Meat Stock and GAPS: Not Bone Broth!

Meat Stock is the backbone of the GAPS diet. Whether you start on Intro or Full GAPS, Dr. Natasha recommends you consume meat stock for an average of 1 year before switching to bone broth. Why? Meat stock is less digestively complex than bone broth and contains higher levels of collagen, gelatin, and amino acids that play a role in your ability to heal yourself. 

 

Meat Stock vs. Bone Broth

Quite literally, meat stock is the glue that seals up your intestinal lining. It is so powerful that it can decapitate overgrown yeast tendrils, or yeasts that have overgrown to the point of growing ‘arms’ that break through your intestinal wall and into your body cavity. Specialists have found yeast tendrils up to 4 feet long in people. Wow! So drinking meat stock decapitates this tendril growth and nips it in the bud.

 

To get the full benefits of meat stock, Dr. Natasha recommends that you, as an adult, need to drink 5 cups per day, children need 3 cups, and infants need 1/2 of a cup. Generally if you are eating two quarts of soup per day, you are getting about 4 cups of meat stock. Drinking one more cup in the morning will get you to the optimal level of stock consumption! Hint: there are 4 cups in one quart. If you are not eating soup, drink 1-2 cups of stock with each meal. 

 

Bone broth, on the other had, has high levels of glutamic acid, a complicated-to-digest compound that is one molecule different from MonoSodium Glutamate, or MSG. When your digestive system is not robust enough, it breaks down this glutamic acid into MSG, an excitotoxin. MSG overstimulates your neurons in the frontal, thinking part of your brain. It virtually fries it.  No thank you!

 

So for the first year of GAPS, stick to meat stock and drink 5 cups per day! When more healing has taken place, you can graduate to bone broth for its gut maintenance qualities and high mineral content. 

 

How to make meat stock:

Source + choose your meat cuts:

• Chicken:
  • whole chicken
  • necks
  • backs
  • feet
  • thighs
  • drumsticks
  • whole legs

 

• Beef or Bison
  • shanks
  • oxtail
  • chuck roast (bone- in)
  • cross rib roast (bone-in)
  • knuckle bones
  • marrow bones
  • neck bones
  • short ribs
  • hooves
  • joint bones

 

• Pork
  • shoulder roast (bone-in)
  • loin
  • ribs
  • neck bones
  • ham hocks (fresh, not smoked)
  • trotters
  • feet

 

• Lamb
  • shanks
  • riblets
  • feet
  • rib rack
  • shoulder (bone-in)

 

•  Duck
  • whole duck
  • feet
  • necks
  • backs

 

• Rabbit
  • whole rabbit

 

• Fish
  • whole fish
  • heads
  • fins

 

…or any other cut of meat attached to bone with connective tissue. But you get the idea!

 

***The most quality meat stock has a combination of meat attached to bone, joints, feet, and marrow bones in it.***

 

You technically can cook different animal meats together, just try to keep them in the same family. For instance, keep the poultry together, the fish together, the pork together, and the red meat together to accomplish appropriate cook times. 

 

To start, for any animal, place your cuts of meat in a stockpot. Try to cover the bottom surface with meat as much as possible, and then fill your pot with filtered water until it covers your meat by one inch. Add salt to taste. Start with about 2 tsp of sea salt per quart and work up from there. You may add in fresh herbs and vegetables of your choosing, but you do not have to. 

 

Bring to a boil and simmer. This is where the cooking times differ.

 

Cooking Times for Meat Stock:

Fish: Simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour

Poultry: 1.5-2 hours

Pork: 3 hours

Red Meat: 3-4 hours

 

Skim the ‘scum,’ a bubbly foam, off the top of your stock when it starts to boil. Once cooked, take out meat with tongs and allow time to cool.  Then strip the meat off the bones with your hands into a separate container, placing gooey connective tissue, extra fat, and bone marrow back into your stock.  Blend the connective tissue and fat back into your stock with an immersion blender. Then transfer it into mason jars. Allow your jars of stock to cool to room temperature before putting them into your fridge. 

 

Congratulations! Now you have stock for soups, casual drinking, and new recipes.  This meat stock actively seals up your intestinal lining. You can add extra animal fat, sauerkraut juice, and a garlic clove for a fun morning drink.  Your body says thank you and Hooray!

 

Meat Stock Instructional Video

If you want a step-by-step video of EXACTLY how to make meat stock, I made an Instructional Video for you. It has been reviewed + approved for accuracy by Dr. Natasha’s son. This meat stock video shows you how to make meat stock for GAPS Intro, how to make meat stock for full GAPS (including how to not have any ‘boiled meat’ leftover), and explains exactly why you need to care & be super diligent about your intake. There is an instructional resource guide attached for exactly how to source your meat, the GAPS approved cooking equipment you’ll need, & more. For additional info about this, you can click here.

 

GAPS Certified Instructional Videos so You can Transform Your Life

That’s why I created the GAPS Certified Instructional Videos approved by Dr. Natasha’s Son to completely change the way people go on GAPS forever. You’re in the right place if you want to See the Videos.