Does collagen play a role in gut health?

7 Reasons to start sipping on bone broth You may have heard about the plentiful benefits of bone broth, or that it is a highly nutritious source of protein, or that it is your ticket to gut health. Yes, to all the above. Bone broth is so much more than a comforting soup. It is a versatile accompaniment to recipes and the start to whole body health. If you have heard about it but are not sure if you should or need to have it in your pantry, let’s stir on that. What is bone broth? Bone broth is made by simmering animal bones and connective tissues for extended periods of time; typically made with cattle or chicken bones. Through the process of simmering, bones release beneficial nutrients such as collagen, gelatin, and amino acids (such as glycine, glutamine, and proline, to name a few). Alongside those nutrients are many key minerals, including protein, that aid tissue, gut, skin, and joint health. BONE BROTH NUTRITION FACTS Bone broth contains 19 easily absorbable amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein. Protein is the essential macronutrient needed in the body for cell regeneration. Not only does it help with muscle growth, but it also prevents muscle wasting and breakdown (which occurs naturally as you age). There is another incredible group of nutrients found in bone broth known as Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). GAGs play a key role in building strong ligaments, cartilage, nails and skin firmness. Two of these includes glucosamine and chondroitin, both of which are well-studied natural compounds that help to decrease joint pain and inflammation. Bone broth also contains hyaluronic acid (another GAG) which helps with collagen production and helps to lubricate joints, tissues, including the skin and gut lining. 7 Bone broth benefits — Why you should drink it. Strengthens your joints and connective tissues As a natural source of collagen (type 1 for beef bone broth type 2 for chicken) bone broth helps to restore your connective tissues as well as repair joint health. A key component of bone broths is gelatin, which is the cooked form of collagen. Gelatin is easily digestible and provides protection from wear and tear to the joints. It’s also been shown to improve joint pain in people with osteoarthritis. Fights inflammation Amino acids such as glycine, glutamine and arginine, all found in bone broth, have all been considered to play a strong role in decreasing inflammation in the body. Arginine has been helpful in fighting ongoing inflammation, which can lead to several conditions and health concerns over time. This includes metabolic syndrome, heart disease and others. Glycine, a main amino acid in collagen, plays a role in producing an antioxidant that helps improve cell health and prevent inflammation (in the liver and gut). Glutamine has also been shown to block the production of nitric oxide which causes inflammation in the body. Together these amino acids in bone broth can provide your body with less pain by blocking inflammation. Helps heal your gut Because bone broth’s nutrient profile helps to decrease inflammation, it does that throughout the body including the digestive tract lining. Glycine improves the integrity of your digestive tract and plays a vital role in the absorption of nutrients found in our foods, potentially helping with several conditions. Because bone broth has collagen which supports tissue health, this also encourages strength in the tissues lining the gut, making it stronger and more resistant (no more “leaky gut”). Improves immunity There is a reason why warm broth or “chicken soup” has been touted as a remedy for cold and flus. Because of its immense nutrient profile, bone broth fights inflammation and supports gut health as you just read. In turn, when the digestive tract is healthy, it feeds to your overall health and boosts the immune system. Sipping bone broth has been linked to improving symptoms of respiratory tract infections, soothing sore throats and stomachs. Boosts skin health Collagen helps form elastin and other compounds within skin that are responsible for maintaining skin’s textures, buoyancy, elasticity and glow. Because of bone broth’s composition being rich in collagen, it’s no surprise that skin health is inevitably a big benefit. In addition, the hyaluronic acid component supports collagen production, as well as retains moisture within the skin tissues and its cells to provide a more “plump” appearance to the skin. Helps in detoxification Because bone broths (as we’ve seen) support your gut health, decreases liver inflammation and improves the body’s use of antioxidants, it also is helpful in supporting the body carry out toxins. In addition to potassium and glycine, both of which support cellular health, bone broth provides glutathione. This has been studied to help remove fat-soluble compounds and heavy metals from the body and increase the use of antioxidants to help your liver function better. Boosts metabolism Bone broth has a high protein amount (12g or more in Organika’s Chicken and Beef Broth Powders). The complete protein profile includes all the amino acids that help the body to repair muscle tissues, increase bone health, boost nutrient absorption and maintain tissue health everywhere. It also helps the body to convert its glucose stores into usable energy. Protein, specifically amino acids like glutamine, helps the body maintain energy and increase