In the right typeface and size, a list of Kobe Bryant’s NBA records would probably stretch the length of the court. The iconic shooting guard, who retired earlier this month, played in 18 All-Star games over his 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers, logging an 80-point regular-season game along with the six in which he scored 60 and 134 wherein he scored 40; he led the league in scoring in 2005 and 2006, winning an Olympic gold medal in 2008 and sharing the mark for successful three-point shots in a game (12) with only two others. And on and on. And on. He holds or shares nearly 30 NBA and Olympic marks. Not that far behind are the whopping 22 injuries he sustained in getting to that point – like the rupture of an Achilles tendon, a big-time strained hip, a pesky fractured finger and about a million sprained ankles to top them off. This is one seriously beaten-up career athlete, who might just be feeling the pain at its worst now that the pressure’s off. Chances are pretty spectacular he won’t be at La Jolla’s Warwick’s Books at noon this Sunday, April 24, to take in the book discussion and Q&A at hand. But it’s a cinch he’d listen with both ears, as the topic touches on a belated discovery he says has made all the difference in his old age. The subject is bone broth, or, more particularly, bone-enriched soup. And while it has yet to be hailed as God’s gift, it’s undergone a measure of medical scrutiny in its supposed capacity to aid digestion, improve the appearance of the skin, combat the flu, maximize blood flow and – maybe most important to Kobe over the last four years he’s been drinking it – fight joint pain and inflammation. La Jolla native Quinn Farrar Wilson, principal at bone-broth intensive Balance & Bright, wrote Bone Broth: 101 Essential Recipes & Age-Old Remedies to Heal Your Body partly out of survival. She herself suffered from dental and orthopedic ailments during her career as an interior designer, turning to the concoction as a tried-and-true remedy in other parts of the world. The Asians, she says, have been drinking it for centuries, making potions from things as rudimentary as filtered water, horseradish, onions, grass-fed beef bones, ginger and organic apple cider vinegar. “Every culture around the world drinks some form of [bone broth],” Wilson says. “It’s a staple in cooking because it slips into recipes so easily. I drink it as a tea,” she continues, explaining that she’s even used it in pies. Trendy? Well, yeah, sort of. But along the way, bone broth didn’t escape the medical profession’s scrutiny, especially that of Cate Shanahan, director of the Lakers’ nutrition program. The Napa Valley physician, who in 2013 shepherded Kobe through one of the worst ankle sprains of his career, explains the science behind bone broth, pointing out the molecular relationship between collagen (the protein that holds the body together) and the joints it surrounds. “The health of your joints,” Shanahan said in a published report, “depends upon the health of the collagen in your ligaments [and] tendons and on the ends of your bones. Collagens are a large family of biomolecules, which include the glycosaminoglycans, very special molecules that help keep our joints healthy.” The answer, Wilson says, is in the bones, where the rich collagen reserve lies dormant. She buys hers at La Jolla Butcher Shop, explaining that they’re devoid of hormones and come from pasteurized cattle. Meanwhile, she says, “My skin has cleared up, and my teeth and nails are as strong as they’ve ever been.” Three to four pints a week should do the trick, she added, pointing to her plethora of recipes in everybody’s search for the taste and consistency with which they’re most comfortable. In macrocosm, the message isn’t lost on Kobe, who in 2013 sprained an ankle while falling over an opponent’s outstretched foot. Shanahan, who saw the incident on TV, sprang into action, ordering a slew of bone broth as Kobe writhed in agony. He would later state that this injury was the worst of its kind in 13 seasons even as he downed Shanahan’s ordered remedy. Surely, his aging body would reel from the latest in a litany of infamous injuries. He missed two games. Warwick’s Books is located at 7812 Girard Ave. For more, call (858) 454-0347 or visit warwicks.com. Balanced & Bright’s site is at balancedandbright.wordpress.com.
