By. Dr. Marika Geis, ND

As an enthusiast of the ‘ancestral health’ model, I’m always looking for cool ways to incorporate elements of our prehistoric life into this modern one. Things like avoiding grains and legumes (especially if you have IBS/IBD or SIBO), waking up with the sun and going to bed with the sun (season permitting), higher fat diets and fasting multiple times weekly (provided we have stable blood sugar). So, when I came across ‘IceMan’, Wim Hof, I discovered yet another way that we can engage our biological programming, born of millennia evolution, to create the conditions for health and healing. Our harried modern life taxes us in unnatural and inappropriate ways; we are wired for physical stresses, not chronic psychological ones.

So, what’s the deal with the IceMan you ask? In short, he is able to accomplish what should otherwise be impossible. In the year 2000, Hof set the Guinness World Record for farthest swim under ice, a distance of 188.6 ft. In January of 2007, Hof set a world record for fastest half marathon barefoot on ice and snow, with a time of 2 hours, 16 minutes, and 34 seconds. He has set 16 world records for direct body contact with ice the longest of which was 1 hour 53 minutes and 2 seconds. Naturally, scientists were curious. Conventional medical wisdom would have us believe that once a body’s temperature falls below 90°F, it is unable to warm itself back up. You can imagine their confusion when, trying to set yet another world record for full body ice immersion (wearing only shorts), his core temperature having started at 98.6°F, dropped to 88°F after 75 minutes of cold immersion then rose during the next 20 minutes to 94°F. Say what?! That’s not supposed to happen!!

Clearly, Hof is unique, both in his motivation and determination, yet he is still a human? Using breathing techniques similar to ‘pranayama’ and the Tibetan ‘Tummo meditation’, the ‘Wim Hof Method’ (WHM) is able to coach a body, any body, into tolerating longer and more intense periods of cold exposure. There are many variations of the breathing method. The basic version consists of three phases as follows (each stage with specific instructions):

• Controlled hyperventilation
• Exhalation retention
• Breath retention

These three phases may be repeated for three consecutive rounds.

 

The effect?

Since research began into how Hof was able to accomplish these seemingly superhuman feats, scientists have been able to explore how this method: helps humans acclimate faster to higher altitudes, how we can voluntarily activate our autonomic nervous systems (supposedly beyond our control) and attenuate our innate immunity, how the combination of concentration, cold exposure and meditation can influence inflammation and how it can lead to shifts in metabolic activity, stress resilience and brain activity. Collectively, the effects of the WHM benefit respiratory conditions such as COPD and Asthma, Autoimmune conditions, Fibromyalgia, Arthritis, Migraines, recovering from Lyme disease, and high blood pressure. As of 2019, universities in Germany, Netherlands and the United States all have multiple studies exploring inflammation, mental health and metabolic issues thus expanding the body of evidence attempting to explain how and why this is even possible.

I’m not sure about you, but when I first came across the WHM, I thought “Cool, but do I really have to get into an ice bath for 95 minutes to get the benefits of cold exposure, ‘cuz it just ain’t gonna happen?”. The short answer? No, although it’s certainly something to aspire to. With the understanding that the human body was designed to handle environmental stresses, as this was the hostile and uncertain environment we, as animals, are born into, we can start off with gradual exposure to cold and, using the method outlined by Hof and his son, Enahm, slowly learn how to gain mastery over our environment and the stresses that go along with it. Since I’m the biggest chicken, I’m starting with a minute of cold after every shower…..but….at least I’m starting? (face palm).

 

https://youtu.be/VaMjhwFE1Zw

Like most people coping with this new reality, my family and I have settled into a new routine that includes strings of pajama days, eating and sleeping at odd hours, and rationing out chores lest I run out of things to do (did I mention that my house is REALLY clean? LOL). I’ll even admit to a little Netflix coma now and then when things get desperate. During one such moment, a movie I was watching was able to rouse me out of my stupor and inspire this blog post.

You may have noticed that our clinic has grown up in recent months. New décor, new website and now a concerted content strategy to educate and stay connected to our community. But what to write?

