People LOVE soup. It tastes delicious, it’s comforting food and it makes them feel warm on a cold day. In Latin America, we’re used to eating soup all the time, most of our mothers know that nothing will nourish you back to health when you have the flu better than some hearty soup. It’s part of our culture and we’ve perfected some recipes along the way.
How Do You Create Soups That Nourish?
Making soup is relatively easy; just pick a protein and vegetables that you like, right? Well in most cases, that’s the easy way to go, but when you’re feeling sick and you want your soup to do more than just taste good, it’s important to put right ingredients in the pot.
Ingredients for an Immune Boosting Soup
Cabbage: can increase your body’s ability to fight off infection
Ginger: supports digestion and helps alleviate a sore throat
Garlic: is a great antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
Leafy greens: kale, chard, and collards offer a good dose of vitamins A and C
Beans: rich in zinc, which help boost your immune system
Carrots: rich in beta-carotene, which helps fight off respiratory infections
Tomatoes: help boost your body’s natural defense system, high in vitamin C
Mushrooms: increase body’s resistance to viral infections
Beef: is a good source of zinc, plus the protein helps build antibodies
Turmeric: is high in antioxidants and is a natural immune system booster
As you can see, you can pick and choose the ingredients that you most like or feel are the most beneficial to your health. Most people enjoy chicken soup, but if you’re going to make chicken soup, make sure you stay away from the chicken breast. You get more health benefits from the chicken bones, the same way you do from cooking red meat with bone-in. When you cook chicken it releases an amino acid called acid cysteine, which is similar to a drug that is used to treat bronchitis.
