Greetings folks, I just posted a new piece on my blog titled To Cook or Not to Cook: The Question of Heterocyclic Amines. As one might surmise, it's a brief post that summarizes some of the literature on the toxic effects of heterocyclic amines and how they're formed in meat exposed to high temperatures during cooking, particularly grilling, broiling and frying.

My goal is to do a series of posts on heat-created toxins in foods, starting with this post on HCAs, then with a post on acrylamides that I hope to finish by next Monday. If anyone has recent (1990-present) references for studies on heat-created toxins, particularly that focus on epidemiological evidence linking them to particular diseases or recent literature reviews that are comprehensive, I'd love to see them. I'm doing a fair amount of research too, of course.

I'll post future pieces on the topic of heat-created toxins here too, probably in their own threads.

I just invite you to remain open-minded about what the broth is doing that's beneficial and what it might be doing that isn't so beneficial. Just because people have been relying on a healing modality for a long time doesn't mean it works. People are rationalizing animals, not rational ones.

Good luck on your broth fast.

Indeed traditional bone broths can heal the gut for some people. They also take lots of energy, offer zero probiotics or prebiotics, and the proteins and amino acids are damaged somewhat by the heat. I suspect a raw version that creates the broth using a fermentation process rather than heat adds a lot more of value.

Good luck on your broth fast, let us know how it goes.

No, you don't want a lid that seals. You want air to be able to escape. You can still use a mason jar lid, just don't screw it on tight enough that it seals tight. You do want to put something on your broth jar as a cover though, otherwise fruit flies will get in and you'll have a bunch of dead flies on top of your broth, which is yucky (technical term).

Eric, when your raw bone broth is done, do you place it in a refrigerator to preserve it?

I don't. What I do is let the broth acidify enough to suit my tastes, which usually takes 4-6 days. At this point the broth's acid enough that any really bad bacteria will probably be dead, so I'll just start drinking from the container until it's gone. Usually as soon as I start drinking from one container, I'll also start the next batch going so I always have some ready to drink.

Also, on the topic of vessels, I noted above that I was on the lookout for a vessel with a wider mouth so I could put larger pieces of bone in it. SCORE! I was searching the web for just such a vessel, and found that Anchor makes what they call a Hocking Jar with a lid on it that will work just fine for what I'm doing. The jar has a nice wide mouth, its lid covers thoroughly without sealing so gasses can escape, and it's durable and easy to clean. I found the 2 gallon version at my local Walmart for $10 each, and bought two earlier today. Can't beat that as far as value!

Even animals the size of a person can put up a fight. Although it's rare, grazing animals like whitetail deer do in fact kill people. Even hunters who shoot deer with firearms are sometimes still killed in scuffles with the dying animals. While it's certainly possible for a person to catch and kill an animal with their bare hands, as a species we've been using tools like spears, bows and arrows, and now firearms for so long that it's hard to imagine going back to hunting without these. Prior to developing tools, we were probably more scavengers than predators, stealing kills from other animals using our superior numbers rather than bringing down and butchering our own game.

Yes, we can run animals down. If you read thoroughly about that method of hunting though, the hunter always kills the animal with a spear or a knife, never with bare hands. Even animals that are totally exhausted can get a second wind, and all it takes is a well placed puncture wound from an antler, a horn or a hoof to cause a life-threatening infection in a person, or break a bone, or kill them outright.

I'm not sure, I haven't tried. Are you concerned about salt? The few pinches I suggest adding are a very small amount compared to the ~1/2 gallon of water. You can't even hardly taste it. It's not like a traditional fermentation recipe where you add 1-3 tablespoons to 1/2 gallon of shredded, pounded vegetables.

Joy, I think the broth tastes quite nice. Because the alkaline minerals are being leached from the bone by the lactic acid, the end beverage doesn't have the harsh, acidic taste of a typical fermented beverage. Inspired by your question, I'm going to pick up some pH strips while running errands later this morning and test a batch of finished broth to see what the pH is. I don't expect it to be alkaline, but I also don't expect it to be terribly acidic either.

Most of the bones I get have been frozen. Those seem to work fine. I have two 1/2 gallon jars that I started fermenting yesterday, and used a few pieces of rib bones in each. I'm also on the lookout for larger jars that I can fit larger bones into without having to saw them, as I have a bunch of femur knuckles that are too large to fit into my normal fermenting jars.

Phil, good point! I'd never thought of animals burying bones to ferment them, but given the temperature of the ground and the bacteria present it makes all the sense in the world. Any knowledge of studies articulating why that benefits the dogs? Does it make elements of the bone more digestible?

On the topic of raw bone broths, I've been experimenting for the past year with making bone broth using fermentation. Basically I start as if I'm making some sort of fermented beverage, kvass-style. I use half-gallon mason jars, cut or grate 1-2 cups of nutrient-dense, starchy vegetable - beets, carrots, burdock root or some other root, or red cabbage - and put it in the jar. Next add a decently sized chunk of bone, ideally with connective tissue, fat and even some shreds of meat left on. Fill the jar with water, add a few pinches of unrefined sea salt (perhaps 1/4 teaspoon) and swish the mixture to mix everything nicely. Then let it sit at room temperature for a week or two, or three.

The vegetables will start fermenting, releasing lactic acid along with all sorts of other beneficial things. The acid will help to draw alkaline minerals like calcium and magnesium out of the bone, and bacteria will start eating the physical components of the bone, liberating them into the solution as parts of the bacteria floating about. When the fermentation has used up most of the sugars in the vegetables, the broth is ready to drink (if you let it continue fermenting, other bacteria will start turning the lactic acid into acetic acid, aka vinegar).

I've noticed that when I do this, much of the fat melts off the bones and forms droplets on top of the liquid, much like when you make cooked broth. I've also noticed that most of the soft tissue on the bones is either gone or very mushy by the time the bone is removed, suggesting some serious bacterial activity there. I've finally noticed that the bone is noticeably more porous at the end than when I put it in, suggesting some of the proteins that make it up were eaten by bacteria or dissolved by the acid and entered the solution. At any rate, this seems like a workable way to make bone broth without heat.

Commercially raised quail eggs are very different from wild versions. Quail are raised in small pens and are fed almost exclusively grain. We have a quail farm nearby and I bought a pack of their eggs, then learned how they raise their animals and haven't bought from them since. They're certified organic, but their animals live miserable lives.

Here's the most recent post: Investing in Nutrient Dense Foods: Magnesium.

Thanks for the kind words Phil. Yeah, it's a bit more complicated than I'm making it out to be, but I wanted to get people thinking about how they spend their money and I've definitely done that.