Hearty Winter Soup

In traditional Chinese medicine theory, the heat and sun of summer is intense and yang, while winter is just the opposite; it is cold, dark and yin. Traditional Chinese healers encourage us to adjust our diet and lifestyle during the winter in order to support our kidney energy system which in five elements theory, corresponds to winter. The kidney energy system controls our hormone, blood, and fluid levels as well as our reproductive and bone health and the adrenal glands that are associated with kidney energy help regulate our metabolism, immune system, blood pressure, and our response to stress.

Now is the time for us to focus on strengthening our yin kidney/adrenal system in order to support and replenish our jing, the source of fundamental energy that allows us to live a long healthy life. Just as animals hibernate during the winter, we too need to slow down and rest in order to revitalize our kidney energy, and to consume warm, slow-cooked, nourishing foods to replenish our store of jing so that we have the energy to burst forth in the spring and begin the cycle of the seasons anew.

In order to be healthy and feel well during the winter, we need to eat yin nourishing foods like root vegetables, and seeds or beans in dark colors like black and dark purple. We need meals like soups made with hearty root vegetables and rich bone stocks that warm our bodies and restore our energy. Vegetarians and vegans who do not cook with bone stock can prepare their soups with vegetable stock or a soup base made with mushrooms and kelp, or with root vegetables like sweet potatoes or yams, radishes, ginger, garlic, onions, carrots, or celery root.

Root vegetables have a good amount of vitamin C, an antioxidant that protect our cells from damage. Sweet potatoes and yams are naturally packed with vitamin A, B5, riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, and carotenoids that are anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and have anti-cancer properties. The iron, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, and zinc in potatoes help the body to build and maintain bone structure and strength, and ginger is famous as an anti-bacterial, anti-viral spice. Garlic supports immune function while onions are excellent sources of vitamin C, Sulphur compounds, flavonoids and phytochemicals that may help reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease, cardiovascular disease and stroke. Radishes have an abundant supply of vitamin B, vitamin C, and minerals that help detoxify and cleanse the lung, liver, and stomach energy systems, and mushrooms are a great source for minerals and vitamin D that support immunity. Kelp not only adds savory flavor to soup, it contains iodine that can also benefit thyroid function.

Cook winter soups slowly on medium-to-low heat to release their vitamins and minerals, then season it to taste with salt or soy sauce, and pepper. Now is the time to enjoy hearty soups made with root vegetables and warming spices that tonify the kidney energy system which not only supports the production of hormones, it also enhances the likelihood that we will live a long, healthy life.