How to Get More Collagen into Your Diet! (and I don't mean powder!)
As many of you know, collagen is the most ubiquitous protein in the human body. That means that a lot of our body is made from it. Our skin, hair, and nails are obvious, but collagen also makes up our blood vessels, bones, muscles, GI tract, fascia, joints, and so much more. If you are having challenges with your joints, your skin, your gut, almost any part of your body, you would do well to add collagen to your diet. Note I said “diet” - that is, “what’s on your menu” every day, not what powder you are adding to your “protein shake” in the morning. Start with the food!
Some of you may know that I have been practicing and teaching the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) nutritional protocol for the past 10 years or so, as a Certified GAPS Practitioner (CGP) and the “GAPS Chef”. I also teach for GAPS Training as lead faculty for GAPS cooking techniques, training CGPs and Certified GAPS Coaches (CGCs). Prior to that, I had been teaching the nourishing, traditional stocks and broths of the Weston A. Price diet, and still do!
One of the things that the GAPS nutritional protocol does in addition to rebuilding gut flora is to provide the nutrition to “heal and seal” a “leaky gut”, otherwise known as “increased intestinal permeability”. The tool is food and the prescription is meat stock, and lots of it (some adults are drinking upwards of one quart or liter per day, every day). At its most basic, “meat stock” is a short cooked stock made of meaty bones with all of their connective tissue, clean water, and salt. (For more information about how to make meat stock, as well as the GAPS diet, see the 2nd edition of my book, The Complete Cooking Techniques for the GAPS Diet, as well as my Meat Stock Masterclass. Read on for a basic meat stock recipe at the bottom of this article.) Meat stock provides all the collagen you need to repair, rebuild, and build healthy connective tissue throughout the body. The most important ingredient in the stock is the connective tissue - the skin, cartilage, ligaments, tendons. One of the ways you can “turbo charge” your healing game is to be sure you eat all of what DNCM calls these “nibbly bits”. Here are a few ways you can get these gems into your diet.
The easiest way to get the connective tissue into your diet is to eat it outright. Simply pull the skin and cartilage, etc., off the meat or poultry and eat it, just like your grandmother used to do. (While you are at it, be sure to crack open the chicken bones and suck out the marrow!) This is easy and does not involve any more steps, but some people do not like the texture of these “nibbly bits”, so we came up with some other ways to “smooth out” the texture.
Blend all the connective tissues back into the stock. A food processor works best, though you can use an immersion or stick blender, if you have a good one with a strong motor and sharp blade. Simply strain the stock, pull the skin and connective tissues off the meat or poultry, and blend them back in. You can go on to make your soup by blending in any vegetables and meat, or adding the vegetables and meat back into the stock. As you can imagine, the result will be a very thick soup. Proceed with mindfulness! Start eating this kind of soup gradually, or you may find it too rich to “stomach”. All of that connective tissue requires adequate stomach acid and bile to digest it. You may wish to start by eating just a few spoonfuls and seeing how you tolerate it. Eating some sauerkraut or drinking some bitters prior to having this type of soup can help. Over time, you will be able to tolerate more. You can also dilute this soup with some filtered water if it is too rich for you when you first bring it into your diet, gradually diluting less and less.
Make “collagen cubes”! This is an easy way to add connective tissue into your diet gradually. AND it’s the real deal, real food, not some highly processed powder! I came up with this method when I was working with individuals who had severe collagen deficiency as well as a challenged digestive system. We had to find a way to bring in the connective tissue very slowly; much more slowly than the previous method above. Start the same way - strain the meat stock and pull the connective tissue off the meat or poultry. Add the tissue to a food processor and then add just enough stock from the pot into the food processor to make a “slurry” - that is, a very thick puree. The amount you will need will depend upon how much connective tissue you start with, so it will vary by batch. At this point, you can portion the slurry into ice cube trays of any size, and freeze it. When frozen, pop them out and store in the freezer in a container. These “collagen cubes” will last for months, though I hope you use them up before they get freezer burn! These small cubes allow you to control the amount of collagen you are eating, adding in a bit at a time, and avoiding any digestive overload.
Basic Meat Stock: Chicken or Turkey
serves about 4
2-3 pounds of pastured chicken or turkey, cut up, or you can use thighs or quarters (If using a whole chicken, you may wish to remove the breasts and freeze for another use.) Include all skin, bones, and cartilage
3-4 carrots, coarsely chopped
one small onion, quartered
handful of black peppercorns
1-2 tsp Celtic, Baja Gold, or other mineral rich salt
2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary or thyme (optional)
pure water to cover by 2 inches
Place everything in a 5-6 quart Dutch oven.
Place in the oven at 275 F and cook 2-4 hours. Or, bring to a boil on the stove and skim and discard the scum, then turn heat down to a low simmer and cook, covered, for 1.5-2 hours until the meat is tender.
You may also cook in a crock pot on low for 4-6 hours—more time for a greater amount of meat. (If using a crock pot, put on High for one hour, then Low for 4-6. Or just on low for about 8 hours.)
Enjoy!