperine enhances the serum concentration, absorption, and bioavailability of curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric.
Ground red pepper (cayenne): Capsaicin, the compound that gives chile peppers their heat, may help shrink fatty tissue and lower blood fat levels. Because capsaicin creates heat in the body, it may temporarily increase fat-burning.
Cumin: This herb aids digestion and is active in energy production in the body.
Cardamom: This is another warming, thermogenic spice that may help boost your metabolism and your body’s ability to burn fat.
Asian Chicken Bone Broth
Prep Time: 5 Minutes • Cook Time: 5–10 Minutes
Yield: Makes 4 cups (1 quart)
4 cups (1 quart) Chicken Bone Broth
3" length of lemongrass, cut into 1" pieces
1 small clove garlic, smashed
One handful of shitake mushrooms, sliced
2 scallions, white and green parts, cut into ½" pieces
Celtic or pink Himalayan salt
Ground black pepper
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped cilantro leaves
Heat the broth in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the lemongrass, garlic, mushrooms, and scallions. Reduce the heat to medium-low or low so the broth barely simmers for 5 to 10 minutes.
Remove and discard the lemongrass and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Top with the cilantro.
Eastern European Beef Bone Broth
Prep Time: 5 Minutes • Cook Time: 5–10 Minutes
Yield: Makes 4 cups (1 quart)
4 cups (1 quart) Beef Bone Broth
1 small clove garlic, smashed
Large handful of shredded cabbage
1 rib celery, diced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried dill
1 peppercorn
Celtic or pink Himalayan salt
Heat the broth in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic, cabbage, celery, bay leaf, dill, and peppercorn. Reduce the heat to medium-low or low so the broth barely simmers for 5 to 10 minutes, just until the vegetables are tender.
Remove and discard the bay leaf, garlic, and peppercorn. Season with salt and serve.
French Onion Beef Bone Broth
Prep Time: 5 Minutes • Cook Time: 5–10 Minutes
Yield: Makes 4 cups (1 quart)
4 cups (1 quart) Beef Bone Broth
1 small clove garlic, smashed
About 1 cup Roasted Sweet Onions
¼ teaspoon herbs de Provence
1 peppercorn
Celtic or pink Himalayan salt
Heat the broth in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic, onions, herbs, and peppercorn. Reduce the heat to medium-low or low so the broth barely simmers for 5 to 10 minutes.
Remove and discard the garlic and peppercorn. Season with salt.
Italian Beef Bone Broth
Prep Time: 5 Minutes • Cook Time: 5–10 Minutes
Yield: Makes 4 cups (1 quart)
4 cups (1 quart) Beef Bone Broth
1 small clove garlic, smashed
¼ cup tomato sauce, sugar-free
¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning
Celtic or pink Himalayan salt
Ground black pepper
6 fresh basil leaves, cut into fine chiffonade ribbons
Heat the broth in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic, tomato sauce, and Italian seasoning. Reduce the heat to medium-low or low so the broth barely simmers for 5 to 10 minutes.
Remove and discard the garlic. Season with salt and pepper and serve topped with the basil.
7:00 P.M. Snacks For Your Mini-Fasting Days
Keep your snacks simple and nourishing by including:
An excellent protein source, about the size of your palm
A serving of nonstarchy vegetables, the size of a softball or more
1 teaspoon olive oil or one serving of any of the Bone Broth Diet salad dressings or sauces (see Chapter 7). You can also enjoy any portion of the three salsas (see here, here, and here) and the Santa Fe Sauce.
Here are 16 quick and easy snacks for fasting days. Each contains one protein, one vegetable, and one fat. None of them take more than a few minutes to prepare.
1.3–4 ounces smoked salmon with sliced tomatoes and lettuce, drizzled with 1 teaspoon olive oil or 1 serving salad dressing*
2.3–4 ounces cooked chicken breast, roast turkey breast, or whole roast chicken and steamed broccoli, drizzled with 1 teaspoon olive oil or ghee
3.3–4-ounce turkey or chicken burger wrapped in large lettuce leaves with 1 teaspoon approved mayonnaise*
4.3–4-ounce beef or bison burger topped with your choice of salsa, plus a small salad of lettuce and tomatoes with 1 teaspoon salad dressing* or 1 teaspoon olive oil and vinegar or lemon juice
5.3–4 ounces sliced leftover Easy Pot Roast with a sliced tomato drizzled with 1 teaspoon olive oil
6.2 scrambled eggs with 1 teaspoon ghee and sautéed spinach
7.1 Baked Scotch Egg and sliced cucumbers or tomatoes drizzled with 1 teaspoon olive oil
8.1 serving Bone Broth Egg Drop Soup with 1 teaspoon olive oil or ghee added after you take the soup off the stove
9.1 slice Turkey Meatloaf Loaded with Vegetables with Ketchup, plus steamed cauliflower with 1 teaspoon ghee
10.3–4 slices Applegate turkey breast, 1 teaspoon approved mayonnaise,* and 3–4 asparagus spears to make rollups
11.2–3 cups mixed salad greens and other vegetables from the Bone Broth Diet vegetables list (Chapter 4), topped with a small can of tuna or salmon with Lemon Vinaigrette or 1 teaspoon olive oil and lemon juice
12.2–3 cups mixed salad greens and other vegetables from the Bone Broth Diet vegetables list, topped with a sliced hard-cooked egg and Creamy Avocado Salad Dressing
13.4–5 ounces baked or broiled whitefish such as cod drizzled with 1 teaspoon olive oil or ghee, plus Napa Slaw with Creamy Ginger Dressing
14.6 large boiled or steamed shrimp with ¼ cup Cocktail Sauce, plus steamed green beans with 1 teaspoon olive oil or ghee
15.1 cup leftover Rich and Hearty Turkey Chili with steamed spinach drizzled with 1 teaspoon olive oil or ghee
16.A Bone Broth Diet–approved shake.
