Bones Archives - The Paleo Network

Posts

Gelatin – The Secret Superfood bone broth paleo primal nutrition healthy-min

Gelatin: The Secret Paleo Superfood

Forget Goji Berries, Spirulina and Peruvian Maca Root, there is one ‘Superfood’ that you can guarantee your ancestors would have consumed in abundance that you’re probably not getting enough of now – Gelatin. As conventional wisdom has seen us spurn traditional cuts in favour of lean muscle meat, our intake of gelatin has dropped to almost zero. However, the body still craves it – and here’s why.

Found in the connective tissue, bones and cartilage of animals, gelatin is extremely nourishing in a number of ways. It is the best source of dietary collagen, which has been proven to increase the elasticity of the skin and therefore keep you looking young. In fact, the amino acid profile of gelatin, in combination with its high levels of collagen make for great support for healthy skin, hair and nails. It contains 6 grams of protein per tablespoon – and whilst not a complete protein in itself, it helps create a more balanced amino acid profile when taken with other proteins and therefore optimise assimilation. Maybe that’s why roast beef and gravy taste so good!

Gelatin is also fantastic for anyone who suffers from digestive problems. It is unique in the way in which it attracts water molecules during digestion, consequently improving the rate in which food moves through the digestive tract. What’s more, gelatin has been proved to carry gut healing properties, and has been shown to reduce the likelihood of developing a food allergy or intolerance. Strongly anti-inflammatory, Gelatin has also shown to play a significant part in healing Asthma, Crohn’s and Colitis.

How to increase your intake

The obvious way to increase your intake of gelatin is by making your own home made stock and bone broth. Pay a visit to your local butchers, and pick up any gelatin rich cuts you can lay your hands on – chicken and pigs feet, oxtail, or even any leftover bones they have out the back. Simmer them very gently for at least 24 hours in a stock pot with hot water, herbs and veggies, and you’ll have plenty of nourishing broth to see you through the week. Drink it as it is, or use it as a base for soups, sauces and gravies.

Choosing the Right Gelatin Supplement

If you're opting for a gelatin supplement rather than homemade bone broth, it's crucial to choose one that aligns with your Paleo values. Look for a brand that uses grass-fed and pasture-raised animals, with no added fillers, sugars, or artificial flavours. Unflavoured gelatin is the most versatile, as it can be added to both sweet and savoury dishes without altering the taste. Hydrolysed collagen (also known as collagen peptides) dissolves easily in cold liquids, making it perfect for smoothies or stirred into coffee, while traditional gelatin is ideal for setting desserts and making gummy snacks.

Paleo Gelatin Recipes to Try at Home

There are endless ways to include more gelatin in your diet beyond sipping on bone broth. Here are a few simple Paleo-friendly ideas:

Homemade gummies: Mix fresh-pressed fruit juice with gelatin and a touch of raw honey. Pour into moulds and refrigerate for a fun, gut-healing treat.
Thickened sauces: Use gelatin as a natural thickener in stews, gravies, and pan sauces instead of using flour or cornstarch.
Paleo panna cotta: Combine coconut milk with gelatin and vanilla for a silky, nutrient-rich dessert.
Gelatin-infused smoothies: Blend a spoonful of gelatin powder into your favourite green smoothie to give it a protein boost and digestive support.

Gelatin doesn't have to be complicated or time-consuming. With just a little creativity, you can make it a delicious and regular part of your routine.

Why Bone Broth is the Original Superfood

While gelatin supplements are incredibly useful, the traditional practice of making bone broth still holds a special place in ancestral nutrition. It’s a slow food, rich in flavour, minerals, and healing compounds like glycine, proline, and glutamine. Bone broth is naturally high in gelatin, but it also contains calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and a wealth of other minerals in a highly bioavailable form.

It’s also incredibly cost-effective. With just a few dollars’ worth of bones and vegetable scraps, you can produce litres of nourishing broth. And if you're already following a nose-to-tail approach to eating, using the bones is a perfect way to reduce waste and respect the whole animal — a core principle in both the Paleo and ancestral food philosophies.

