Soups to improve dehydrated skin & inner health!

As winter sets in it is always good to keep your immune system balanced to fight off the winter nasty’s and help prevent your skin from being becoming dehydrated. There are fewer easier ways than making and enjoying warm, hearty, healthy, nutrient-full soups.

While dehydration is on the top of our minds it is not always easy to drink 2 litres of water per day, however soups are a great way to re-hydrate your skin and build your immune system all in one cup. Soups are also an easy way to keep your gut healthy and prevent digestive issues, anxiety, allergies and skin problems such as acne, rosacea and the ageing dehydration.

Winter elements; cold temperatures and biting winds outside coupled with moisture-zapping central heating inside make your skin easily irritated, dry, flaky and itchy.

Often we think we are eating well however the cold weather and life a can get on top of us and, even with soup, you may need extra help. Finding a daily dose of superfoods can really help your general health and gut health which is especially important if your skin is dehydrated.   We certainly recommend these to many of our clients with them often reporting a runny-nose-free winter –  and that’s what we want!

During the winter weather we tend to seek out comfort warming foods. It’s not so easy to munch on salads and fruit, however it is just as important for our body to receive all the goodies it needs and it’s even more important for our skins.  The colder weather brings less humidity and once the heaters are on there is even less water in the air to help our dehydrated skin stay moist. The water from our cells is simply sucked out and our skin becomes dehydrated causing more fine lines and, if your skin is prone, more breakouts.  A really easy and effective way to feel the comfort, stay warm inside and keep your gut health and body full of what it needs is via soups – and we all know that if we have a healthy gut biome we are much more likely to have gorgeous clear skin!

So we thought we’d give you a few soup ideas to keep you going – full of different vitamins, proteins and minerals we know you’ll enjoy!

4 Easy Soups to assist your skin dehydration

• Superfoods for skin – Soothing Gut Healing Soup
• Leafy green goodness – Mixed Leafy Green Soup with Chickpeas
• Chicken broth for colds flu and immunity – Gut Healing and Immune Boosting Chicken Soup
• Turmeric the superfood for natural glowing skin – Ginger, Turmeric Spiced Spring Carrot Soup

What is great about soups? They tastes great and are easy to cook! Here are a couple of simple and delicious recipes you can whip up in the kitchen at home.

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Soothing Gut Healing Soup

This soup is nourishing, comforting and soothing, and it feeds your gut with everything it needs to repair and replenish.

By Ross Bridgeford

Adapted from The Anti-Inflammation Cook Book

PREP: 15 MINS / COOK: 25 MINS / EASY / SERVES: 4

Ingredients

• 200g lentils (or one can, drained and washed)
• 1 avocado
• 1 large sweet potato
• 1 large handful of spinach
• 2 carrots
• 1 red capsisum
• 2 tablespoon chopped dill
• 1 handful of cashews (roughly chopped)
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 brown onion
• 200ml yeast-free, MSG-free vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil

Method

1. Prepare the lentils, if dried and set aside. This takes the longest!
2. Next, roughly chop the onion and garlic and warm gently in a very large saucepan with the coconut oil.
3. While these are browning and flavouring up, chop the peel and chop the sweet potato and carrots roughly, and once chopped, add to the pan and get it all mixed together and coated in oil. Stir for about 2 minutes to start to warm the root veg and get the flavours of the garlic and onion onto and into them.
4. Now add the vegetable stock, and simmer for 10 minutes, until the vegetables are just warmed through but not overcooked – we want to maintain as much of the nutrients as possible.
5. Add the lentils in now for the last five minutes to get these warmed through too.
6. Next, transfer to a blender or food processor (do in batches if your blender isn’t big enough to do all of this at once) and add in the avocado, capsicum (roughly chopped and deseeded), spinach and dill. Keep just a few sprigs of dill back if you want to garnish.
7. Blend until smooth and serve with those sprigs of dill, sprinkle with the chopped cashews and drizzle with a little olive oil at the end.

