Healing Soups for the Sick

Food Is Part of the Healing

A soup, a garden full of herbs, and why I believe so much in feeding the people we love.

A friend of mine was in a car accident last week. We brought her to our home to recover for a few days, and it was such a gift to care for her. Some of her friends brought over a soup for her, and oh, it was beautiful. It had brown rice, garbanzo beans, zucchini, carrots, celery, corn tortilla strips, and all kinds of fresh herbs. (And happily for us, with the brown rice and corn tortillas, it was naturally gluten-free.)

It looked so delicious that I decided to make my own version of the soup Cochita had made for my friend Miyosy. We had just harvested our herbs from the garden, so we had fresh sage, thyme, oregano, and parsley on hand. My daughter helped me pull the soup together with whatever vegetables were left in the fridge. I honestly worried we were adding way too many fresh herbs to the pot. But the kids declared it the BEST soup they had ever tasted. I'll take it!

Healing Herb & Vegetable Soup (naturally gluten-free)

A big, forgiving pot — use what you have

1 onion and 2–3 cloves garlic

Carrots, celery, and zucchini, chopped

6–8 cups gluten-free broth

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

1–2 cups cooked brown rice

Lots of fresh herbs: sage, thyme, oregano, and parsley

Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Corn tortilla strips, to top (100% corn, or your homemade ones)

Soften the onion and garlic in a little olive oil, then add the carrots, celery, and zucchini and stir a minute.

Pour in the broth and simmer until the vegetables are tender.

Stir in the garbanzo beans and cooked rice, and warm through.

Add the fresh herbs near the end so they stay bright. Season with salt and pepper.

Top each bowl with crispy corn tortilla strips. Don't be shy with the herbs. Ours were the best yet.

What I've learned caring for the sick

Caring for people when they're unwell has taught me something. Over and over, I've watched how much food matters to healing, and how easy it is to forget that when we're tired and stretched thin.

I've sat with a friend feeding pudding to a very sick relative. I've watched a worn-out mama hand candy to her sniffly little ones just to get through a long afternoon. One mother told me, almost apologizing, that her son ate chocolate cereal for breakfast, chocolate milk for lunch, and something chocolate for dinner, because it was the one thing he'd happily eat. She knew it wasn't ideal. She was just doing her best in a hard season, the way we all are.

I don't share any of this to judge, because heaven knows I've been the tired mama too. I share it because my heart ached a little each time, knowing how much better those bodies could feel with a little real nourishment. When someone we love is sick or struggling, food is one of the gentlest, most powerful ways we get to help.

A warm bowl of real, homemade soup is one of the kindest things we can hand a hurting body.

What helps a healing body

So what do I reach for when I'm caring for someone who isn't well? Gentle, nourishing, real food. The kind a tired body can actually use.

Warm, wonderful broths. Bone and vegetable broths are so soothing and easy to take in, and I truly believe in them for healing.

Tender soups, like the one above. Soft, warm, and full of vegetables and herbs.

Fresh juices from greens, fruits, and vegetables, when someone can handle them.

A quick, honest word here, because I've learned this one myself over the years. When we're well, lots of raw, crunchy food is wonderful. But when a body is sick or run down, raw and cold can actually be harder to digest. Warm broths and soft, gently cooked soups are often exactly what a healing body wants. Meet the body where it is.

And I'd gently steer away from loading a healing body up with sugar and processed food. Not because a treat is a sin, but because when we're trying to heal, those foods give the body extra work to do instead of extra help.

Letting the body rest

There's an idea in the healing traditions I've studied that I've come to really believe in. When the body isn't spending all its energy digesting heavy, hard-to-process food, it can put more of that energy toward healing where it's needed most. That's a big part of why simple broths, soft soups, and fresh juices can help someone bounce back.

Now I want to be careful and honest, because I care about you. There are more intensive cleansing and juice-fasting programs out there, and I have seen them help people. But those are not something to attempt alone, and they are truly not for someone who is seriously ill, frail, elderly, diabetic, pregnant, or a child. A sick body needs steady nourishment, not deprivation. If you're ever drawn to something like that, please only do it with a knowledgeable practitioner walking beside you and watching over the person's health.

For most of us, caring for someone we love, the best medicine is simpler anyway. A warm bowl of real, homemade soup, made with love. And then sitting beside them while they eat it.

Lots of love,

Steffanie

Shared with love from my kitchen. This is encouragement and general ideas, not medical advice, and it hasn't been evaluated by the FDA. Real food is a beautiful companion to good medical care, never a replacement for it. Anyone who is seriously ill or recovering should be under a doctor's care, and any fast or cleanse should only be done with a qualified practitioner's supervision, never on your own.