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Healthy soup recipes

Chinese soups do not have a monopoly on good health. But it is one of the healthiest foods around especially when it is home-cooked and you can control what you put in them.

Nutritious water

Since ancient times, man has discovered that boiling meat and vegetables in water cause their nutrients to be released into the water.

Drinking this liquid, the body can then absorb and assimilate these nutrients quickly without having to digest and break down the meat and vegetables.

An ideal way to obtain loads of nutrients minus the calories!

The earliest nation to drink soup is Ancient Greece.

It has been said that during the Olympics, every athlete brings a goat or calf to the temple of Zeus to participate in the rituals. During the rituals, these animals were killed and cooked in a huge pot. The meat was distributed to the non-athletes present while the soup is given to the athletes to drink to increase their strength.

Ingredients and functions

Different ingredients used to make soups determine what the soup can do for the body. Some common ingredients include chicken, bones (pork or beef) and vegetables.

1. Chicken Soup - the hero against flu and colds

There is something comforting about a bowl of chicken soup.

It is not just the Chinese who likes to use chicken to make soup many cultures have also recognized its efficacy, especially for colds and flu.

Chicken soup relieves coughs and sore throats because the gentle heat from the soup improves blood circulation near the throat and windpipe.

It also helps eliminate any bacteria or viruses entering the system through the throat and windpipe. The chicken and any vegetables used also provide much needed supplements to boost the immunity system.

2. Bone Soup - fight against osteoporosis

courtesy of Melanie Wong at flickr

Have you ever noticed how people seem to shrink with age?

It is a sign of aging and osteoporosis. As people age, their bones become thin and compressed under pressure, resulting in the loss of height.

Ladies face greater risks of osteoporosis, especially those who seldom exercise or do strength training.

Doctors have advised high risk people to start taking calcium supplements and to drink more milk.

The problem is many of us, especially Chinese, are lactose-intolerant. We can't drink a lot of milk as we are unable to digest the lactose in milk. I have personal experience of how uncomfortable indigestion from lactose can be.

But there is a happy solution. Soups made from bones contain calcium ions, which is easily absorbed by the body. To me, drinking soups is more enjoyable than taking calcium supplements or suffering from lactose indigestion.

Bone soups also contain collagen, proteins, fats and natural salt. All these enhance micro-circulation. Better micro-circulation means better cell production. Better cell production means delayed aging. And who doesn't want that.

The Chinese usually use pork bones to make bone soups. Chicken carcass is also a good choice. Just make sure the fats are trimmed off.

3. Vegetable Soup - the natural detoxifier

Vegetable soup has many wonderful qualities:

Alkalinity
The body has a natural and constant process to detoxify and transport toxins via the bloodstream to the kidneys and liver to be eliminated from the body.

This detoxifying process requires blood to be slightly alkaline in ph in order to eliminate toxins effectively.

However, modern day living with stress and unhealthy diets have increased the acidity of our bodies. To restore the balance, drink vegetable soups. They help to maintain the weak alkaline ph.

Constipation
Constipation traps toxins in the body. An important part of a detoxification program is to ensure good bowel movements.

Bowel movement can be encouraged by consuming large amount of soluble fiber through vegetable soups. I think this is a better natural remedy for constipation than taking laxatives.

Cholesterol
Research has shown that certain vegetable fiber stabilizes the ratio of blood lipids and cholesterol. Good news for people with high cholesterol caused by high-fat diets!

Start drinking vegetable soups and check with your doctors frequently. You may be surprised when the doctors reduce the dosage or even stop your cholesterol medication.

Dieting
People on diets to control their weight can also try vegetable soups. When hunger pangs strike, people can become irrational and go on a binge. Relieve the hunger pangs with good nutritious soups (especially light clear soups).

Vegetable soups provide more nutrients, eliminate toxins and excess fats from the body and may give dieters more energy.

Soups are ideal for the elderly

The elderly has significantly lower metabolic rate and their bodies do not absorb nutrients as well as before. They should have lighter meals consisting of good proteins and complex carbohydrates.

Does that conjure up images of bland boring food?

It does not have to be that way...

Ingredients such as Chinese mushrooms (fresh or dried), Chinese wolfberries, red dates, Chinese angelica root, and astragalus add complexity and interest to Chinese soups and are ideal for the elderly.

Soup drinking tips

1. Drink soups before and during meals
Nutritionists believe that drinking soups before and during meals is good because it reduced the occurrence of gastritis and esophagitis.

Drinking soup before a meal lubricates the throat and esophagus so that food passes through more easily. This prevents any dry food from irritating the sensitive membrane of the digestive tract.

Drinking soup during a meal helps to mix up the food in the stomach aiding digestion and nutrition absorption.

2. Chew your food
It is still important to chew the food before swallowing. Some people like to add soup to cooked rice and slurp both soup and rice down without chewing. This is not good because it creates undue stress on the stomach trying to digest unbroken rice grains.

Chewing breaks the rice grains down into smaller pieces. The digestive enzymes in saliva would have also pre-digested the rice during chewing. Your stomach will have an easier time.

3. Soup up your nutrients
If you do not feel like eating, drinking soup and nibbling some of the ingredients is a good alternative to get your nutrients and calories.

Common Chinese soup ingredients like carrot, potato and Chinese yam provide excellent source of carbohydrates while pork, poultry, eggs, provide proteins.

Have I convinced you about the health-giving benefits of Chinese soups?

Are you ready to cook?

Head on to the soup index page for some recipes or catch up on soup cooking techniques.

Do not forget to tell me how everything went.

View the discussion thread.

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