organ meats
In spring time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.
-William Blake
The ancient Chinese physicians believed that, like plants moving their resources deep into the Earth during the dark winter months, the energy of the body also moved into the deepest parts to rejuvenate tissues like bone and marrow. When we think of bone the first mineral we think of is calcium. However, the bones are reservoirs of minerals like magnesium, potassium, zinc, copper, and strontium. Studies going back more than thirty years have demonstrated that these less-known minerals are as important for bone health as calcium. Diets in the developed world have moved in a direction that provides fewer and fewer minerals. Many of the mineral-rich foods that used to be mainstays of our diets like heart, kidney, roots, kelp, sea salt and even bone have fallen out of favor. Instead of eating the whole animal, which provides a flood of minerals from the Earth, we’ve limited ourselves to only muscle. Since it is very common for bone tissue to age faster than many other tissues of the body, we will revisit this subject again and again. It’s a very complex subject. If you are feeling motivated, here is a post I wrote several years ago about the complexities of alkalizing foods and bone aging. For now, here are some simple steps to begin to bring minerals back into your diet.
- Replace your table salt which contains only sodium with sea salt which contains an array of minerals.
- Try some coconut water. Be sure to get the one with no sugar added. It’s slightly alkaline taste is a result of the abundance of potassium.
- Eat sardines with the bones left in. The wild ones definitely taste better and are worth the bit of extra money.
- Make some bone broth. This can be done by adding bones, like beef ribs or bone-in chicken or turkey. Simply boil these down into a nice consommé. Adding a little lemon of vinegar to acidify the water helps to dissolve the minerals into the water. Be sure to add some sea salt. Eat this on its own or use it as a base for other recipes.
- If you live in an area where you can get Japanese food, try some seaweed salad or miso soup. Both of these are abundant in absorbable minerals. You might be surprised that you actually like it. If you don’t, I will be posting a breakfast seaweed recipe soon that I promise tastes good.
- Try some organ meats. If you live in a country like the US where the taste for these foods is very unfamiliar start with a little liver pate’.
- Eat more root vegetables like beets, burdock, parsnips and carrots….Have you ever eaten a fresh beet? It’s like infusing yourself with the fragrance of the Earth.
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