Health Conditions That May Benefit from Gelatin

There’s growing interest in using gelatin therapeutically to address a wide range of health issues. While it's not a cure-all, it does support several critical systems in the body:

Leaky gut syndrome: Gelatin helps repair the intestinal lining by sealing gaps between cells and improving gut barrier integrity.
Joint pain and arthritis: The collagen in gelatin supports cartilage health, improves joint lubrication, and may reduce inflammation.
Sleep issues: The amino acid glycine promotes relaxation and supports quality sleep. A warm mug of gelatin-rich broth before bed can be a natural sleep aid.
Skin ageing and wrinkles: Collagen depletion contributes to sagging and wrinkles over time. Consuming collagen-rich foods like gelatin may help improve skin elasticity and reduce visible signs of ageing.
Bone health: In combination with vitamin D, magnesium and K2, the minerals in bone broth and gelatin support strong bones and may help reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

The Importance of Amino Acid Balance

While gelatin is not a complete protein, it plays a crucial role in balancing amino acid intake, particularly for those consuming a lot of muscle meats. Muscle meat is high in methionine, which in excess may deplete levels of other important nutrients like glycine and folate. Gelatin, being rich in glycine, helps counterbalance this effect. This balance may help reduce inflammation and support better detoxification — both of which are key goals in a Paleo lifestyle.

It’s a good reminder that variety in your protein sources matters. Traditional cultures didn’t just eat muscle meat; they made use of organs, bones, skin, and cartilage — providing a naturally balanced intake of amino acids.

Making Bone Broth a Daily Habit

If you’re new to the idea of drinking bone broth regularly, start small. Replace one daily cup of tea or coffee with a warm mug of broth. You can also use broth as a base for soups, to cook vegetables or quinoa (if you include it in your version of Paleo), or to deglaze pans when preparing meat.

Try freezing broth in ice cube trays and using a cube or two to enrich sauces, gravy, or slow cooker dishes. Having broth on hand makes it easy to increase your gelatin intake without needing to think too much about it.

Final Thoughts on This Forgotten Superfood

In a world obsessed with exotic powders and expensive superfoods, gelatin stands out for being both accessible and deeply nourishing. It’s inexpensive, widely available, and rich in the nutrients our ancestors instinctively knew to value. By incorporating more gelatin into your diet, you’re not only supporting your gut, skin, joints, and immune system — you're also honouring a time-tested nutritional tradition.

So next time you're in the kitchen, don’t discard the bones — turn them into broth. Experiment with gelatin-rich recipes and consider supplementing when needed. Small, consistent changes can have a huge impact on your health over time. And if you’re following a Paleo diet, this one addition might just be the missing piece to round out your ancestral nutrition strategy.

If time and logistics are against you making your own bone broth, consider taking a high quality gelatin supplement. You can add this by the spoonful to smoothies, or make your own Paleo approved gummies by using gelatin and fruit juice!

10 (and a Half) Ways to Add More Fat to Your Diet paleo diet LCHF low carb high fat-min

Smart Ways to Add More Healthy Fat to Your Paleo Diet

3 Comments

A big factor in my own weight loss and controlling my hunger has been increasing my fat intake. I find that when I eat more fat, I am full for far longer, don’t feel hungry, feel more energetic and have much better weight loss results.

So many foods are actually high in protein, not fat. As excess protein is converted into glucose, I'm careful to not eat more protein than I need to – which makes it even more important to increase fat intake.

Exactly how do you add more fat to your diet?

Dairy is a popular source of fat, so a key factor is how well you tolerate fat. You may be better on a strict Paleo diet, with no dairy – or on a lacto-Paleo (or Primal diet), which allows the inclusion of dairy. Weston A Price is also an approach which includes dairy. Instead of being strict about it for the sake of being strict, I think it’s far more important to learn how your body tolerates (or does not tolerate) dairy. I used to avoid all forms of dairy, recently however, I've been experimenting with dairy, specifically butter, which I’ve been eating with most of my meals. If you do decide to have dairy, make sure it’s good quality, perhaps you can have raw dairy, where you live.

Top 10 ½ ways to add more fat to your diet:

1. Avocados

Avocados are a great source of fat – and very versatile. You can eat them on their own with a spoon, or sliced up alongside your dinner. Or you can get inventive and cook a curry with avocado, or even make a smoothie or mousse with avocado.

2. Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is such a good oil – and being stable at high temperatures, great to cook with. When you cook in coconut oil, be generous with your serving – and if you've cooked meat for example, pour the remaining oil over the meat before you serve it.

3. Coconut Milk

If you like the taste, coconut milk or cream is a good base for many meals and smoothies. In fact, coconut is a great source of fat generally, get some coconut flakes to snack on!

4. Animal Fats

Perhaps the best fat sources, lard, tallow, mutton fat, bacon fat and even goose fat (though careful with the omega ratio) are great to cook in.

