Gelatin is a translucent, colorless, brittle, flavorless solid substance, derived from collagen found in animal bones. It is commonly used as a gelling agent in food, pharmaceuticals, photography, and cosmetic manufacturing. It is found in most gummy candies as well as other products such as marshmallows, gelatin dessert, and some ice cream, dips and yogurt.
Gelatin used to be a big part of healthy traditional diets but people today don’t have a clue about what to do with it. Most people associate gelatin with Jello, which is full of sugar, artificial colors, and genetically modified “foods”.

Gelatin is basically dehydrated broth powder made up of bones, cartilage, collagen and minerals. Homemade bone broth can be a great source of gelatin but many people on the run feel they don’t have time to make it. Broth has healing powers and can be made easily in the slow cooker.

Alternatively, powdered gelatin is a quick substitute for bone broth that can be a valuable addition to the diet if it is from healthy animals. Gelatin is a great source of amino acids, which support a healthy mood, strong bones, smooth skin and proper muscle synthesis. It is important to get gelatin from the best grass fed/ pastured animals to avoid hormones, pesticides and heavy metal contamination.

Not all gelatin is the same:

I am sure you have seen gelatin in your local supermarket and you may be tempted to buy it because it is cheap and readily available, but the problem is that healthy food cannot come from unhealthy animals. When animals are raised in feed lots they stand around in their own waste eating food that makes them sick and overweight. Living in unnatural conditions makes them prone to infections so they are pumped full of antibiotics. Antibiotics can lead to weight gain and dysbiosis (imbalanced gut flora) in animals and humans. Also when cows eat grains, rather than grass, they are more prone to bad bacteria, which fosters a ripe environment for food borne illness such as E.coli contamination. Another issue is that conventional feed which most livestock eat are full of genetically modified grains that are new to the food supply and have never been proven safe.

Cows and other ruminants are supposed to be pastured on grass, which will keep them lean and healthy without need for pharmaceutical intervention. Cows raised on pasture provide the side benefit of fertilizing the soil and reducing the carbon footprint. Grass fed and pastured animals are really a win-win for all because cows have a healthier and more humane life. When a cow is raised in the proper way it will provides more minerals, essential fatty acids and protein when consumed. When an animal is malnourished it will not be able to pass on the same amount of nutrition as one that is eating its natural diet.

Top 20 Health Benefits of Gelatin:

Skin Health: Gelatin has amazing skin healing properties because it is a rich source of dietary collagen, which is the key protein in the body made up of amino acids. Gelatin makes up 25% to 35% of the total protein content of human body. This protein content is vital for skin elasticity, and tone, plus the continuous renewal of skin cells. Gelatin makes up the connective tissues of the skin that are responsible for giving skin its strength and firmness.

Anti-aging: Collagen depletion usually starts when we are in our late 20’s. It becomes more important to add gelatin to your diet after age 30 to help fight aging. Skin creams that contain collagen are useless because the collagen is too large to be absorbed by the skin. Taking it internally in form of gelatin is a good source of dietary collagen and can do wonders for the skin. Research performed at The University of Michigan shows the effects that collagen depletion has on the aging process. The study showed that collagen- producing cells are key for supporting youthful-looking, resilient skin. This information reinforced the idea that anti-aging treatments should focus on reconstructing and refilling collagen from the inside.

Wrinkles: Proline found in gelatin is a very important amino acid that abundant in gelatin. It is recommended as a supplement by many skin experts to keep up a youthful appearance. Degradation and loss of collagen is the real cause of wrinkles. Research confirms that collagen found in gelatin helped to reduce visible signs of wrinkling and treatments. Gelatin can stimulate and enhance production of new and non-fragmented collagen, which offers significant improvement to the look and health of wrinkled skin. Taking collagen from inside in the form of gelatin helps make skin much less prone to wrinkles.

Teeth, Hair and Nails: Gelatin provides beneficial minerals that are lacking in the overly processed western diet. This super food supplies abundant calcium, magnesium and phosphorus, which builds strong nails, teeth, and hair.

Stretch marks: Gelatin helps prevent stretch marks by improving the skin’s firmness, elasticity and functioning. It helps by boosting collagen production, which is the key to preventing stretch marks.

