Dale's Flu Fighting Soup

Dale's Flu Fighting Soup

Ingredients
1 red onion
1 green chilli
4 cloves of garlic
5 cm (2 inch) piece of ginger
2 medium sized sweet potatoes
1 punnet of shiitake mushrooms
2 handfuls of goji berries
vegetable stock

Method
Finely chop the onion, chillies, garlic, and ginger. Add to a pan with a little olive oil, and a pinch of crystal salt. Sauté on a mid to high heat until the onion softens.

Dice the sweet potato. Slice the shiitake mushrooms. Add these two ingredients, plus the goji berries to the onion, garlic, chilli, and ginger. Stir well, then add enough vegetable stock to cover all the ingredients.

Simmer well, until the potato is soft.

At this stage, add the soup to a blender, and blend into a vivid orange, spicy soup.

Medicinal Properties

Sweet Potato

A very rich source of the antioxidant compound beta carotene.  a subtle but effective anti-inflammatory, which can help reduce the severity of generic cold and flu symptoms.
 
Shiitake Mushrooms

These have been used as a tonic for the immune system for centuries. They have been highly revered in traditional medicinal systems of the Orient.

Garlic

This is the mother of all natural antivirals. The strong smelly oils help to kill viruses and bacteria in the upper digestive tract. 

Ginger

Ginger is another one of those ingredients that we naturally associate with cough and cold medicines.  are well known as strong anti-inflammatories. The anti-inflammatory action of ginger helps to reduce the bunged up sensation.

The second benefit of ginger is that it stimulates circulation, by relaxing the blood vessel walls and widening the vessel. Enhancing circulation in this manner helps to increase the rate at which white blood vessels move around the body on their way to the site of infection. It also increases the rate of delivery of fresh oxygen and nutrients, and the removal of waste products from all tissues, including those that are infected.

Chilli

Apart from its powerful stimulatory activity, and painkilling properties, chilli can rapidly thin out mucous, making it far easier to remove from the body. This is especially useful when we are so bunged up that we can't even blow our nose. Consuming chillis as much as possible during an infection can really help to clear things up rapidly.

Goji Berries

These berries contain polysaccharides similar to those found in shiitake mushrooms which also have been shown to up-regulate white blood cell production.

A fuller explanation of the medicinal properties can by found in
Medicinal Cookery

Medicinal Cookery: How You Can Benefit From Nature's Edible Pharmacy by Dale Pinnock is available from Amazon.