5. Butter (and ghee)

Butter is my current favourite. I add a generous wedge of butter to all of my vegetables just before I serve them. Many of the nutritional goodness of vegetables is fat soluble, so adding fat to your veggies is a good way of making sure you get the maximum nutritious benefit. Butter can be added to almost anything – and it tastes great.

6. Olive Oil

Whilst I wouldn't cook with it, olive oil is fantastic to dress a salad in. Sprinkle on a few nuts, add a boiled egg, some meat, avocado and perhaps some cheese and you can make a big improvement to the fat content of a salad.

7. Pork Crackling

Not only does pork rind taste great, it’s another good source of fat. A word of caution though – it’s really important with pork to ensure it’s high quality – ideally pasture raised and organic.

8. Eggs

Eggs are a great fat (and protein) source. Just make sure you eat the yolk! If I make cauliflower rice I often stir in an egg just before I finish cooking it as a hidden boost.

9. Bones

Ok, so I'm not suggesting chewing on bones, but some good quality grass-fed bones make a great bone broth full of good fat.

10. Nuts

Whilst you have to be careful with nuts as they can have a poor Omega 3/ Omega 6 ratio – and they can be easy to over indulge in – they are a great fat source. I prepare a small serving of nuts to take to work with me, making sure I have a good mix to ensure I get the different nutritional benefit each type gives.

10 ½. Nut Butters

On a similar thread, nut butters such as almond, cashew and macadamia are also good, with the same note of caution about the Omega balance.

I’d love to hear your views on eating more fat. How much fat would you estimate you eat, and what are your top sources?

Why Adding More Fat to Your Paleo Diet Matters

When you're following a Paleo or LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) lifestyle, increasing your fat intake isn't just allowed — it's encouraged. Fat is a dense source of energy that helps keep you full, supports brain function, and allows for better absorption of fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E and K. Many people transitioning from a standard low-fat or high-carb diet find that adding more healthy fat can be a game-changer for energy levels, mood, and even weight loss.

But not all fats are created equal. That’s why focusing on nutrient-dense, whole-food sources of fat — like avocado, coconut oil, ghee, eggs, and fatty cuts of pasture-raised meat — aligns perfectly with the Paleo template.

The trick is to make small, intentional changes to each meal. Instead of trying to add a huge portion of fat all at once, think about layering it in: drizzle olive oil over roasted veggies, cook your breakfast in bacon fat, or stir some coconut milk into your post-workout smoothie. These simple shifts can make a big difference over time.

If you’re not used to a higher fat intake, build up slowly and observe how your body responds. Everyone’s tolerance and optimal levels vary — and that’s completely fine. Remember, this way of eating is about nourishing your body in a way that feels sustainable.

Are you eating enough fat on your Paleo diet? Let me know your favourite sources of healthy fat in the comments below — I’d love to try some new ideas.

Fat Isn’t the Enemy — It’s a Paleo Superpower

One of the biggest mindset shifts when going Paleo is learning to embrace fat as a friend, not a foe. For many Australians following a low-carb or ancestral diet, adding more healthy fats isn’t just about flavour — it’s about satiety, stable energy, better focus, and even improved results with fat loss and hormone health.

The key is quality over quantity. Choosing fats from grass-fed animals, wild-caught fish, unrefined oils, and whole food sources like avocado and nuts gives your body the fuel it needs — without the inflammatory load of processed seed oils or trans fats.

If you’ve been wary of increasing your fat intake, try easing it in: sauté veg in ghee, top your salad with olive oil and crushed walnuts, or blend MCT oil into your morning brew. You might be surprised just how much better you feel.

What are your go-to ways to add fat to your meals? Drop your favourites in the comments — I’d love to discover some new ideas from the community.

Sleeping on the Floor?

9 Comments

The more I learn and think about evolutionary health, the more links I find with every aspect of my life.

Since I went from more of a Primal diet, to a strict Paleo diet, my previous sleep problems appear to have completely vanished. I'm now tired in the evenings, fall asleep quickly without even noticing, sleep soundly all night – and wake up before my alarm. This change in sleep has made it very clear what an essential role sleep plays to overall health and well-being. I'm quite convinced that even with a perfect Paleo diet and a great fitness regime, without good sleep it would be impossible to attain optimal health.

This has got me thinking about where and how I sleep. I suspect like you, I sleep on a bed with a big mattress and pillows. This must be very far removed from how our ancestors slept for millions of years!

