Broccoli Fennel Soup Recipe

This soup is made with broccoli, fennel, and a final touch of sunflower seeds. It’s vegan but creamy as can be, with the addition of cashews and the vitamin-filled superfood kale. This is one of the best winter soup recipes, that is filling and healthier than a salad.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

The official season for squash is fall and winter, and butternut is the creamiest, most decadent variety you can try. The texture in this low-calorie recipe is so velvety, it’s hard to tell that it’s completely vegan. Most importantly, it protects your immune system with high antioxidant, mineral, and vitamin content.

Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Soup

Some people don’t like cauliflower when it’s cooked in solid form, but when pureed in a soup, it can actually improve a watery texture. This veggie-packed recipe doesn’t slack on the flavors, or ingredients – with vegetable broth, yams, and cauliflower as the main components, garlic (an immune powerhouse), and green onion add some personality to this soup, which simmers for up to 5 hours.

Asian Chicken Noodle Soup

One thing we know: pho is a necessity of winter, especially when one is sick. But why waste money on takeout when the homemade version is so much better for you, and just as satisfying? This soup is as medicinal as it is mouth-watering thanks to chicken broth, garlic, ginger, and bok choy,  a less bitter alternative to kale that’s packed with selenium and folate.

Vegan Lentil Soup

Lentils are always a solid way to add fiber and heartiness to your soup recipes. Carrots add a touch of sweetness that also happen to be high in Vitamin C and help fight free radicals. This anti-inflammatory soup recipe also has our favorite immune-boosting ingredient: turmeric. Known for giving food and beverages a golden tint, turmeric is ideal for keeping you protected when you’re stressed out, or flu season hits.

Chicken Marsala and Mushroom Stew

This is more of a stew than a soup, but it will definitely warm you up when the outside air is chilly.  Marsala chicken is combined with portobello mushrooms to make for a juicy and earthy side or main dish. Rosemary and parsley are flavorful garnishes with anti-inflammatory and cancer-fighting properties.

Creamy Roasted Asparagus Soup

The key to making asparagus soup recipes so creamy is roasting the veggie beforehand. By pureeing half the roasted asparagus and letting the other pieces float in the pot, it adds depth to the flavor. Just remember that this vegetable is seasonal, so you may have to opt for the supermarket instead of your local farmer’s market. However, high zinc and vitamin C content make it perfect for winter.

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It’s most commonly used in Siberia and Asia as well as other locations in the northern hemisphere. The Chaga mushroom doesn’t look like the mushrooms you’re used to seeing in the grocery stores. Some people describe its appearance as a clump of dirt or charcoal, making it hard to find out in the wild. However, it has a special orange tissue on the inside that sets it apart from other ‘shrooms’.

It’s technically a superfood, with high amounts of amino acids, selenium, B-complex vitamins, potassium, magnesium, zinc, and other nutrients and minerals.

Benefits of Adding Chaga Mushroom to Your Routine

1. Improved immunity, reduced illness

The Chaga mushroom has been used for health for centuries – just not by people in North America. The mystery fungus boosts immunity by regulating the production of cytokines, which allow cells to communicate with each other, potentially fighting infections of varying degrees.

However, it also has a powerhouse of other benefits, including the treatment of cancers, heart disease (lowering blood pressure), and diabetes (lowering blood sugar).

Natural Ways to Improve Your Immune System

2. Turn back the clock

Its antioxidant-rich nature could slow aging or even reverse some symptoms, making it a potent supplement for anti-aging purposes. It can also lower LDL or “bad” cholesterol.

3. Goodbye, inflammation

Chaga mushroom is also useful for dealing with autoimmune conditions and arthritis since it’s been proven to reduce inflammation. This is unique, especially since these illnesses are often chronic and hard to find relief from.

How to Consume 

Chaga mushrooms are low in calories and does not look appetizing, so it’s generally consumed as an herbal tea. You can buy many pre-ground formulas, but can also grate it into a fine powder and brew it as tea on your own.

If you don’t want to drink it in a tea (many people are turned off by the earthy taste), consider buying it as a powdered supplement, or in the form of a capsule to avoid the flavor all together. It’s important to take it with warm or cold water, or a fermented extract, which is said to activate medicinal properties.