In the film “The Darkest Hour”, from the king down to his closest advisors under treat of resignation, Winston Churchill faced ENORMOUS pressure during the War Cabinet Crisis of May 1940 to sign an armistice with Hitler. After the Nazi advance over much of Europe, England’s defeat seemed all but certain. Churchill had one choice: sign the treaty and hand over the country to a madman, or fight to the end. After suggesting he was open to a peace agreement, he still could not bring himself to draft the letter knowing that by doing so he would be surrendering the soul of England. One night, still unsure of how to proceed, he decided to evade his chaperones and steal away to London’s ‘Underground’ (the subway) for the first time in his life and put the dilemma to its passengers. What to do? Not surprisingly, they responded with a resounding “H**L NO! Fight!!” and that was that. The exchange birthed “We shall fight on the beaches”, the second of his most memorable speeches effectively uniting a fractured British Parliament in the fight against Hitler and characterized England’s stubborn resistance to the Nazi advance.

Okay – so we’re not in an armed conflict, but we’re certainly in a version of one. I was struck by the humility of acknowledging that just because you’re in a position to lead doesn’t mean you have all the answers and sometimes the simplest thing to do when you don’t know is, well… ask. COVID-19 has certainly done an effective job at sucking all the oxygen out of the room, but here’s the thing, there’s life and love beyond a pandemic and what we want to know is: What’s important to you these days? What kind of information are you hungry for in the crazy human time that we’re all living through? Let us know and we will diligently try and find the best possible answers for you!

By: Dr. Marika Geis, BSc, N.D

 

After almost 15 years in practice, I think I can safely say that the two most powerful disruptors of health are chronic psychological stress and the poor diet choices that go along with it (not that these two variables need to go hand in hand, only that they often do). We’ve witnessed the erosion in our health for some time: shift work, fraying family units, smart phones (with the implicit expectation that we need to be ‘ON’ 24 hours a day 7 days a week), lack of social supports, and economic stressors in concert drive the need for easy, processed, hyperpalatable, and lamentably, nutritionally bankrupt foods. Is it really any surprise that our medical offices are congested with people desperate to alleviate their depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, migraines, insomnia, diabetes, and weight gain? Let’s be clear. These are diseases of civilization! Our bodies didn’t all of a sudden just decide to revolt against us to make us suffer in this way. Our lifestyles are overwhelming our body’s capacity to maintain balance during these unprecedented times and we are diminished as a result.

The good news is that if we can work in a few keys areas we can mitigate MUCH of the risk factors that leave us vulnerable to chronic disease.

By now, I think many people are starting to realize the pitfalls of eating without any regard for the consequences, especially as it relates to blood sugar. More and more my patients are coming in with an impressive understanding of:

• Glycemic index
• Glycemic load
• Adequate protein, carbohydrates, fibre, and fat,
• The relationship between blood glucose/insulin/exercise
• How stress can overwhelm glycemic control
• The vicious cycle of insulin dependency and worsening insulin resistance.

However, we can know so much that simple solutions having tremendous benefits are often overlooked. In the context of blood sugar or glycemic control, our unsung hero today is apple cider vinegar (ACV). Beyond its use as a skin tonic, a household cleaner, a condiment, an antiseptic, a preservative, (you can even use it to kill weeds?!!), it also happens to be a very handy way to reduce morning blood sugars simply by consuming 2 tablespoons (diluted) at bedtime. In effect, it lowers fasting morning sugars, what diabetics know as the ‘dawn effect’, a phenomenon whereby morning blood sugars are higher independent of any meal consumed.

How it works isn’t well understood. Some researchers suggest that vinegar exerts a protective effect on the insulin response itself, improves satiety, and perhaps may inhibit salivary amylase (the enzyme that digests carbohydrates). Regardless of how it works, the data is clear.

• 2 teaspoons of ACV with a high carbohydrate meal reduces blood glucose and insulin by 34%
• Vinegar to sushi rice lowered glycemic index by 40%
• When consumed with peanuts (I know, random!) glycemic response was reduced by 55%

I’m often asked: how should I eat to balance all these variables; to live my life, balance my health, and avoid risk factors for chronic disease?

This plate leaves lots of flexibility for Paleo diets, AIP diets, Vegetarian and vegan diets and even a “regular diet”. It simply requires that we stick to whole foods. I will add one more layer to this when considering how to build your plate:

50% of your calories should come from healthy fats

25% of your calories should come from lean protein

25% of your calories should come from complex carbohydrates

Annnnd….. 2 tablespoons of unpasteurized apple cider vinegar before bed. Welcome to your health!