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Mixed Leafy Green Soup “Caldo Verde” with Chickpeas

This beautiful green soup is technically a hot smoothie, since its many nutritious greens are pureed together in a blender. Don’t you just love soups that are also so healthy for your gut and taste delicious.

By Rocco Dispirito

PREP: 10 MINS / COOK: 15 MINS / EASY / SERVES: 4

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 1 cup small-diced onions
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 8 cups mixed leafy greens (kale, collards, and mustard)
• 1 cup no-salt-added chickpeas
• 1 litre unsalted chicken stock
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Pour the olive oil into a large pot, and place over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add the onions and paprika; lower the heat to medium; and cook, covered, until tender, 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Put the greens into a blender and blend until pureed (you may use a little water to help, or use the wand tool that comes with some blenders to force the greens to blend without water). Pour this mixture into the pot, increase the heat to high, and cook until the water has evaporated from the greens.
3. Pour two-thirds of the chickpeas into the blender with 1 cup of the stock and blend until smooth. Add the pureed chickpeas to the pot with the remaining chicken stock and chickpeas and bring to a simmer. Cook covered until the greens are tender and the soup has thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into four bowls and serve.

Note

• For a gluten-free version, use gluten-free stock.

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Gut Healing and Immune Boosting Chicken Soup

This soup is nourishing, comforting and soothing, and it feeds your gut with everything it needs to repair and replenish.

By Ancestral Nutrition

PREP: 15 MINS / COOK: 25 MINS / EASY / SERVES: 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups homemade chicken broth (to make this, use leftover chicken bones. You ca use a whole cooked chicken, take the meat off to eat throughout the week, tossed the bones in the crockpot with salt, onion, celery and carrots, covered it in filtered water and let it simmer for a day – store bought stock is NOT the same and doesn’t have all the beneficial nutrients)
• 1/2 white onion, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 1/2 cup cooked chicken, chopped
• bouquet garni
• salt
• dill to garnish
• NOTE: *if you cannot make your own bone broth, try certified organic dehydrated bone broth as this is the next best option.

Method

1. Add everything except the chicken and dill to a pot.
2. Turn to medium heat.
3. Let it simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Add the chicken and let it warm (you just don’t want it to dry out cooking more). If you’re using uncooked chicken, toss it in at the beginning.
5. Pour into a bowl and garnish with dill.

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Ginger, Turmeric Spiced Spring Carrot Soup

This bright, vibrantly spiced soup is velvety smooth and light. It’s the essence of spring kicked up with a hit of heat, a little sunshine in a bowl.

By Jen

PREP: 20 MINS / COOK: 25 MINS / EASY / SERVES: 4-6

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 to 3 small green onions, white and light green parts only, cleaned and chopped
• 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
• A pinch of red pepper flakes
• 680 grams young carrots, sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1-inch piece of turmeric root, peeled and grated (or use ½ teaspoon ground)
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 4 cups filtered water
• ¼ cup plain yogurt or full fat coconut milk for serving
• Chopped flat leaf parsley or carrot fronds for garnish

Method

1. Melt coconut oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Sweat the green onions, garlic, minced ginger, and pepper flakes for 1 to 2 minutes or just until glossy. Do not brown or develop color.
2. Add carrots, salt, cinnamon and turmeric and cook another 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer until carrots are very soft, 20-25 minutes.
3. Puree soup in batches in a high speed blender.
4. If serving cold, chill soup for at least 3-4 hours or overnight.
5. Divide soup between 4 to 6 bowls and place a spoonful of yogurt or drizzle of coconut milk in center of each and finish with chopped parsley or carrot fonds and a pinch of additional salt and freshly ground pepper if desired.

• Note
• Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Paleo, Vegan (use coconut milk instead of yogurt to finish the soup)

Enjoy, stay warm and stay healthy and Hydrated!