As we say our goodbyes to summer and welcome the cooler months of fall and winter, something else that tends to make a less-than-welcome appearance this time of year is the cold-and-flu season. While we’re certainly not fans of the sniffles, we love cooler weather because it means we have more excuses to cozy down with a big bowl of soup or delicious broth! Luckily, as many of you know, soup and the common cold go hand in hand, but what you may not know is that soup, broth, and certain foods in general aren’t just soothing, they may actually help reduce symptoms and prevent illness by boosting your immune system!

Several cultures swear by chicken soup to nurse the sick back to health, and while of course it’s comforting to sip, science shows that chicken soup can actually aid in fighting infections. One notable study showed that chicken soup diminishes the presence of white blood cells associated with inflammation in upper respiratory conditions that often plague cold sufferers, suggesting that it encourages a more effective immune response and helps symptoms clear up quicker.

In a previous blog post, we talked about how in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), temperature plays a role in health and immunity. For example, if you “catch a cold” it could be because you were literally exposed to cold temperature; whether you were stuck in the rain, had a draft blowing on you in the middle of the night, or you forgot to wear a scarf on the first cool day of the season (anyone else?). In this case, one part of the treatment would be to eat warming foods to balance out the temperature in the body and eradicate the illness. By warming, we don’t just mean warm to the touch, but foods that are warming to taste as well, like herbs and spices; think: pepper, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and turmeric.

TCM and other ancient medical systems have relied upon herbs and spices to treat ailments for thousands of years. One of the most notable techniques in addition to warming or cooling the body with food is diaphoresis or sweating. When you’re not feeling 100%, have you ever had someone tell you to “sweat it out?” Well, it’s actually a thing! Especially in the early stages of a cold, the goal is to get the patient to sweat out the illness through the pores before it moves deeper into the body. A great way to do this is with diaphoretic herbs and spices that encourage the pores to open, like mint, cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, etc. You may notice that many diaphoretic herbs are also warming, but some are cooling, like mint.

Of course, ideally you’re not getting sick in the first place, so we can’t forget about prevention. Nourishing your body with immune boosting foods along with living a healthy lifestyle can directly correlate to a healthy immune system. The body has an innate ability to heal itself, so if you give it the tools it needs with a healthy diet and the proper vitamins and minerals, it has a better chance of fighting off illness, even in the thick of cold and flu season. Of course, life happens, with demanding jobs, kids, and modern day stressors that don’t always allow us to take the best care of ourselves, but one of the best things you can do is set yourself up for success with a good foundation.

Here are a few vital nutrients and the foods and spices where they can be found to keep immune system function in fighting shape:

Antioxidant-Rich Foods:

You’ve most likely heard about the health benefits of antioxidants and the importance of incorporating them into your diet to help prevent illness down the road. Antioxidants help rid the body of free radicals that can lead to signs of increased signs of aging, tissue damage, inflammation, and a weakened immune system. Foods with high antioxidant content include berries, red beans, artichokes and green tea.

Goji berries actually have one of the highest concentrations of antioxidants. We use the tiny red berries in some of our bone broth recipes to boost nutritional content, including the Ginseng Chicken and Turmeric Chicken. To boost your broth, add in a few more goji berries. When soaked in warm liquid they take on a soft, spongy quality and have a very mild flavor. They’re also great added to smoothies and salads.

Vitamins: Some major vitamins, including vitamin C, beta-carotene, and Vitamin E, are also antioxidants… surprise! We all know that it’s important to get the proper vitamins, and in a perfect world you’re absorbing those vitamins via whole food sources.

Here are some of our favorite ways to eat our vitamins:

Citrus: Citrus is a good source of vitamin C, and while vitamin C may not cure your cold, it may help keep symptoms at bay and from developing into a more serious infection. We are big fans of lemon and lime at Nona Lim. We use lime in lots of our recipes, and one of my very favorite wellness rituals is to sip a hot cup of water with fresh lemon juice.

Bell peppers: We love cooking with bell peppers; they’re especially delicious when added to stir-fries of all varieties. What you might not know is that bell peppers are also a great source of vitamin C.

Sweet potatoes: These tubers are a rich source of beta carotene, an antioxidant that makes the flesh of the potatoes orange. Cooked sweet potatoes are also easy to digest, so they provide a maximum amount of nutrition that your body can easily absorb.

