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Back before Impact Kitchen had officially opened its doors, an article about Kobe Bryant came out: he attributed drinking a daily cup of bone broth to his speedy recovery after tearing his achilles tendon. This article sparked the interest of Impact Kitchen’s co-founder, Josh Broun, to do more research around the benefits of bone broth–a traditional stock made by simmering bones of animals for an extended period of time, to improve its nutritional value. When he brought it up to co-founder Frank Toskan, Toskan laughed in disbelief: “How could this be a trend? My mother has been making this all my life!”
Five locations later, and Impact Kitchen and sipping broths are virtually synonymous. You can buy it by the jar from the retail fridge, or grab a hot cup of broth to-go. You can even add in a signature flavour blend. Not only does Impact Kitchen serve chicken bone broth, they also offer a nutrient-dense vegan mushroom broth, with plans to launch a beef broth before the end of 2021. The new beef bone broth will be made with organic and grass-fed bones, sourced from local partner, Beretta Farms. Beef bones offer up a similar nutrition profile to chicken bones, with a higher concentration of minerals like calcium, magnesium and phosphorus, and a heartier flavour profile.
The chicken bone broth is made fresh daily with ingredients like antibiotic-free chicken bones, garlic, ginger, carrots, celery, and apple cider vinegar. It’s simmered for up to 24 hours to encourage the release of health-supportive key nutrients, like collagen, glycine and glutamine.
Collagen in particular has been shown in studies to help reduce joint pain, improve skin elasticity and improve muscle mass. Meanwhile the gelatin in bone broth appears to have a protective effect on the lining of the digestive tract. This may be due to glutamine, an amino acid in gelatin that helps to maintain the integrity of the gut lining.
Glycine, itself, has been shown to improve sleep quality and energy levels, reduce inflammation and improve blood sugar control.
And if bones are not your thing, no worry: Impact’s vegan mushroom broth is a delicious, and nutritious, alternative. Made with antioxidant-rich mushrooms, iodine-packed seaweed, and anti-inflammatory ingredients like ginger, turmeric and garlic, the mushroom broth is a warming staple come cold and flu season.
Sipping on bone broth is also not the only way to enjoy it, and, if it feels like a stretch, you can use bone broth in a more traditional way: as a stock base for soups and stews, or you can add it anywhere you would add water–for example, cooking rice. (But let me tell you: once you’ve had the chicken bone broth with the Miso Ginger broth blend add-on, you’ll be surprised by how often you crave it.) Impact Kitchen also uses bone broth as the base to a variety of menu items, including the chicken noodle soup and venison + beef stew.
And if all of this has you saying, “okay, how do I get more broth in my life?”, you’ll be pleased to hear that Impact Kitchen will be launching a broth subscription, similar to its coffee subscription, before the end of 2021. So if you aren’t already, be sure to follow us on instagram @impactkitchen and subscribe to our newsletter, below, to stay up to date on the launch details.
Cheers to good health!
