By Judy O’Gorman Alvarez
There are fermented foods and the probiotic trend and adding super foods to your diet, all to help maintain a healthy body – inside and out.
Melissa Boloña, founder and CEO of The Beauty & the Broth, had tried many of them. But then she discovered bone broth.
Bone broth is made by boiling down animal bones and connective tissues. The stock is dense in nutrients and is used for soups, sauces and health drinks. It has gained popularity in recent years, especially for its advantages in digestive health.
Boloña, a model, actress and now entrepreneur, spent her elementary and high school years in Rumson, and went on to graduate from Pace University. After studying acting in Paris and abroad, she has now appeared in more than 20 films.
And although she may not have found bone broth on the menu at the Two River area restaurants like Rumson’s Raven and the Peach, where she hostessed in high school, the dish has helped improve her health, body – and launched a new career.
Nowadays Boloña divides her time between L.A. and Nashville, managing The Beauty & the Broth line and helping others get the benefits she has found.
Since she was a child, Boloña said she was plagued by “gut problems.”
“I missed so many days of school and spent time in and out of hospitals, growing up with health issues,” she said.
“When I was living in L.A, pursuing acting, eating on the set, it started catching up with me. I had brain fog and was feeling really unwell.”
Her sister suggested she try bone broth. “I kept hearing about it in more circles. So I tried it with her in New York I could not believe the healing powers over my body. It helped me with digestion, it helped me with brain fog, even my joints.”
“I started seeing the beauty benefits. It cleared up the lifelines, made my hair thicker,” she said.
“Honestly, within two weeks I started to really see some changes – even after the first cup.”
Returning to Los Angeles, Boloña noticed there weren’t as many places to “grab and go” a cup of bone broth as there were back East. She saw a market and set about creating her own bone broth.
Turning her kitchen into a test kitchen, Boloña researched and brewed and tinkered and refined a bone broth that had all the organic ingredients and nutrients she wanted that would bring out the benefits for her digestion, skin and overall health.
She recommends a cup of bone broth twice a day. “I drink it like my coffee,” she said. But even once a day, drinkers may see and feel a difference, she noted.
The Beauty & the Broth products, available on the website, provide convenient broth concentrates, making a potent and portable broth.
Boloña said when she was developing her recipe, she listened to feedback and suggestions about other broths; some comments said they were too gamy or too weak. “I took that into consideration.” In her broth, she said, “you recognize every single ingredient.”
And Boloña took pains to be sure those ingredients were healthy and tasty. Her ingredients are bones from vegetarian-fed, free-range chickens and grass-fed and ranch-raised beef. The vegetables and herbs are all organic.
The Beauty & the Broth offers collagen-rich, shelf stable, broth concentrates. Mixed with hot water, they produce a convenient, healthy drink, perfect for the person on the go. Among the flavors are tumeric and ginger with chicken; beef with mushroom and kelp; and more.
Once Boloña had her recipe, she was ready to launch The Beauty & the Broth in November 2020, working with a manufacturer who produces and distributes the product.
Although it’s only been on the market six months, the reception has been positive. “Customers really rave about the flavor of the product,” she said. “They can’t believe there’s no salt added. And that’s a big beef – no pun – in bone broth.”
Customers reported adding the broth to their diet has “really healed their gut,” Boloña said. Nutritionists, pregnant women and new mothers have benefited from the broth and its nutrients. It has also proved popular with those with autoimmune disorders.
Now in the marketing phase, Boloña has enjoyed the process, despite the current pandemic restrictions. She has hosted a virtual event featuring bone broth cocktails with hot toddies and offers cooking videos on the website. Smoothies – served cold – are a popular drink. “There are a lot of ways to incorporate bone broth in to your life if you don’t want to just drink it,” she said.
For more information and to order, visit thebeautyandthebroth.com.
This article originally appeared in the May 13 – 19, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