Carrots: If one of the major characteristics of beta-carotene is its orange color, it may not surprise you that carrots are also a rich source of this vitamin. Carrots are often used in the base for our broths and they have a starring role in our Carrot Ginger Soup.

Anti – Inflammatory Foods & Spices:

Inflammation is the body’s natural immune response and occurs when you have an injury or illness, and results with symptoms of pain, heat, redness, and swelling, which can take place internally or externally in the body. Inflammation is necessary for survival and recovery, a poor diet, stress and unfavorable lifestyle can also contribute to excess inflammation in the body. The body treats these things, processed foods for example, as invaders and attacks them like they would any other pathogen, causing unfavorable symptoms and a weakened immune system.

A healthy diet is a big part of managing inflammation in the body. Here are a few of our favorite anti-inflammatory foods:

Turmeric: A superfood enjoying quite a moment lately. This bright yellow spice has been shown to reduce inflammation. Many functional doctors recommend incorporating it into your everyday diet to both reduce inflammation and enhance immunity. It’s delicious in soups, curries, and even in your morning latte as a caffeine-free, superfood alternative, or sprinkle into ghee or butter when cooking eggs to get in your healthy omega-3 fatty acids! Look for the spice in our Turmeric Chicken Bone Broth.

Ginger: Ginger is a multi-functional herb in Chinese medicine. Also said to have anti-inflammatory properties, it warms the stomach and can reduce nausea. Ginger is often added to cold or raw foods in traditional recipes to balance out their temperature, so the body can more easily digest them. We love adding ginger to our broths and soups, and if I’m feeling run down, I’ll take a shot of fresh ginger juice to boost my immune system.

Garlic: In addition to being anti-inflammatory, garlic is antibacterial and antifungal. No wonder it’s said to keep vampires away!

Shiitake Mushrooms: These magic fungi have been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties, and they’ve also been shown to improve the function of immune cells when consumed on a daily basis[1]. How cool is that?! Get your daily dose by throwing some shiitakes into your broth, soup, stir-fry, or by sipping our  Shiitake Beef Bone Broth.

Bone Broth: Of course we have to throw bone broth in here, and for good reason because it is packed with tons of vitamins and minerals that support boosting immunity. Have you ever heard that the immune system resides in the gut? Modern medicine is busy researching the vast connections between the immune system and gut health, and they’ve found that they have a very close relationship.

In a previous post we talked about leaky gut and how bone broth can help. Bone broth has been shown to help seal openings in the gut that may lead to an overactive and eventually weakened immune system. In other words, a healthy, intact gut has a strong correlation to immunity.

Bone broth is easy for the body to absorb, can help heal and seal the gut, and also has anti-inflammatory properties to boot.

If you or a friend are feeling especially run-down or under the weather, we put together a special care package with some of our favorite soups and broths to help you feel Better Soon. In the office you’ll find us sipping them for prevention to bolster our immune system, or if we feel a cold coming on, and we do our best to incorporate foods to boost the immune system on a regular basis.

Here’s one of my favorite wellness elixirs to sip during cold and flu season:

Nona’s Wellness Tea

Ingredients:

A few slices fresh ginger

Juice from half a lemon

1.5 cups hot water

Honey to taste

Directions:

1. Add ginger and lemon juice to a mug

2. Pour in hot water

3. Let cool a bit, so you don’t burn your tongue. Stir in honey to taste. Enjoy!

 

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25866155

Inspired by the food in “Crazy Rich Asians”? Learn more about Singaporean rice noodle dishes and how to make laksa.

I have been looking forward to seeing “Crazy Rich Asians” - the movie version of the bestselling book by fellow Singaporean and author Kevin Kwan - on the big screen. The romantic comedy is set in my hometown of Singapore and best of all, it features an all-Asian cast, including some of my favorite actors: Michelle Yeoh, Tan Kheng Hua, and Constance Wu. I finally had the chance to see it, and if you haven’t watched it yet, definitely go check it out! Having read all three books, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the movie come to life, and reminiscing about all of the different places I grew up with in Singapore.

My favorite parts of “Crazy Rich Asians” were the luscious, drool-worthy food scenes, especially the ones featuring Singapore’s hawker centers and local dishes. In fact, the movie triggered a huge wave of nostalgia for me, and a craving for Singapore’s crazy rich rice noodle dishes. Let me explain.      