I've found some great resources on sleeping that suggest the body is under strain being upright all day, and therefore needs the resistance of a hard service to enable gravity to help realign and reshape the body. This makes a lot of sense. Even a relatively hard mattress won’t have enough resistance to enable your bones to realign – where as the ground clearly would. It makes sense that when sunk into a mattress the lungs are not in the same position and have a reduced area – resulting in less oxygen, which is crucial, especially in enabling the body to relax and repair overnight.

I also wonder about the effect on the body’s temperature regulation, of sleeping on a mattress and under covers. Is this another detrimental effect of sleeping on a mattress?

Every time I've been camping and have slept with just a thin foam layer between myself and the ground, I have had a fantastic sleep – but I’ve also woken up very stiff and sore the next morning. Perhaps the discomfort is due to being used to a soft mattress and will reduce after a few days? Perhaps a bit of discomfort is not a bad thing? As with camping, I also slept very well when I travelled to Japan sleeping on hard futons on the floor; again this was not comfortable, but resulted in very rejuvenating sleeps.

Sleep posture also appears to be an important factor to consider, something I've not given much thought to in the past.

I'm therefore planning to conduct a sleep experiment, of at least a week, where I will sleep on the floor each night. I can then compare how I feel each morning, how well rested I am and how my fitness is affected (for example, if it would promote better posture and alignment, I’d expect this to show in my gym sessions).

Have you ever slept on the floor in the interests of your health, or is this a step too far? I’d love to hear your comments on all things sleep related!

Could Sleeping on the Floor Actually Improve Your Health?

More and more people exploring ancestral health are starting to ask a question that once seemed unthinkable: should we ditch our mattresses and sleep on the floor? It sounds radical — but when you consider how little our modern sleep environments resemble those of our ancestors, it starts to make sense.

The average bed today is soft, plush, and loaded with synthetic materials. While it might feel luxurious, research and anecdotal evidence suggest that overly soft sleeping surfaces may interfere with natural spinal alignment, reduce lung capacity due to compression, and even disrupt our ability to regulate body temperature efficiently. That’s quite a price to pay for a comfy mattress.

The Potential Benefits of Sleeping on the Floor

People who experiment with sleeping on the floor often report benefits such as:

Improved posture: Without a mattress to sink into, the body is encouraged to maintain a more neutral alignment.
Fewer aches and pains: Especially in the lower back and neck, once the body adjusts to the new surface.
Better sleep quality: Possibly from more consistent sleep positions or reduced overheating.
Enhanced circulation: Sleeping on a firm surface may reduce compression of arteries and veins.

It’s also worth noting that many traditional cultures — from Japan to various parts of Africa and Southeast Asia — have long slept on firm surfaces like futons, woven mats, or thin roll-up bedding, often reporting no issues with back pain or insomnia.

How to Transition to Floor Sleeping (Without Hating It)

If you’re intrigued but unsure how to start, here are a few tips:

Start with naps or just one night a week. Give your body time to adjust slowly.
Use a yoga mat or thin foam pad to soften the transition from mattress to floor without completely removing support.
Support your joints with folded blankets under your hips, knees, or shoulders if needed.
Experiment with positions – some people do well on their back, others prefer side-sleeping with a thin pillow between the knees.
Stay warm – being closer to the ground can feel colder, so ensure your bedding is adjusted accordingly.

You might find that your body takes a few days to adjust. Just like transitioning to barefoot shoes or a Paleo diet, the discomfort may be part of the adaptation process.

What About Sleep Posture?

Sleep posture is another overlooked part of modern health. Back sleeping with a neutral spine is often recommended, but many floor sleepers report excellent results from side sleeping or fetal-style positions, provided they use minimal or no pillows to keep the neck aligned.

Some floor sleepers also switch to hammocks or Japanese futons placed on tatami mats — options that give you firmness with a bit of give.

Is Sleeping on the Floor Right for Everyone?

Not necessarily. If you have joint issues, specific musculoskeletal conditions, or are pregnant, consult with a health professional before ditching your bed. And always listen to your body. Pain that doesn't improve with adaptation may be a sign you need more support.

Have you experimented with floor sleeping, minimal bedding, or even ditching pillows altogether? What changes did you notice in your sleep quality, posture, or overall wellbeing?

Drop your experience in the comments — and let’s explore whether ancestral-style sleep could be a modern health upgrade worth considering.

Tag Archive for: Bones