nutrient uptake by cells. These play key roles in increased metabolism and why you may find yourself feeling “satisfied” after sipping on a whole cup of bone broth. Bone broth made simple. Traditionally, bone broth is made by simmering animal bones for hours (sometimes days!) to extract every single nutrient from the bones. Organika has made it easier with powdered bone broths. Organika’s bone broth powders are extremely easy to use as well as digest. Simply add water or stir it into soups, sauces and more! Try these recipes featuring our Bone Broth and Veggie Broth powders... Creamy Carrot and Dill Soup – Organika Health Products Healthy Homemade Pizza Recipe – Organika Health Products Vegetarian Ramen Recipe - Blog - Organika Health Products Veggie Keto Cracker Recipe – Organika Health Products Bone Broth Stuffing - Blog - Organika Health Products

So much of our health starts in our gut! We can attribute the health of our digestive system, immune system, mental health, hormonal health and more, to our gut. What Happens When the Gut Lining Is Damaged? Damage to the gut lining can occur as a result of inflammation, indigestion, and dysbiosis. Prolonged periods of any of these symptoms reduces the production of digestive enzymes, increases the potential of other digestive disturbances, and overtime causes physical damage to the intestinal walls. When the intestinal barrier weakens, food particles, hormones, and toxins leak through into the body. If these particles pass through, they are identified as invaders and can trigger further systemic disruption. How Bone Broth Repairs the Gut Bone broth is an amazing example of gut supportive nutrition! It is made by slowly simmering animal bones in water to extract nutrients into easily digestible and absorbable nutrition. This amino acid-rich broth assists the regeneration and repair of the tissues lining the digestive tract due to a high collagen and gelatin content. Collagen is a protein that is rich in 19 easily absorbable amino acids, most prominently; proline, arginine, and glycine. These amino acids are vital for maintaining the integrity of the digestive tract. Bone broth also contains the amino acid, l-glutamine. L-glutamine is especially good at rebuilding proteins and repairing the intestinal barrier, and is often supplemented on its own for this exact reason. Bone broth is known for it’s high l-glutamine content. The nutritional profile doesn’t stop there! Bone broth is rich in gut supportive nutrients like calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, selenium and zinc, as well as vitamins A, C and E. And it contains natural compounds, glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate and hyaluronic acid, which contribute to gut health by supporting the health of your microbiome. Bone broth is a great way to take in these nutrients due to its concentrated liquid form. And it is a clean source of protein, the essential macronutrient for cell regeneration! Choosing the Right Bone Broth Organika provides 3 delicious ways to support gut health. Our bone broths are clean, nutrient-dense and deliciously flavoured. Beef Bone Broth Organika beef bone broth comes in Original and Ginger flavours. It is a high protein, collagen-rich, low sodium alternative to regular beef broth. Always free of antibiotics and hormones, our beef broth comes from grass-fed cows in Sweden. We simmer the animal bones and connective tissues to extract the important gut supportive health benefits so that you don’t have to! 2. Chicken Bone Broth Our chicken bone broth comes in Original, Ginger and Turmeric flavours. It is a clean, single-ingredient broth powder sourced from cage-free USA chickens that are exclusively fed organic grain and are tested regularly for hormones, antibiotics, heavy metals or pesticides. It is a higher protein and collagen-rich alternative to regular chicken broth! As with our beef broth, it is rich in glucosamine, hyaluronic acid and chondroitin, compounds that reduce inflammation and joint pain, as well as support the repair of the digestive lining. 3. Veggie Broth For vegetarians and vegans, we have our veggie broth that is packed full of real organic vegetables, adaptogenic tremella mushrooms and nutritional yeast! Nutritional yeast is a source of complete protein. Protein is an essential macronutrient vital for enzyme and hormone production, as well as the repair and regeneration of every cell in the body. If you follow a vegetarian or vegan diet, you may be low in B vitamins. These water-soluble vitamins aren’t stored in the body and must be consumed on a regular basis. Our veggie broth is rich in B vitamins, vital for energy production, antioxidant action, and the building and repairing of DNA. Just like our other formulas, veggie broth also contains the gut supportive amino acid, l-glutamine, to maintain and support a healthy gut barrier! Heal Your Gut with Bone Broth Consuming this nutrient-dense, amino-acid rich product in a variety of dishes, on a daily basis, can help reduce inflammation, digestive disruptions and allergies, and thoroughly nourish your body in one quick scoop! Shop Broths About our Guest Author Alison Dowling HBA, NNCP Certified Alison is a Toronto actor and nutritionist. Through movement training and a love of food, she found holistic nutrition. When she's not writing or working with clients at the Clara Clinic in east Toronto, you'll find her catching up on auditions or brushing up her Shakespeare!