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I have always loved food since childhood. I learned to cook from my father at the age of 7, and have had a bug for cooking ever since. Our family loved making food at home, but also eating out at hawker centers. The hawker center nearest to our home was particularly famous for its stalls, and we would visit it almost every single day.

Eating at hawker centers is a huge Singaporean tradition. Hawker centers are massive open-air complexes of food stalls featuring inexpensive delicacies, and you can find them in most neighborhoods. With common seating areas surrounded by food stalls from a few dozen to a few hundred, hawker centers are truly the ultimate foodie’s mecca. Usually each stall only offers a couple dishes which that vendor specializes in. That means you can get a snack from stall #54, appetizers from stall #79 and noodle bowls from stall #102. The flexibility to customize your meal to satisfy your various desires is part of what makes the experience so wonderful. No two meals are the same.

Our family would go early in the morning, when the stalls are just setting up shop. I would stand and stare intently at my favorite hawker stalls, watching the vendors as they prepared their food for the day, so that I could memorize every step of how each dish is cooked. Some of my favorite hawker center dishes include chicken rice,  roti prata, bak ku teh, fried carrot cake, satay, curry fish head and nasi lemak.

Among the myriads of delicacies, noodles have always been a special obsession of mine. There are so many different noodle dishes which you can have for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!  While many of these dishes feature simple ingredients, they are all rich in flavor and texture. Here are some of my favorites:

Laksa - there are two main types of laksa: Curry Laksa and Asam Laksa. Curry Laksa is more common in Singapore and is traditionally made with vermicelli, coconut milk, tau pok (beancurd puffs), fish slices, shrimp and hum (cockles). A variation of it, Katong Laksa, features noodles which have been cut in to short lengths so the dish can be eaten with a spoon.

Hokkien Prawn Mee - fried egg noodles and rice noodles are cooked in a rich prawn stock, usually with cubes of fried pork fat, prawns, fish cake and squid. The key to this dish is the quality of the noodles and the stock, which adds a huge amount of flavor to this dish.

Char Kway Teow - is another signature Singapore noodle dish made with flat rice noodles, stir-fried with egg, pork lard, Chinese sausages and fish cake and a sweet dark sauce.

Wantan Mee - This dish is probably influenced by Cantonese cuisine. Thin wheat noodles are drenched with some light sweet sauce, and eaten with slices of pork char siew and dumplings filled with pork, with a small bowl of soup on the side. You can also get variations of this, such as the wantan mee pictured above which comes with braised beef tendon instead.

Hor Fun - Flat, wide rice noodles are stir-fried with meat or seafood, vegetables and served with a wet gravy, usually made of stock. There are quite a few variations of this dish, depending on what protein and vegetables are served with it.

You may have noticed by now that there are quite a few types of noodles used in Singaporean dishes. Here’s a quick noodle crash course: the most common noodles tend to fall into two categories – wheat or rice noodles. Within each category, the noodles come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Fresh rice noodles are usually made into different shapes in a few steps:

• Rice is ground into a fine flour. Sometimes a small amount of tapioca starch is added to give more elasticity.

• It is then mixed with water, to get a white batter.

• The batter is then extruded or steamed in sheets.

• The noodles are then dried under the sun or in a dryer, then cut into desired width.

Here are some typical rice noodles and their names:

• Laksa – long, extruded, spaghetti-shaped

• Hor fun – wide, steamed flat rice noodles, in pappardelle shape, also called Pad See Ew in Thailand.

• Ipoh Hor Fun – thinner steamed flat rice noodles, also known as Pad Thai noodles

These are some of my favorite rice noodles, but I had a hard time finding authentic ones in the United States. So I decided to source them myself. Our Laksa, Pad Thai and Pad See Ew noodles are made in Singapore by a third generation noodle manufacturer so you get the most authentic taste and texture.

Are you inspired and intrigued by the food in “Crazy Rich Asians”? You can try your hand at making some Singaporean noodle dishes at home with our noodles. For starters, here is an at-home version laksa recipe, courtesy of Chef Nora Haron, founder of NoraHaron Pop-Up and Restaurant in Oakland, formerly of the beloved Drip Line Oakland.

