Soup season is upon us: the TCM energetics of why!

ByHealth Collective

Sweater weather is upon us, so this is also your PSA to GET ON THE SOUP TRAIN… to get you motivated, here is some homemade borscht Christina made on the weekend :)

Focusing on seasonal foods & eating with the season:

  • Choosing seasonal foods – Root veg are a part of the harvest abundance & this borscht is chock-a-block full of carrots, potatoes, yams, onions, leeks & beets straight from Christina’s garden 
  • Pungent flavors from the onions, leeks, black pepper, paprika & a whole bulb of garlic…cuz garlic is life. Pungent flavors not only promote digestion, but aids in dispersing phlegm & stagnation in the body.
  • Nutrient dense – this soup was made with a combo of chicken+pork stocks. As the season gradually gets cooler & damper, our nutrition needs to shift to heavier, stick-to-your-bones to ensure you have the fuel needed to keep your body warm & resistant to illness. Christina likes to garnish her borscht with a dollop of full fat yogurt.
  • Warm foods, in both temperature & energetics to ensure we support & protect our digestive fire, the energetic means for our bodies to breakdown & assimilate the foods we consume into the qi, blood, yin & yang needed for optimal physiological function PLUS to avoid pathogenic invasion AKA viral/bacterial infection.
  • Cooked foods, similar to warm foods, avoids shocking our digestion, but cooking is a way to “pre-digest” foods which decreases the energy required for digestion & assimilation of nutrients. There is a saying “the stomach has no teeth”, hence, cooking does some that work for your body before the food even enters your mouth!

I hope this inspires everyone to also get on the soup train. We look forward to seeing pictures of everyone beautiful & delicious creations on social media!

~Christina Chan, R.Ac., a hardcore soup lover

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