Healthy and Heartwarming Benefits of Chinese Traditional Soups
Content Courtesy of the Forever Young Podcast with Christiana Egi and Cherrie-Marie Chiu.
On this week's podcast, we got to chat with our friend, Tash Law. Tash is the owner of Souperwell - a company that mixes traditional Chinese herbs and modern Western science to make really delicious and very nutritious soups. We discussed wellness, traditional Chinese medicine, and soup on last week’s forever young podcast episode. We also learned about Tash’s company Souperwell and how to incorporate soup and healing foods into your life. Read more below or listen to the full podcast below.
Tash is the third generation in her family, and her family and culture have been a huge inspiration in starting her business. Her grandfather practiced traditional Chinese medicine back in Hong Kong for 30 years. Her family grew to heal their bodies with his natural remedies and have seen firsthand, the healing properties of traditional Chinese medicine. Tash spent half of her life in Hong Kong, the other half in Australia, and moved to Canada five years ago. Throughout these years, it had become more evident that there was a knowledge gap. Cooking herbal soup is a preventive and restorative practice that has been embedded in Tash’s life and culture. With the less-than-ideal quality and range of herbs available in supermarkets, which were frequently accompanied by poor English labels and strange names, Tash has felt privileged to have grown up with quality herbs from her grandfather's practice. Her goal was for everyone to be able to access quality herbs and understand its benefit.
Soup can be made into very healthy and nutritious meals. Instead of taking vitamin supplements, soup can be a healthy meal to add to your diet. In the US and Canada, bone broth has been in trend and has proven to be very healthy for the gut. Bone broth also has healing properties which are why there is a whole craze behind it! You can add soup to noodles, have it with dumplings, or even as a small entree on its own. Soups are great because they are very rich. Whenever someone is sick, we ask them to have chicken soup because of its healing properties.
Tash also shared with us some common herbs that are used in Chinese herbal soups and maybe some of the associated benefits with these herbs.
The very common one is goji berries. Goji berry is widely used and it is very sweet and tasty. It can be added to cookies or oatmeal, or you can snack on them by themselves! You can also add goji berries to smoothies - the options are endless! It has also been proven to help improve the eyes and boost the immune system.
Another common one is the Chia seed. Chia seeds have a good number of sugar in them but are very high in antioxidants. These can be added to smoothies, and made into puddings or even oatmeal.
Red dates another herb, oftentimes called Juju bees. These are a type of dry fruit that is very commonly used in Chinese herbal soups. They are very nourishing to our blood as they improve digestion, as well as rich in vitamins and minerals. They are very easy to incorporate in cookies.
Astragalus is another herb, that is used in Chinese traditional medicine to boost the immune system and protect against infections, it is very often added to soups and targets improving female mental health. Astragulus has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.
Chinese yam is also commonly used. Chinese yam is a root vegetable, very often used in soup and other dishes. It aids in improving digestion, boosts energy levels, and it promotes overall health.
Tash also offers postpartum lactation cookies. The first 30 days are very important for women and this is not limited to just Chinese culture. Tash offers these treats to young moms who may be in need of a healthy sweet treat. In Nigeria, pepper soup is offered to new mothers.
Incorporating healthy herbs into soups you create can enhance the flavor and also make them more nutritious. Chinese herbal soups can really vary greatly depending on what ingredients we use. For example, if soups use goji berries like we all know what is that little red berries and red dates tend to have a sweet and slightly fruity flavor. While soup made with Astragalus and Chinese yam have a more earthy and savory flavor. Some soups might also have a slightly bitter taste like when we add jinxing to them, and the Canadian jinxing has a slight bitterness to it. The texture of the soup can also be very different depending on the ingredients. For example, if we make soup with root vegetables, like Chinese yam and astragalus, it tends to be thicker and has a more velvety sort of texture. While soups that use goji berry and red dates have a thinner and more watery consistency.
Tash also discussed more on tea. She is currently working on one called women’s tea and another type of tea called balanced tea. She decided to call it woman's tea because it includes rose, jinxing, and goji berry. Tash recognizes how all women go through different phases in their lives, whether it be puberty or menopause. The tea was designed to reduce some of the period pain, systems of irregular periods and also improve blood circulation. Second, if you have a lot of cramps, the tea helps in reducing cramps. Balanced tea is made to calm your nerves and is recommended before bed.
Tash has over 12 different kinds of soup introduced at Souperwell. She best recommends the immunity booster as it has a very delicious mushroom and orange taste. While Tash focuses a lot on women’s health, she recommends these recipes for men as well. Good soup is the way to good health circulation - you can feel less bloated, and less inflamed and it is greatly recommended to incorporate it into your everyday diet.
As we know this podcast is about ways to be forever young, this is just another way of enlightening our listeners, readers, families, and friends that there are many ways to use nutrition to help boost your health, and immunity and decrease stress levels. Many people nowadays harness the power of natural herbs and foods. Medicine can be helpful but it is always better to build your immune system as naturally as possible. Take supplements when recommended and do not follow what is trending - learn to listen to your body and do what is best for you.
Check out Tash’s Instagram Souperwell to stay up to date with all her latest and upcoming events. If you are interested in learning more about Chinese herbal soups and medicine, check out her website souperwell.com to find out more, reach out for advice and gain more knowledge!
The Forever Young podcast was created and produced by Christiana Egi and Cherrie Marie Chiu. Produced and engineered by Elisse Hill. The podcast represents our opinions and those of our guests. The content should not be taken as medical advice. It is for informational purposes only. Please consult your healthcare professional for any medical questions. If you like our show, please tell your friends and leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. New episodes are available every other Wednesday. Have questions? Email us at ourforeveryoungpodcast@gmail.com.