Gut health is an absolutely essential component of total body health. We cannot have regulated moods, well-functioning brains, resilient immune systems, balanced hormones or optimal fertility without a healthy gut. So how do we ensure gut health? STEP 1: REMOVE The first step to a healthy gut is to remove anything that is irritating the gut, impairing digestive function, or causing inflammation. Those factors all make it harder for the body to break down the food we eat and absorb nutrients. If this impairment is severe, and/or ongoing, it can result in malabsorption, nutrient deficiencies, dysbiosis and all sorts of digestive symptoms like gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, indigestion, etc. Some things are universally irritating to human digestive tracts, such as: Alcohol; caffeine (especially coffee); NSAIDs (ibuprofen, naproxen); additives and preservatives found in processed foods. Most people should ideally be consuming these things only occasionally and in moderation. However, if you are experiencing significant issues with your gut, you may benefit from cutting these things out entirely for a period of time. Individuals may also be irritated, inflamed or impaired by other things. This is largely dependent on an individual’s particular sensitivities and digestive capacity. People with weakened or damaged digestive systems commonly react to, or have trouble digesting gluten-containing foods, dairy, refined sugars, legumes and even some gluten-free grains. As with the universally irritating things, most people would benefit from consuming these foods only in moderation. Some people may benefit from avoiding them entirely, while they are healing their gut. Any type of gut infection (bacterial, parasitic, fungal) can also cause significant damage to the digestive tract and digestive function. Infections must be addressed and treated first, prior to healing the gut. STEP 2: REPLACE Once the substances causing irritating and inflammation have been eliminated, the next step is to provide the digestive system with anything it is missing that is necessary for digestion and general health. Difficulty digesting animal protein and legumes may be an indication of low stomach acid. Bitter foods, bitter herbs and/or a betaine HCl supplement can support the body’s production of stomach acid. A generally weakened or inflamed digestive system may have trouble digesting most foods, especially those that are high in fibre like vegetables and legumes or grains, and so may benefit from some digestive assistance via a digestive enzyme supplement. Both of these support methods can be really helpful, but are insufficient to correct the problem on their own, and shouldn’t be taken long term. It’s important to make sure they are just one component of a gut healing treatment plan! Individuals who have been experiencing chronic digestive issues may also have specific nutrient deficiencies; some of the most common ones are vitamin D, iron, vitamin B12, and magnesium. It’s always important to get these things checked, and corrected if necessary. STEP 3: REINOCULATE If you’ve been on the internet in the past decade, you’ve probably at least heard of the gut flora. The gut flora are the trillions of bacteria that live in our large intestines and help us to digest food, absorb nutrients, metabolize toxins and hormones, maintain a strong immune system, and build many of our neurotransmitters. Without a healthy gut flora, we aren’t healthy, period. Antibiotics, stress and improper digestive function can damage that community of good bacteria. So the next step in ensuring a healthy gut is to make sure the right bacteria are making the large intestine their home. There are three main things to consider when it comes to the gut flora. Probiotic foods These are foods that naturally contain healthy, good bacteria and can be used to repopulate or rebalance the gut flora. Probiotic foods include: kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt, anything else fermented. They are great to consume regularly in your diet, to keep your gut flora happy and healthy. Probiotic supplements While probiotic foods are a great source of good bacteria, probiotic supplements provide much higher doses of good bacteria. This is often necessary to help folks whose gut flora have been damaged. Choose a good quality probiotic supplement that has multiple different strains, and be sure to take it daily with food, for the duration of your gut-healing plan, as directed by your clinician. Prebiotic foods and supplements And lastly, it’s vital to ensure that you are providing all those good bacteria with the nutrients they need to stay alive in your gut. Prebiotics are a category of fibre that human digestive systems can’t break down, but that our gut flora can use as fuel. Ensuring you have a good amount of prebiotic foods in your diet is necessary to maintain your gut health, and supplementing with a prebiotic fibre can be useful when trying to correct dysbiosis and repair the gut. STEP 4: REPAIR We’ve now removed all the irritants, replaced all the missing nutrients, and repopulated the community of good bacteria. The next step in gut healing is to repair any damage that may be present in the gut tissue itself. In some individuals who have been experiencing inflammation, indigestion and dysbiosis for long periods of time, physical damage to the intestinal walls may have occurred. This can weaken the integrity of the intestinal barrier and allow for food particles (and hormones, toxins and other molecules) that shouldn’t be able to leave the intestines and enter into the body to do so. (This is often what’s happening in individuals who are experiencing “leaky gut”.) In addition to allowing inappropriate molecules into the body, the damaged intestinal membranes can also further exacerbate digestion issues. That is because those membranes produce a large number of our digestive enzymes. Collagen and L-glutamine are two of the key molecules used by the body in repair of a damaged intestinal lining. Soothing herbs like marshmallow root and aloe vera can help to alleviate some of the irritation. Vitamins A, C, E, Selenium and Zinc are also often used to support the repair of a damaged intestinal lining, as these are some of the most vital nutrients necessary for tissue healing. STEP 5: REBALANCE The last, but arguably most important component of a healthy gut is a healthy brain. The gut and the brain are intimately connected. When your brain is chronically overworked, stressed, anxious or fatigued, your digestive capacity diminishes. When an individual lives in any of those states ongoing, it essentially dials the activity of the digestive system way down. As a result, people often end up putting food into a digestive system that’s not ready to receive food. This causes indigestion, gas, bloating, dysbiosis and intestinal damage. Fatigue is another major factor to gut health. Sleep is when your body does the majority of healing and repair. Getting inadequate sleep is going to seriously reduce your body’s capacity to heal and maintain a healthy gut. Living in a perpetually fatigued state also drastically increases your stress levels. There is no tissue, organ or system in our body that can operate independently from the rest of the body, the digestive system included. So optimizing brain function and enabling your brain to keep your body in balance is a key component of gut health. The three most important factors to a healthy brain are: minimizing stress and optimizing stress coping mechanisms, exercising regularly, and getting adequate, good quality sleep. If you can get those three things solid and use them as the foundation to your gut-healing plan, your gut will be functioning optimally in no time.