 

For more on Glycemic Control and apple cider vinegar, check out Jason Fung’s Website for more info.

https://www.idm.health

The Skinny on Intermittent Fasting: One size fits all?

By Marika Geis, BSc, ND

Even if you’re remotely interested in clean living and whole foods, you’ve probably come across the concept of intermittent fasting. It’s all the rage these days and with good reason. It balances hormones, improves sleep, boosts mood and mental clarity, promotes weight loss and increases energy. What’s not to love? But it’s also not for everyone, and the method of intermittent fasting might look differently from one person to the next. One need only to consider the various spiritual traditions that use it as a practice to get a sense of all the different ways it can be implemented. The B’hai faith requires a 19-20 day fast from sunrise to sundown, similar to the Muslim holiday of Ramadan which requires a 30 day fast. In Judaism, we have many obligatory fasting days, the most notable being Yom Kippur. As Roman Catholics we are familiar with the season of Lent which evolved from a one week fast prior to Easter to a month with no meat on Fridays.

Beyond some of the assumptions we can make about what it was like to live thousands of years ago, clearly, we have a long historical record of fasting. Yet we have been conditioned to believe that fasting is something to avoid at all costs. It presumably poses a significant challenge to maintaining health in that the ‘starving’ state poses an unnecessary stress on our bodies. We’ve thus trained our bodies to eat every 2-3 hours out of perceived ‘necessity’. I ask you, how well would that strategy have served us as we evolved as bi-pedal primates over 2 million years? We certainly didn’t have Safeway, corner stores, refrigeration and semi-truck-trailers bringing food from around the globe. Yet we survived and thrived. How? We needed a metabolic strategy to keep us going when food was scarce and one when food was plentiful. Intermittent fasting allowed for the metabolic flexibility required to survive the ever-changing landscape that was our home. Simply put, we are built for intermittent fasting and by training our bodies as we have done in modern times, we lose that metabolic flexibility and herein lies one of the root causes of the so called ‘diseases of civilization’, but I digress…..

Intermittent fasting loosely defined is any period of time without eating lasting more than 14 hours and no more than 24 hours with a ‘feeding window’- the amount of time within 24 hours not occupied by fasting (eg. 16 hours of fasting with 8 hours of ‘feeding’). The easiest way to do this is to simply skip breakfast (as hours spent sleeping are included in the fast) and gradually work up to the desired interval. HOLD THE PHONE!!! WHAT?! You say? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! It well might be if you’ve trained your body to rely solely on carbohydrates for fuel (like most of us). Your body does not have the metabolic framework to access the energy rich fats in your body and diet and relies on regular doses of carbohydrates to keep going.

Skipping breakfast might very well feel like dying for some, however, once a few of the obvious imbalances have been addressed (a little farther down), intermittent fasting can curb cravings, restore energy, promote deeper sleep, correct inflammation and destroy bacteria and viruses otherwise refractory to treatment. Add to this list the following:

• Improves longevity
• Improves insulin sensitivity – Dr. Jason Fung, nephrologist and co-founder of the ‘IDM Program’ in Toronto, routinely gets insulin dependent type 2 diabetics OFF their insulin injections.
• Lowers cholesterol, triglycerides and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c): a 3-month measure of blood sugar regulation.
• Fighting/preventing cancer.  There is some evidence that fasting before chemotherapy can help reduce side effects.
• Increasing growth hormone secretion (which builds muscle/bone and burns fat).
• Normalizes expression of the ‘hunger’ hormone ghrelin, thereby reducing appetite.
• Promotes brain and nervous system health by increasing neuronal plasticity (adaptation) and promoting neurogenesis (creation of new nerves), thus boosting mood, memory, and mental clarity.
• Increases dopamine production. This boosts mood and increases anticipation and response to rewards (meaning we get more enjoyment from less food).

So, how does intermittent fasting work, anyway? ‘Autophagy’ is the process by which weak cells break down dysfunctional components. Remnants are reallocated to neighboring cells and recycled making cells healthier and more efficient. This process of autophagy is what allows for the destruction of bacteria and viruses that would otherwise have either gone undetected or were refractory to pharmacological treatments. Autophagy plays a critical role in managing both the beneficial and detrimental effects of inflammation as mediated by the immune system. In other words, it protects us against infectious disease, autoimmune and other inflammatory conditions.

