Bone broth has become wildly popular, and there are even places where you can buy a mug of bone broth to go. Kind of wild when you think about it!

Because of this surge in popularity, I am seeing many people coming to GAPS believing they will be making and drinking bone broth. However, according to the founder of the GAPS Diet, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, there is a difference and she has instructed us to make meat stock at the beginning of the GAPS Diet, especially during Introduction.

So to answer the question… yes, you will drink bone broth on the GAPS Diet since Dr. Natasha does state in her Frequently Asked Questions page that bone broth may be used and is beneficial, but you'll want to wait until later on in the diet.

Here are some of the differences:

• Meat stock is cooked with plenty of raw meat on the bone, while bone broth uses “meaty” bones or even previously cooked bones.
• Meat stock is cooked for 2-3 hours until the meat is tender enough to eat while bone broth requires a much longer period of cooking – anywhere from 4 hours to 24 hours or longer.
• Bone broth calls for vinegar to help leach minerals from the bones (vinegar not required for meat stock).

Meat stock is easy to make. All you really need is meat, bones and water. You can add a few more nutrients and flavor by adding some vegetables like onions [affiliate link], garlic, carrots and celery.

Here is a simple meat stock recipe to get you started.

Simple Chicken Stock

• 1 whole chicken, 4 to 5 pounds
• 8 cups water
• 1 teaspoon sea salt [affiliate link]
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns, roughly crushed
• 1 onion, quartered
• 2 carrots, cut into one inch chunks
• 1 ribs celery
• 4 cloves [affiliate link] garlic, chopped
• 1 sprig parsley [affiliate link] or 1 teaspoon dried parsley

1. Put everything into a pot that is large enough to hold all the ingedients.
2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat until the liquid simmers gently.
3. Cook for 2-3 hours until the chicken is falling off the bones.
4. Remove the vegetables and meat, strain the broth.

You can use the vegetables and meat to make soup, chicken salad or just have the meat and vegetables with some butter slathered on top.

I have personally experienced quite a number of changes to the way my body feels I feel by making sure to drink broth on a regular basis. When I fall out of the routine of drinking broth, I always end up feeling various aches and pains which vanish once within a few days of consuming broth daily.

As my sister said to me recently, “Making broth is one more task but any bother is negated by living pain-free.” I have gotten into the habit of making broth each weekend and then make sure to have one cup each day. I might have it by itself, or in soup, or just poured over vegetables.

What about you? Do you drink broth regularly? What is your favorite broth? Have you done the GAPS Diet? I would love to hear from you in the comments.