Chef Nora Haron’s Laksa Recipe

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

Laksa Spice Paste:

• 2 cups shallots, peeled and sliced

• 3 inch segment of turmeric root, skinned

• 2 inch segment of galangal, skinned

• 1 cup lemongrass, finely chopped

• 2 cups whole dried red chilies, soaked until softened

• 1 cup fresh Fresno or Jalapeño chili peppers

• 1 cup candlenuts or macadamia nuts

• 4 teaspoons belachan (shrimp paste), toasted

Laksa Broth:

• 1 cup canola oil

• 1-1/2 to 2 quarts shrimp or chicken stock

• 2 cups coconut milk

• 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

• 1 batch of Laksa spice paste

Sambal Sauce (Makes about 2 cups)

• 1 cup fresh Fresno chili peppers

• 1 cup dried California chillies, soaked

• 1/2 cup shallots, peeled and sliced

• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed

• 1 inch segment of ginger, peeled and chopped

• 1/2 cup lemongrass, finely chopped

• 2 teaspoons belachan (shrimp paste), toasted

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil

Laksa Noodles

• 3 boxes of Nona Lim Laksa Noodles

Garnishes

• Grilled Shrimp

• Soft Boiled Egg or Fried Egg

• Rau Ram (also known as vietnamese coriander or laksa leaf)

• Julienned Cucumbers

• Fried Tofu Puffs

• Beansprouts

• Lime segments

Instructions

Laksa spice paste:

• Blend all ingredients to form a smooth paste, adding a bit of water if necessary.

Laksa broth:

• In a large pot, heat the oil on medium heat. Sauté Laksa spice paste until fragrant, around 5 minutes.

• Add stock and bring to a boil. Then add coconut milk, and salt. Bring to a quick boil, stirring continuously. Turn off heat once boiling.

Sambal sauce:

• In a food processor, blend all ingredients  (except salt, sugar and oil) to form a smooth paste, adding a bit of water if necessary.

• Heat oil in a pan at medium heat. Sauté the paste until fragrant for around 5 minutes, stirring continuously until the oil is separated out. Add salt and sugar to taste. Set aside to serve with finished Laksa.

Laksa Noodles:

• Each box of Nona Lim Laksa Noodles contains two pouches of noodles. For each pouch, tear a notch in the plastic pouch to vent, then microwave about 2 minutes.

• Carefully remove noodles from pouch and place in a bowl.

Assembly:

• Ladle laksa broth over noodles in bowl, add garnishes, and serve with sambal sauce on the side.

  

If you’re doing the Whole30® Program, make sure to stock up on bone broth.

Recently, we’ve been receiving lots of inquiries about The Whole30® Program and the role of bone broth in the plan. We listened to fans rave about how great they felt on and after the program, and it became pretty clear to us that The Whole30® Program isn’t just a fad. We wanted to know more, so we did some investigating to give you the skinny on the clean eating plan and how bone broth can help support it...

According to their website, the program took off when Co-Founder, Melissa Hartwig, a Certified Sports Nutritionist, blogged about her life-changing 30-day food experiment in 2009, in which she cut out all sugar, grains, legumes, dairy, and alcohol in favor of whole, nutrient-dense foods, think veggies, fruits and high quality, organic protein. The result? More energy, better fitness, weight loss, even pain reduction, and the disappearance of cravings for the foods that made you feel crappy in the first place. Millions have since tried the plan all over the world and sing its praises for the results they experience.

The foods that are eliminated are those that tend to be inherently inflammatory, causing weight gain, fatigue, even pain, and worse, they may lead to several health conditions that science now suggests originating in the gut. Because health and nutrition have gotten pretty out of hand in the US with the current Standard American Diet, when it comes to making big lifestyle changes, it seems people often want a plan that will bring them back to baseline, so they can start with a clean slate; and The Whole30® is a promising way to achieve that. After 30 days of clean eating, the program promises to reset the body, reduce inflammation, curb cravings, and kickstart a healthier lifestyle for ongoing success.

The Whole30® recommends bone broth as a staple in the program to support gut health, improved digestion, and to maximize the benefits of the 30 days with additional nutrients and amino acids. As people clean up their lifestyles, and more specifically, their diets, bone broth has become an essential tool to support and maintain this process. It can help heal the body as it makes the transition away from inflammatory foods, and when it’s time to transition from the more stringent part of a plan into maintaining a healthy lifestyle, it continues to make people feel great, so they incorporate it into their everyday routines.

