It’s no coincidence that as the temperatures drop outside, nature provides foods that help to keep us warm and energised. Step forward the root vegetables which are rich in energising carbs and immune-boosting nutrients, as well as spices such as turmeric and ginger.
Clinical Nutritionist Suzie Sawyer shares her three favourite soups to warm and nourish your body this winter.
The immune system takes a pounding at this time of year, therefore it’s important to support the body with warming foods, so it’s not under duress. Eating warming soups is also a great way of getting more immune boosting nutrients into the body too.
Sweet potato soup
I’m such a big fan of sweet potatoes! Although they taste sweet, they’re surprisingly good at balancing blood sugar levels, which helps to keep weight under control. Sweet potatoes are rich in beta carotene, which is a powerful antioxidant, but is also turned into vitamin A in the body as needed and is essential for the immune system.
This recipe includes carrots, also rich in beta carotene, and warming root ginger too, plus it’s so simple to make. Simply fry off some onions, garlic, carrots, ginger, and chilli flakes (also warming). Then add the chopped sweet potatoes and some vegetable stock, cook until everything is tender and blend until smooth. Your soul (and taste buds) will certainly enjoy this one!
Chicken soup
From a nutritional perspective, chicken soup is great for beating away any viruses, especially if you boil up the carcass from a roasted chicken for stock and use the leftover chicken. It’s also super economical. Furthermore, using stock in this way provides plenty of collagen, which is not only great for the skin, but for gut health too. Chicken is rich in the amino acid cysteine, which helps break down mucous if you’ve been unfortunate enough to already succumb to a cold.
The recipe also needs some onions, celery and carrots, all rich in immune-boosting vitamin C, together with chopped fresh parsley. This amazing herb is renowned for its disease-fighting properties. Importantly, be sure to add a little turmeric, which is super warming but great for the digestion, liver, brain and joints too.
Not only will chicken soup warm the body, but it will also help protect it from any nasty bugs flying around at this time of year.
Beetroot soup
Beetroots are another one of my all-time favourite vegetables! Maybe their taste is acquired, but if you can find favour with them, beetroots will certainly deliver nutritionally.
Beetroots are great for liver detoxification and provide loads of energy from the B-vitamin folate. Interestingly, there’s also plenty of research on their ability to improve exercise performance, particularly endurance sports such as cycling. Whilst you might not be a great fan of endurance exercise, eating beetroots is certainly going to benefit your heart and lungs in any case.
This recipe uses all the juices from roasted tomatoes, which are rich in lycopene and are also great for the heart, plus onions, garlic, and beef stock. If you sprinkle some feta cheese to serve, together with crusty bread, the strong flavours really complement each other very well. Beetroot soup is also a great warming dish, is supportive of the immune system and will help keep the liver in good working order too which might be even more beneficial during the festive season!
Enjoy creating some warming soups this season!
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