There are many options to intermittent fasting. There are even benefits to doing it occasionally. Regardless of what you choose, generally speaking, it can be done once to three times weekly safely (barring confounding health concerns, discussed below). Clear fluids are allowed, including bone broth (without the fat- for FASTING ONLY. Otherwise, drink it all up). Intermittent fasting daily is no longer an intermittent fast; your body will adapt to the caloric intake of ‘the season’ and the benefits will be dulled. More isn’t necessarily better either. Play it by ear and see how you feel.

Who SHOULD NOT intermittent fast?

• Anyone with a history of disordered eating: anorexia nervosa, bulimia, orthorexia. Any kind of restriction can trigger old patterns, especially if they are in recovery.
• Absence of menses. It’s very important to realize that the mind needs to register ‘safety’ in order to carry out its housekeeping functions. Having a period is no different. So, if you’ve experienced extreme, rapid weight loss, excessive calorie restriction or if you have a known hypothalamic disorder (part of the brain that orchestrates hormone function), then intermittent fasting should wait.
• If you have to ‘push’ yourself to do it. Feeling hungry is a normal part of fasting, however if you start manifesting symptoms of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), then this problem needs to be corrected prior to starting any type of fasting program, intermittent or otherwise.
• Adrenal dysfunction. Adrenal glands (the guys that rule our stress response) require a tremendous amount of nourishment. They need to be stable and well functioning, in other words – register ‘safety’ – in order NOT to be a factor when fasting. Fasting can worsen adrenal issues if the body doesn’t first have capacity for this physical stress. Likewise, if you’re experiencing unusual amounts of stress, intermittent fasting should probably wait.
• Breastfeeding
• Pregnancy
• Thyroid dysfunction – as this is tied to adrenal function. They work in tandem to manage energy and metabolism in the body.
• Sleep changes – this likely indicates a hormonal imbalance or may point to the need for a ‘carb up’ if you’re following a high fat, low carbohydrate lifestyle.
• Gut imbalances (egs: leaky gut, bacterial overgrowth, allergies) – simply MUST be corrected first as too many health issues that destabilize the body stem from this crucial system. Remember that in order for intermittent fasting to be successful, the body must first have all it’s needs met. In other words: safety.

You may have the impression, after reading this list, that no one has the capacity to fast intermittently. I would agree that MANY people struggle with stress, gut, and hormonal issues such that health appears to be the exception and not the rule. However, when we align our body with how it wants to live, not how we think it should live, many of these problems can be repaired given the right intervention. For the lay person, fasting might feel extreme, but I’m wondering if there might be a little room for perspective. Intermittent fasting requires that we remove 1 (sometimes 2) meals a day 2-3 times a week. Out of 21 meals (and for some, more), this style of fasting requires you to limit a grand total of 14% less food in a week (this is if you’re doing it three times weekly, at one meal/fast). Not a big deal. If you’re the person that does intermittent fasting 1-2 times per month, then that number is even less. Intermittent fasting allows you to simplify your schedule, correct insulin resistance, promotes weight loss, and boosts cognitive function. So, if you’ve got the green light, what are we missing, really? And what do we gain? I’ll let you decide.

For the full article you can download it here: The Skinny on Intermittent Fasting.

By Dr. Marika Geis, ND

I’ve once heard it said that a good bone broth can bring someone back from the dead. After seeing a variety of conditions improve with this form of nutrition despite an entire arsenal of naturopathic therapies, I wholeheartedly believe it. In an age where we seek to understand our natural world by breaking down complex scenarios into increasingly smaller, simpler, and thus tractable units, we fail to appreciate the characteristics of the system being acted upon. Put another way, do we necessarily need to find the ‘magic bullet’ for those troublesome symptoms or can we get out of the way of our body’s attempts to heal and broaden our scope to include the system in question? The beauty of the naturopathic model is that it allows for exactly this type of approach and is central to many of our interventions. While bone broth lacks the specificity of being an agent to say, decrease inflammation or fight infection, the synergism of its compounds work to rebuild tissue (particularly our gut lining) literally from the ground up so that the system functions better as a whole regardless of how problems manifest. When used in conjunction with targeted dietary interventions we see our clients improve on a number of levels sooner than with foods and digestive aids alone. Further, in cases of severe inflammatory bowel disease, bone broth might be the only food our clients can tolerate without compromising nutrition. So what is it about bone broth that allows it to persist as a functional food?