Whenever salad dressing or mayonnaise is included, it refers to one of the Bone Broth Diet salad dressing or mayonnaise recipes. Or you can use 1 teaspoon Primal Kitchen Mayo, which is available online.
Looking For Other Sources Of Collagen?
Here’s the second-best way to add wrinkle-fighting power to your diet: grass-fed collagen protein. This is my absolute favorite protein outside of grass-fed meats and pastured eggs. If you’re looking for a great protein in shakes and bars, this is it. If you have a hard time with food allergies or can’t find a quick protein source that agrees with you, then you just hit the mother lode!
Grass-fed collagen protein is amazing. It has the same gut-healing, joint-healing, wrinkle-erasing benefits as the collagen in bone broth.
Collagen is lacking in our diets, so drink your bone broth—which is loaded with collagen building blocks—and get collagen in the form of protein powder and as the main protein in grab-and-go nutrition bars. Just make sure the label specifies that it’s grass-fed, enzymatically hydrolyzed collagen.
For People Who Hate To Cook
Here are easy tips for eating well without cooking (or at least cooking only a little).
First, get precut veggies and lettuce at the salad bar in the supermarket. If possible, select a store that uses mostly fresh ingredients. Walk past the cottage cheese, canned fruit, and bottled dressings and select all fresh vegetables. If you plan on eating immediately, dress your salad with oil and vinegar or lemons. Keep the oil to 1 teaspoon.
You can also select the salad bar’s cut-up vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, shredded carrots, mushrooms, and tomatoes, and then head to the produce area and buy prepared triple-washed lettuce, spinach, or cabbage. Mix them when you get home and voilà!—salad.
You may find vegetables precut and ready to pop in the microwave, bag and all. But don’t microwave them in the bag if you can help it. (Who knows what chemicals may leach into the food?) Steam them on the stove top if you possibly can.
While you’re in the produce section, buy blueberries. They’re the best fruit for you, and you can have a handful with your breakfast.
When it comes to veggies, your best choices are any fresh vegetables that you steam or roast. But if you know you won’t have time to prepare them, frozen vegetables are an option. Just make sure you select veggies without butter sauces.
For protein, purchase lots of eggs, which are supereasy to cook—or even buy already hard-cooked eggs. Also get smoked salmon (make sure it’s sugar-, dextrose-, and nitrite-free and preferably not farm raised). Canned tuna and salmon packed in water or olive oil are great choices, too.
Making A Entrée Salad
Entrée salads quickly solve the “I really don’t feel like cooking” problem. The trick is making a delightfully delicious salad that feels like a meal, not like a diner’s lifeless dinner salad. You want a salad that’s satisfying and has enough of the right protein, vegetables, and fat to keep you energized, comfortably full, and burning fat. Here are my guidelines for a memorable entrée salad.
Choose a protein that you really like.
You don’t have to eat tilapia when you want steak. Enjoy your meal! Protein will keep you satisfied for several hours because your body digests it more slowly than vegetables. And protein combined with vegetables and healthy fat will actually help you burn fat.
Select greens for their crispness.
Greens make a salad refreshing, invigorating, and energizing. Fresh greens are nutrient powerhouses, and there are so many to choose from: romaine, Bibb, green leaf, red leaf, oak leaf, spinach, kale, cabbage, frisée, arugula, dandelion greens, mesclun (spring mix), watercress, endive . . . the list goes on. Check out the Bone Broth Diet vegetables list. Have two or three handfuls.
Add vegetables for the crunch factor.
Some example bone broth meal plans:
Day 1
BREAKFAST
1 portion protein
1 portion fat
1 portion fruit
LUNCH
1 portion protein
2 vegetables portions
1 portion fat
DINNER
1 portion protein
2 vegetables portions
1 portion fat
SNACK
Bone broth*
Day 2
BREAKFAST
Sip on bone broth. May also drink:
• Coffee (black only)/ tea
• Water
LUNCH
Sip on bone broth. May also drink:
• Coffee (black only)/ tea
• Water
DINNER
Sip on bone broth. May also drink:
• Coffee (black only)/ tea
• Water
SNACK
Bone broth if you’re doing Plan 1, or or 7:00 p.m. snack or approved shake
Day 3
BREAKFAST
1 portion protein
1 portion fat
1 portion fruit
LUNCH
1 portion protein
2 vegetables portions
1 portion fat
DINNER
1 portion protein
2 vegetables portions
1 portion fat
SNACK
Bone broth*
Day 4
BREAKFAST
1 portion protein
1 portion fat
1 portion fruit
LUNCH
1 portion protein
2 vegetables portions
1 portion fat
DINNER
1 portion protein
2 vegetables portions
1 portion fat
SNACK
Bone broth*
Day 5
BREAKFAST
• Coffee (black only)/ tea
• Water
LUNCH
• Coffee (black only)/ tea
• Water
DINNER
• Coffee (black only)/ tea
• Water
SNACK
Bone broth if you’re doing Plan 1, or or 7:00 p.m. snack or approved shake
Day 6
BREAKFAST
1 portion protein
1 portion fat
1 portion fruit
LUNCH
1 portion protein
2 vegetables portions
1 portion fat
DINNER
1 portion protein
2 vegetables portions
1 portion fat
SNACK
Bone broth*
Day 7
BREAKFAST
1 portion protein
1 portion fat
1 portion fruit
LUNCH
1 portion protein
2 vegetables portions
1 portion fat
DINNER
1 portion protein
2 vegetables portions
1 portion fat
SNACK
Bone broth*
*When you feel tired or weak or need more energy, up to 2 mugs of bone broth are allowed per day for a snack.