On top of being a great support for the Whole30® Program, bone broth has been touted for some pretty incredible benefits in its own right, including promoting joint health, reducing inflammation, supporting the gut, and helping to heal leaky gut syndrome, improving the strength and appearance of skin, hair and nails, benefitting the immune system, and more.

The thing about making good bone broth is it can be intimidating (and time-consuming!). Canned chicken soup isn’t going to cut it in this case... First, you’ll need some high-quality bones to work with. The easiest bare bones to come by are beef bones and chicken bones for beef and chicken bone broth, respectively. Chicken feet are also often used because they are comprised entirely of bones, cartilage, and tendons, which means they are chock full of nutrients and minerals. Cover the bones with plenty of water and add an acid like apple cider vinegar (mostly for beef bones), which helps break down the bones and extract nutrients during the cooking process. Throw in some veggies and spices, and then you wait!

Beef bone broth especially requires 24-48 hours of cook time on low heat or in a slow cooker to properly extract all of the essential nutrients from the bones. You can cut the time down significantly in an instant pot or pressure cooker, but we’re still talking hours. This unique cooking process extracts easily to absorb forms of magnesium, phosphorus, and calcium, and nutrients that are hard to find in abundance anywhere else but are packed in marrow, bones, and cartilage, including the amino acids proline and glycine, chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine, said to reduce inflammation, as well as collagen and gelatin.

There you have it! We hope that helped give you a bit more information on the diet craze you’re sure to have come across via friends, family, coworkers, or on social media! Have you tried The Whole30®? How did you feel after, and how did you work bone broth into your 30-day routine? Tell us about your experience in the comments!

 As a former competitive athlete, I did my best to eat healthy to support my performance. I made sure to go easy on sweets and processed foods, and tried to stick to whole foods as much as possible. However, I still noticed some unfavorable side effects around eating gluten and dairy. If I ate too much of either, I would suffer from bloating, and fatigue. It was frustrating to not feel and perform at my best. I started to hear more about food intolerance, which got me curious about what was happening internally and the correlation between gut health and overall health.

The science of nutrition clearly wasn’t as simple as we had been told, so in a quest to learn more, I enrolled in a graduate program at Bauman College to become a Certified Nutritionist, which is where I was introduced to the concept of leaky gut syndrome, and learned about its causes and how to heal it with whole foods to feel your absolute best.

You may be surprised to learn that leaky gut could be the root cause for several other health issues, including autoimmune diseases, bloating, foggy head, fatigue, joint pain, weakened immune system, food sensitivities, and more.

What is Leaky Gut Syndrome?

First, let’s dive into what leaky gut syndrome is, and what causes it. In a healthy digestive system, the gut lining is made up of specialized epithelial cells that are held together by tight junctions. These tight junctions act as a barrier in the digestive tract for everything that passes through the gut and are flexible enough to only let essential nutrients pass through the intestinal lining into the bloodstream. When the tight junctions are weakened, they break down, allowing other particles to pass into the bloodstream where they don’t belong.

When these small amounts of debris leach out of the gut into the bloodstream, the body reacts by treating the debris like a foreign invasion, causing inflammation. This can cause the body’s immune system to work overtime and become hyperactive, which is what we see in autoimmune disorders where the body attacks healthy tissue. If the gut lining is severely damaged, this cycle can lead to chronic inflammation, which science is finding may be the precursor for many other health problems.

What Causes Leaky Gut Syndrome?

This weakening and breaking down of the tight junctions can happen for a few reasons. Some people are genetically predisposed to having weaker gut linings, but often environmental and lifestyle choices play an unfavorable role in gut health, including poor diet, stress, toxins in the environment, and too much bad bacteria in the body.

With the way most Americans eat today, poor diet is a leading factor for the phenomenon of leaky gut, but the good news is, food can also help to heal the condition!

Best Foods For Leaky Gut Syndrome

A great way to avoid leaky gut syndrome is to go on a leaky gut diet, but don’t worry, this diet isn’t about deprivation at all.  First, avoid certain inflammatory foods like wheat, gluten, dairy, sugar, fried and greasy foods, and processed foods that can exacerbate the condition. Try incorporating more fruits, veggies, gluten-free whole grains, legumes, good quality organic meat, fish, and healthy fats.

The following foods are all-stars when it comes to preventing and healing leaky gut syndrome, and they’re also great for supporting a healthy diet in general, so you have nothing to lose and much to gain by incorporating them into your routine.

