Beyond chicken soup: food as medicine?

[AdinaL]

As we continue on through cold and flu season, I look more and more toward nourishing foods as part of our wellness package. I still rely on a good batch of chicken soup now and again, but curious what else folks are finding helps keep their family nourished and healthy?

[heatherdeg]

Removing sugar.  That and removing the foods that were inflammatory to my family.  That included dairy--so my family gets a lot of water.  I also think that for us, it's less about exactly what we're eating and more about the fact that we're not eating food with a label (processed or unfresh).  It can be time consuming at times, but I have a child with an immune deficiency and when he was just under 1yo, they said we could expect him to be hospitalized 4x or more/year.  He just turned 9 and has been hospitalized once in his life.  His ped attributes this to a clean diet and getting the rest he needs (and staying in when we're fighting something off).  

[stacyann21]

lacto fermented foods and beverages= healthy gut= immune health

[Cynthia Mosher]

We do a lot of root vegetables and roasted vegetable salads in the colder months. We are big salad eaters and just can't not eat salads. So the roasted vegetables thrown into a bed of greens and some tomatoes and cucumbers along with some soaked nuts make for a filling and nourishing meal for us on many days of the week. 

[AdinaL]

Awesome suggestions. I've been using my crock pot a lot to get soups made. We love soup.

I need to make bone broth this week. I forgot what a difference that can make.

[caiesmommy]

I try and up the basics. Garlic,ginger,onion,chilis. Lots of soup and lots of foods easily digested. Salads and fresh fruit
 

[meemee]

gluten and dairy free vegetarians here. 

we eat seasonally. we eat fresh food. lots of root veggies. for winter our 'tomato' is carrot. we eat tonnes of fresh out of the ground carrots, beets, rutabegas, with greens. 

on cold cold days we ate more spices in soup. lots of roasted veggies.

really to be honest we dont do anything special. rest, good fresh food. and keeping an eye on water intakes. lots and lots of liquids like water or tea.

[AdinaL]

Water intake is huge! I always feel run down when I don't drink enough, or overdo it on the coffee.

[contactmaya]

You people are inspirational! 

[OrmEmbar]

In winter I add fresh shiitake mushrooms to anything that will be cooked in a bit of liquid for at least 10 minutes.  (1 mushroom per person per meal, 3-4 times a week, in soups/sauces/rice cooking water/etc)  The kiddos also tend to have warm food (in insulated food container) for lunch in the cold months.  Lots of leftovers for lunch and no sweet treats!  Dessert is limited to 1 day per eek, so I can say "yes" to dessert:  "yes, on Friday we can have that".

Focusing on drinking enough water has helped too. 

[MrsGregory]

Ya'know, I'm tickled that my traditional way of eating has become a "thing" for people not raised with this food lifestyle.  I'm happy because I believe that our way of eating, and life, helps keep us very, very healthy.  I have a memory of not 1, not 2, but 3 related by blood women that saw 100 or more years of independent life on this earth. (We let the men go early, in their late 80s or early 90s, the poor dears just don't have the same kind of stamina.)  That being said, I eat what I ate growing up, just more suited to my tastes!  That is, plenty of fresh vegetables as available, plenty of dairy and yogurt, plenty of healthy meat, soups made from bones and all the good bits, and sunshine until you can't stand it anymore. 
 

[mkksmom]

We've been doing almost daily green smoothies. The kids get 8 ounces of smoothie, which is half spinach or kale and half frozen fruit, plus water. I finally started making bone broth, and we've been doing a lot of sauteed veggies. I need to bump up our water intake too. Oh,and during cold and flu season, we really limit sugar. I have been buying bagels and bread made form sprouted grains, and relying more on oats than processed cereals. It's a tough balance sometimes to not have my kids rebel and sneak stuff, but hey it's worth it.

We have had a monkey wrench thrown in with some food allergies, so it's been time-consuming to plan everything out, but it'll get easier. I hope.

[AdinaL]

Oh gosh! Yes, green smoothies!! We do those too. It makes a nice difference.

[kejohnson]

Here is a bone broth recipe that i created, cooked it over 7 days and froze about 7 gallons of broth. So nourishing and SO delicious. My family loves it too. Mama is happy :)

http://nursemompaleo.com/2013/02/08/7-day-bone-broth/

[ManukaTrish]

Manuka honey! In tea, yogurt, oatmeal and on toast. It's antibacterial - even when added to tea. It quickly soothes a sore throat, calms a cough, and it's delicious! :-)