Boosting Your Immunity: Mushroom Soup with Herbs
Baku, October 15 (AZERTAC). Our Valley finally began it`s annual cooling trend last week. After several months of nearly 100 degree heat, we were able to enjoy a rainstorm, complete with chilly temperatures and a delightful nip in the air.
Along with those blissful breezes come the sniffles and sneezes... when we start to feel like we`re running down, I like to put a pot of this luscious soup on to simmer. It does a wonderful job of soothing sore throats, boosting immunity, and calming that strange feeling of general malaise.
When most people think of boosting their immunity naturally, they think of elderberry, ginger, garlic, or even honey. However, mushrooms are wonderful immune boosters! They are anti-viral, antioxidant, and have some research supporting them as a cancer preventative.
When I first learned about mushrooms having health benefits, I took one look at those sad packages of white button mushrooms and laughed. They didn`t seem like they`d be good for much of anything - let alone keeping me healthy! And that`s true. Those white button mushrooms really aren`t great for boosting immunity. Just like many of the foods we eat, the more processed and packaged they are, the less likely they`ll be good for us!
One of the best edible medicinal mushrooms is shiitake. Eating shiitake mushrooms regularly may effectively strengthen your immune system. Shiitake mushrooms contain a powerful compound called lentinan, which enables your immune system to fight diseases and infections more efficiently. In fact, shiitake mushrooms are believed to be more effective than many prescription drugs. Shiitake mushrooms can help you battle more common infections like influenza to more serious health ailments like HIV.
Using homemade chicken stock in your soups is a great way to guarantee powerful nutrition for your body. I like to use my Immune Boosting Stock when I`m making this soup. It`s a great way to combine healing herbs with the soothing elements of stock. Sage and thyme are two of my favorite herbs to add to soups during this cool season. Thyme enhances the ability of the lungs to strengthen and fight off inflammation, while sage is a powerful diuretic and expectorant, helping to clear nasal and chest congestion quickly.
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