You may already know that bone broths have been around for as long as anyone can remember. I personally recall the perpetual pot of chicken broth on my grandmother’s stove when I was a child. Nothing was left to waste! What you may not realize though is that bone broths have been around for as long as there have been people. Archaeological evidence reveals the use of animal stomachs stuffed with herbs, meat, bones and animal fat being placed over hot rocks to yield the first primitive bone broth. Over time the practice evolved and grew to touch every known modern culture. Meat and fish broths play a central role in French, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, African, South American, Middle Eastern, and Russian cuisines. References to its medicinal properties can be found as far back as 12^th century Egypt when it was used to treat colds and asthma. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, bone broths were used to treat ulcers, tuberculosis, diabetes, infections, muscle diseases, jaundice and cancer. Babies were known to experience less digestive upsets when bone broth was added to milk. When meat and vegetables were scarce during the 4-month long siege of Paris in 1870, families were able to survive in good health with nothing more than bone broth and added fat. Formal research into its health properties started in 17^th century France and persisted until 1950 when food producers found cheaper ways to duplicate meat flavours in the lab thus removing bone broth and all its health benefits from their cuisine.

One might think that the healing and immune enhancing properties of bone broths are attributable to its mineral content (why wouldn’t you? You’re boiling up bones after all), however the benefits derive mainly from the presence of collagen, our body’s most abundant protein; the principle building block of bones, cartilage, skin, arteries, corneas, placentas and just about every other structure in our body. It’s true that bone broth supplies easily absorbable minerals including calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silica, and sulphur among others. However, they are not present in substantial amounts and yet bone broth is said to be beneficial for our bones and tissues. Why is this? Using bones as an example, these highly bioavailable minerals get woven into the greater collagen matrix that provides our bones with tensile strength and resists fractures (Think of collagen as the rebar in concrete). Research from the Czech Republic, Germany and the United States have verified this showing that collagen supplementation significantly reduced the rate of bone turnover and fracture risk in those suffering from osteoporosis and osteopenia. As an aside, one may ask whether or not there is something missing in so called ‘bone building’ supplements as the bigger issue seems to be the ratios/source and not the amounts of the minerals themselves that have the bigger impact on bone health?

When a bone broth is properly prepared the collagen present in joints, skin, meat and bones gets broken down into two principle amino acids: glycine and proline which ultimately serve as building blocks for our bodies own collagen production. They are not considered ‘essential’ amino acids but given the fact that most people cannot produce enough to keep up with the demand for tissue repair, think: big wounds, microscopic damage to the gut and vasculature by inflammation, infection and a disordered immune response, top researchers are opting to call them ‘conditionally essential’. Indeed, people falling into any of these categories (read: most of us) benefit greatly from supplementation of proline and glycine rich foods. This is especially true as we age when our tissues become drier, less pliant, thinner and weaker, all due to our body’s decrease in collagen production.

Beyond it’s effect on tissue repair, glycine has numerous other benefits. It aids digestion by regulating the production of bile salts and secretion of gastric juices likely contributing to it’s label as ‘the digestor’ in 17^th century France. Further, glycine is required for glutathione production (the most abundant antioxidant in the body) by the liver in addition to regulating glucose production in the same organ. Low levels of glycine render the immune system more prone to activation (think eczema, allergies, and asthma along with autoimmune disorders). It has multiple effects on our nervous system. It calms our excitatory neurotransmitters, improves mental alertness, memory and mood thereby collectively reducing the harmful effects of stress. Additionally, while this discussion has focused mainly on the effects of glycine and proline, bone broths’ benefits can be extended to include joint repair due to the presence of glucosamine and chondroitin.