Talk to Doc

Always talk to your doctor first, since it may cause side effects or allergies in some, depending on if you’re already taking medication or not. It can also be problematic for people with kidney issues. Opt for organic, USDA certified products when purchasing.

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Continuing to Physically Distance

With COVID-19 still a top concern, it’s important to note that the only proven way to prevent and stop the spread of coronavirus is to distance yourself from others physically. The other tips will improve your immune system for other diseases, but nothing will beat physically, staying away from germs and infections as much as possible.

Prioritize Probiotics in Your Diet

One of the more recent discoveries in medicine is how vital your gut’s bacterial makeup is for your overall health. It’s crucial for your intestinal and stomach health, and having good gut health has even been shown to help you lose weight. Also, your mental health and brain functions rely on a healthy gut climate. Eating fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir, kimchi, and sauerkraut can improve your gut microbiomes. If sour foods aren’t your thing, taking a probiotic supplement can be an easy way to get that all-important healthy gut.

Get Your Body Moving More

Yes, exercise is incredibly important to a healthy body, but it doesn’t have to be a slog to work through every day. Even moderate exercise can reduce inflammation and regenerate important cells related to your immune system. It doesn’t have to involve high-impact workouts or lifting huge weights, and you don’t need to exhaust yourself to see benefits ultimately. The important thing is to move your body, especially if you have a sedentary job. Even something as simple as getting a massage can have enormous benefits for your immune system.

Shut Down Early and Get Proper Sleep

Everyone sleeps, and it takes up almost a third of our lives. However, it’s not as simple as just getting more sleep. Good sleep quality is what you want to shoot for. Setting a schedule for when you sleep and wake up helps your body develop your circadian rhythm, which leads to deeper and more restful sleep. Also, limiting the time you spend in front of screens before bed can improve your sleep, as the blue light from TVs, computers, and phones have proven detrimental to sleep quality.

We often forget about the simplest things when it comes to our health. Using these natural ways to improve your immune system isn’t just safe and good for you; they’re also easy to do every day. Our health is sometimes all we have, so we need to make sure we protect this most vital part of ourselves for years to come.

Read more:

• Summer Drinks That Are Probiotics 
• The Importance of Gut Health
• Exercise Can Benefit Your Mental Health 

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Our digestive tracts are teeming with trillions of good bacteria that function to help us digest food and absorb nutrients as well as to increase our immunity to harmful substances that can cause disease. The bacteria balance in our gut can be negatively affected by many things, including diet, stress, and lack of sleep, to name a few. If we don’t eat well, or we are overstressed, we may be upsetting the balance of our good versus bad bacteria, resulting in poor gut health. This can allow pathogens to enter our body, damaging our intestines and causing abdominal symptoms while reducing our overall immunity.

The majority of the recommendations for improving gut health is related to our diet. This makes sense because poor eating habits cause most of our gut issues. The pace of life today is hectic for most of us, and we often find ourselves grabbing a quick meal on the way to or from somewhere. For many, that means fast food that is high in starches and low in fruits and vegetables. The simplest — although in some ways, the most difficult — way to manage gut health is to take the time and energy required to eat better.

Some categories of food suggested in the infographic may not be familiar to everyone, so let’s introduce them here. Prebiotics contain natural sugars and fibers that encourage the growth of good bacteria in the gut. Our bodies can’t digest prebiotics, so they are moved into the lower digestive tract where they help good bacteria grow. Probiotics help to balance the good and bad bacteria, and they can help replace good bacteria that are lost after taking antibiotics. Polyphenols are found naturally in plants and are loaded with antioxidants. They have been linked to improved digestion and a decreased risk of chronic disease.

To learn what types of foods are in these categories and to find out what other foods to eat and which to avoid for gut health, read the infographic. This convenient guide should be consulted whenever you make your shopping list or go out to eat. Once you get in the habit of eating in a gut-healthy way, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner!

The Gut Health Guide

This infographic was created by Factor, a keto meal delivery service

Read more: 

• The Importance of Gut Health 
• Summer Drinks That Are Probiotics 

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