How to Prepare Chicken Feet Broth For a Big Dose of Collagen
An Easy Collagen Bone Broth Recipe
Buy chicken feet.
Dump then in a pot and cover with water. Simmer for 10 minutes. Discard water.
Cover chicken feet with fresh water. Add a chopped onion, a few carrots and celery, and a tablespoon of vinegar.
Simmer for three hours, spooning out any foam that rises to the top.
That’s it! Your broth will gel like crazy once in the fridge, proving its gelatin-ness (gelatin is cooked collagen).
The reason I make this broth regularly is that I love knowing I can get my collagen from food whenever possible. It’s cheap, a rich source of nutrients like glucosamine and chondroitin, and tastes like what it is: nourishing.
You find collagen in animal skin, bones and connective tissue. It is the ‘glue’ that holds us together. Our ancestors typically consumed much of it because they ate the whole animal. Nowadays we eat just the chicken breast (no collagen) and eschew (better to chew) the rest. When collagen input decreases, osteoporosis and wrinkles increase.
You may not know where the collagen needs to go but your body does!
Chicken feet are also a source of hyaluronic acid, which, like collagen, can decrease the effects of aging. One of the doctors I follow - age 63 - claims that the wrinkles around her eyes disappeared after a few months of eating pigs’ ears, which are also loaded with collagen. She advises patients who are falling apart - a torn rotator cuff here, a painful hip click there - to consume a 1/4 cup per day of gelatin. Joints feel better on it. And, I actually notice a difference in my complexion when I eat it consistently. My face seems brighter, healthier, and I notice this quickly - within the first two days of starting it up again. The many other inspiring benefits of collagen powder include healthy hair, enhanced weight loss, and anti-aging effects.
If you don’t want to have chicken feet only broth, try tossing a few feet that you keep in a bag in the freezer into a chicken meat and carcass soup you’re making. It’s a nice way to spread out your feet and get the additional dose of collagen too.
Don’t want to make feet soup? Add gelatin to your coffee instead.
Besides chicken feet in my freezer, I keep Great Lakes gelatin in my cupboard. I put this tasteless powder in my blended bulletproof coffee every morning. Great Lakes gelatin is made up of purified protein from animal skin, connective tissue and bone. If you’re squeamish about eating chicken feet and cow hooves and pigs’ ears, then this would be the way to get your collagen. Ray Peat likes this brand too.
Another great geller is Pigs’ Feet Broth. I call it my Bell jar of gelatinous gold.
Do you make bone broths regularly? Have you noticed improved health? Let us know what you’ve found by commenting below!