Cellulite: Cellulite is caused by a breakdown of collagen, which can be exacerbated by nutritional deficiencies. Many people take collagen supplements that cost a fortune. It is much easier and tastier to get collagen in a food form from bone broth and gelatin powder.

Liver Detox: Gelatin is rich in glycine, which can be considered a conditionally essential amino acid. The human body needs a great deal of glycine for detoxification from exposure to chemicals in our toxic environment. People without enough glycine will not produce enough glutathione, which is crucial for Phase II liver detoxification.

Weight loss: Gelatinis full of protein, which makes people full and can help them eat less of lower quality foods. Also gelatin can help with liver detox which will boost fat burning ability.

Digestion: The amino acid glycine in gelatin can help increase hyrochloric acid in the stomach which is needed for digestion and assimilation of nutrients. Levels of these vital digestive juices are lowered by stress and aging. Lowered HCL can contribute to malnutrition including anemia (a reduction in red blood cell production). A well-known researcher, Dr. Gotthoffer, studied gelatin’s role in digestion and he found that it increases the utilization and assimilation protein from muscle meats.

Leaky Gut: Russian researchers found that gelatin healed the gut linings of mice after they had chemically-induced intestinal damage. Doctors in the 1920’s had good results using gelatin to nourish Celiac patients who were malnourished from gluten reactions.

Strong Bones: Bones are actually living structures that can be built up or broken down daily by our nutritional choices.Gelatin contains easy to digest calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and trace minerals which helps build a healthy bone matrix.

Arthritis Support: Gelatin contains Chondroitin, which has long been used as supplement for helping people with arthritis pain and stiffness.Chondroitin found in gelatin supports joints, cartilage and tendons because it is basically the dissolved connective tissue of animals. It has been discovered that therapeutic doses of cartilage, found in animal bones, (which always contains copious amounts of proline and glycine) dramatically improve rheumatoid arthritis as well as other degenerative joint conditions.

High Metabolism: Glycine can be considered a semi-essential amino acid and should be taken as a nutritional supplement to boost metabolism. Amino acids help people build and maintain muscle, which stokes a healthy metabolism. Glycine also helps regulate insulin sensitivity keeping people from storing abdominal fat.

Adrenals: When our bodies are under extreme stress they actually need more minerals and amino acids, which can be provided by gelatin. Dr. Cate Shanahan suggests that the nutritional matrix in bone broths and gelatin may actually help rejuvenate the renal organs (kidney, adrenals, bladder) which help us deal with stress and cortisol.

Hormone balance: Gelatin provides the amino acid glycine, which helps regulate insulin and prevent hypoglycemia. Also glycine helps the body to make glutathione, which is crucial for helping to remove excess estrogen. Excess estrogen comes from several sources such as toxic body care products, environmental pollution, diets high in processed foods and from using hormonal birth control methods. Estrogen dominance has been studied extensively as a risk factor for female cancers.

Wound repair: Glycine and arginine found in gelatin are abundant in the skin and connective tissue. The combination of these two amino acids have been studied by researchers at Rutgers and it was found that injured mice healed much faster when they had supplemental amounts of these two amino acids in their diet.

Allergies: Gelatin can alleviate allergic reactions and sensitivities because it helps seal inflamed and porous gut linings. Many experts believe that a permeable intestinal lining is a core issue in allergies because it is an immune barrier responsible for keeping out pathogens. Read my article on how to help allergies here.

Get more nutrition out of each bite: Broth with gelatin makes small portions of meat very filling, which saves money on groceries. Gelatin draws in digestive juices to help break down meaty protein more thoroughly. This effect has the added benefit of saving money because gelatin will stretch protein portions.

Muscle maintenance: People who are on bed rest lose a lot of muscle mass during an illness. When gelatin is added to their diets it has the benefit of preserving muscle mass while ill. It can also be very restorative for athletes that are over training because it contains many amino acids that speed recovery.

Lowers Inflammation: Because of low fat dogma many people get too much lean protein in their diet. This imbalance can be remedied by adding gelatin (and healthy fats) to meals. Lean protein in excess can be pro-inflammatory but gelatin provides proline and glycine that balance out the tryptophan and Cysteine.