Bone Broth

Bone broth is especially beneficial for those with weakened digestive systems, and leaky gut in particular, because it is easy to digest and absorb. It contains anti-inflammatory amino acids, glycine and proline to minimize negative inflammatory effects, and is also a fantastic source of collagen and glutamine, which can help seal and rebuild the gut lining. Several practitioners recommend that patients suffering from leaky gut syndrome try a short bone broth fast for a few days to kick-start the healing process. Check with your doctor before embarking on such a plan to make sure you are getting the proper nutrients.

Fermented Foods

I’m a big fan of fermented foods, which are packed with probiotics (read: good bacteria) to help combat bad bacteria that can run amok with a damaged gut. I love eating kimchi on just about anything. Other options include non-dairy coconut yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut.

Coconut

Coconut products and coconut oil offer a healthy source of fat in the form of medium chain triglycerides that are also anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial in nature to help “reset” the gut, so the healing process can take place. You can add coconut oil to just about anything: use it for cooking, add it to a smoothie, or mix it into your morning coffee. Of course, it is also a saturated fat so you do want to use it in moderation.

How Do I Know if I Have Leaky Gut Syndrome?

Leaky gut is just starting to be recognized by mainstream medicine as a disease that can contribute to many health conditions.

If you tend to have bloating, cramping, body aches, headaches, fatigue, food sensitivities, or even if you’ve been diagnosed with a more serious condition like an autoimmune disease, it’s worth asking your healthcare professional about leaky gut. The tricky thing is, lots of different things can contribute to the above list of symptoms and disorders. Leaky gut is still an area of confusion for many medical professionals, and research is still being done.

If you suspect you may be suffering from the underlying condition of leaky gut, it never hurts to incorporate some of the recommendations in this piece. All can contribute to a healthy lifestyle and may help you avoid further health issues down the road. If your symptoms start to disappear, then great!

More Ways To Heal and Prevent Leaky Gut Syndrome

Manage Stress

Have you ever noticed your digestion take a turn for the worst when you’re especially stressed out? Many of us live in a constant state of some kind of stress, which can have a negative effect on the gut. Stress management is such a useful tool for preserving your health (and sanity!).

Adopt an exercise routine, preferably with a mindfulness component, like yoga or tai chi. Try incorporating a meditation practice; just 10 minutes every day can make a big difference, or just get outside for a walk and some fresh air.

Clean Up Your Environment

Environmental toxins are also thought to contribute to gut problems and excess inflammation. Try switching out your cleaning products with non-toxic brands, which are now available in most major grocery stores.

Supplements

In addition to the probiotic foods mentioned above, it may also help to incorporate a probiotic supplement into your routine to ensure the good bacteria in your gut is winning the fight over the bad. Dr. Oz recommends looking for supplements with 1 billion or more live organisms per day.

We’re All For Gut Health at Nona Lim

You may have noticed that most of our products are both gluten and dairy-free, or maybe they’re so yummy, you didn’t even consider that something could be missing! Well, at least that’s our hope. We work really hard to make sure our soups, bone broths, and noodles first taste delicious, and also make you feel awesome (bonus!). That’s the magic of whole foods and spices; when you stick with quality ingredients, you’re going to get great flavor.

I wanted to show people how easy it can be to enjoy whole foods and feel their best at the same time, but what’s so cool about some of the foods we make, is that they also have the power to heal.

I sip on our Bone Broth Heat & Sip Cups on the regular to keep my gut humming and happy. I try to get them in first thing in the morning in place of a cup of coffee, and since convenience is king, the to-go cups make them great for drinking on the move. The Bone Broth is also great to use as a base for soups and stews.

There are so many ways to support the gut with a healthy lifestyle. Small changes can make a big difference. If you’re feeling overwhelmed when in doubt, go with your gut! Listen to your body, and notice the positive changes that occur with even the smallest lifestyle changes.

By now, you know that broth isn’t just for sipping when you’re feeling under the weather. As we all tend to lead busier, more active lifestyles, we have searched far and wide for the best ways to support optimal health, and as it turns out, the benefits of chicken soup can transcend the sniffles. Specifically, bone broth, defined as the nutrient-rich liquid that results from slow-cooking animal bones for around 24 hours, is said to have properties that heal and support the body.