The successes of the reductionist model that characterizes modern medicine are undeniable. Where would we be without insulin for diabetes or epinephrine for anaphylactic shock? When the human body is viewed as a collection of components, the natural inclination of medicine is to isolate the single factor most responsible for the observed condition. Much like a mechanic who repairs a broken car by locating the defective part, physicians typically treat disease by identifying an isolated abnormality. Implicit within this practice is the deeply rooted belief that each disease has a single target for medical treatment. Without contextual information, one might see the folly of approaching all issues in the same fashion and say that we are attempting to understand the forest by studying the trees alone. Using bones again as an example, we see how the focus on mineralization has lead to over-supplementation of large, hard to digest and absorb compounds that fall short of their desired intent in the absence of a full complement of bone building trace minerals and collagen. Simply taking a small step back and understanding osteoporosis as a disorder of connective tissue and not the bone itself provided researchers the perspective that allowed them to confirm that something was missing from conventional approaches. Likewise, when it comes to seeking out therapies that are going to yield the maximum possible benefit to our bodies as a whole, they need to function on multiple levels. Looking to Mother Nature for solutions provides us time and again with remedies that do just that and bone broth is no exception. It reminds me of a comic that I often find hanging on the walls of labs and medical reception desks. You may have seen it?

A Short History of Medicine

I have a headache:

2000 BCE: Here, eat this root.
1000 AD: That root is heathen. Here, say this prayer.
1850 AD: That prayer is superstition. Here, drink this potion.
1940 AD: That potion is snake oil. Here, swallow this pill.
1985 AD: That pill is ineffective. Here, take this antibiotic.
2011 AD: That antibiotic is artificial. Here, eat this root.

                                    ~anon

 

Chicken Stock

(Both recipes excerpted from Sally Fallon’s Broth is Beautiful article for the Weston A Price Foundation)

1 whole free-range chicken or 2 to 3 pounds of bony chicken parts, such as necks, backs, breastbones and wings*
gizzards from one chicken (optional)
2-4 chicken feet (optional)
4 quarts cold filtered water
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
1 bunch parsley

*Note: Farm-raised, free-range chickens give the best results. Many battery-raised chickens will not produce stock that gels.

If you are using a whole chicken, cut off the wings and remove the neck, fat glands and the gizzards from the cavity. Cut chicken parts into several pieces. (If you are using a whole chicken, remove the neck and wings and cut them into several pieces.) Place chicken or chicken pieces in a large stainless steel pot with water, vinegar and all vegetables except parsley. Let stand 30 minutes to 1 hour. Bring to a boil, and remove scum that rises to the top. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 6 to 8 hours. The longer you cook the stock, the richer and more flavorful it will be. About 10 minutes before finishing the stock, add parsley. This will impart additional mineral ions to the broth.

Remove whole chicken or pieces with a slotted spoon. If you are using a whole chicken, let cool and remove chicken meat from the carcass. Reserve for other uses, such as chicken salads, enchiladas, sandwiches or curries. Strain the stock into a large bowl and reserve in your refrigerator until the fat rises to the top and congeals. Skim off this fat and reserve the stock in covered containers in your refrigerator or freezer.

 

Beef Stock

About 4 pounds beef marrow and knuckle bones
1 calves foot, cut into pieces (optional)
3 pounds meaty rib or neck bones
4 or more quarts cold filtered water
1/2 cup vinegar
3 onions, coarsely chopped
3 carrots, coarsely chopped
3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
several sprigs of fresh thyme, tied together
1 teaspoon dried green peppercorns, crushed
l bunch parsley

Place the knuckle and marrow bones and optional calves foot in a very large pot with vinegar and cover with water. Let stand for one hour. Meanwhile, place the meaty bones in a roasting pan and brown at 350 degrees in the oven. When well browned, add to the pot along with the vegetables. Pour the fat out of the roasting pan, add cold water to the pan, set over a high flame and bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon to loosen up coagulated juices. Add this liquid to the pot. Add additional water, if necessary, to cover the bones; but the liquid should come no higher than within one inch of the rim of the pot, as the volume expands slightly during cooking. Bring to a boil. A large amount of scum will come to the top, and it is important to remove this with a spoon. After you have skimmed, reduce heat and add the thyme and crushed peppercorns.

Simmer stock for at least 12 and as long as 72 hours. Just before finishing, add the parsley and simmer another 10 minutes. You will now have a pot of rather repulsive-looking brown liquid containing globs of gelatinous and fatty material. It doesn’t even smell particularly good. But don’t despair. After straining you will have a delicious and nourishing clear broth that forms the basis for many other recipes in this book.

Remove bones with tongs or a slotted spoon. Strain the stock into a large bowl. Let cool in the refrigerator and remove the congealed fat that rises to the top. Transfer to smaller containers and to the freezer for long-term storage.