The wellness world has caught on to incorporating bone broth in more ways to do just that. It’s now as commonplace as a daily juice or even a cup of coffee (enter our Heat & Sip Cups!). This food trend shows no signs of going away, and we’re all for it. It’s no wonder those who put their bodies to the test on the regular swear by it. Some believe that bone broth has the power to help enhance athletic performance, reduce recovery time between workouts, build muscle, reduce pain in muscles and joints, and improve immunity.

In this piece, we’ll walk you through some key bone broth benefits, and how the elixir could be the secret ingredient your training routine is missing. First, let’s look at some of the healing properties of bone broth and how they can be useful for the athlete:

Anti-Inflammatory

Inflammation is the body’s natural healing response to injury or infection. It often involves heat, redness, and pain. When exercising, minor tears and injuries can be caused in joints and tissue, which will eventually promote rebuilding for stronger muscles and increased performance; but it is possible to overdo it, causing longer recovery times.

Bone broth is high in anti-inflammatory amino acids, glycine and proline, which have been shown to help speed the recovery process and reduce inflammation; allowing muscles and joints to heal quicker, and enabling us to get back to the gym faster.

Joint Health

Joints are put to the test in training mode, and the last thing we need as an athlete is a sprain or strain. Not only that, joint health declines with age, making joints more susceptible to injury. The reason for this decline is the slowing of collagen production as we age.

Drinking bone broth is one of the ways to bring collagen back into our bodies. The slow-cooking process extracts collagen from the animal bones and joints into the broth, and makes it easy to absorb when consumed. The collagen in the broth can help supplement what has been lost, supporting healthy bones and stronger joints. Studies show that dietary collagen can even reduce joint pain in athletes.[1]

Another key factor in promoting joint health is gelatin, a nutrient also found in bone broth, that provides cushioning and glide for joints, and is also extracted from the joints and cartilage in the cooking process. Gelatin also tends to be lost in the joints with wear and tear; and incorporating it into the diet can help supplement natural depletion.

Sodium

Your body needs sodium, and when you sweat, you lose valuable water and sodium. Popular sports drinks are made with sodium to address this issue. Bone broth provides a high-quality source of sodium that can replace what was lost during an intense workout.

My Story:

As a former competitive fencer, I definitely saw the correlation between my diet and my performance first-hand. Having the right food really helped with recovery, alertness, and my performance.

Growing up in Singapore, my mother has always made drinking broths a part of our culture as TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) was part of our culture. Slow-simmered double-boiled soups have always been popular in Singapore and other parts of Asia, like China, Korea, and Hong Kong. Broth is often consumed after pregnancy, or surgery to help build the immune system in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

In fact, one of our bone broth recipes, the Ginseng Chicken Bone Broth, is modeled after a Korean soup called samgyetang and a Chinese soup with black chicken and ginseng that is often consumed for functional purposes.

As an athlete, I didn’t have time to make my own bone broths. I am really excited though that we now have our bone broths available in our Heat & Sip Cups, which makes it super convenient for you to enjoy the health benefits of bone broth.

We are inspired by traditional recipes and techniques to simmer chicken bones and beef bones to extract high-quality nutrients.

Our Cups have become popular with both the casual and professional athlete, alike. Defensive Tackle on the Oakland Raiders, Eddie Vanderdoes IV, swears by bone broth for recovery. While he was nursing an injured knee, he sipped Nona Lim Bone Broth on the daily to speed up the healing process. He posits that the Heat & Sip Cups were “crucial for my recovery.”

How To Get The Most Out of Your Bone Broth:

Consuming one serving or one Heat & Sip Cup of bone broth daily, a few hours before or after your workout, is a great way to support a healthy body and reap the bone broth benefits. It’s a super-nourishing way to warm up your body in the morning, and is a healthy alternative to your morning coffee. Broth is also an excellent, caffeine-free way to wind down in the evening after a long day.

Our new functional bone broths: Turmeric Chicken, Shiitake Beef, and Ginseng Chicken are packed with 5-10g of protein, so they are great choices for a pre or post workout snack to keep you satisfied and energized.

Our Kits and Samplers are designed to deliver bone broth with various goals in mind, Paleo, Premium Bone Broth Kit, and Cold Recovery, for example, while also giving you an opportunity to sample our different broth varieties, making it easier than ever to get in your daily dose of bone broth.