How To Use Soups and Smoothies to Combat Nutritional Deficiencies

While many of us think of soups and smoothies as either appetizers or snacks, they can also be meals in their own right. Even better, unlike so many of the non-nutritional 21st century meals with their thousands of calories of nutrition-free processed foods, soups and smoothies can be densely packed with nutrients and can thereby combat some common nutritional deficiencies.

Some of the most common nutritional deficiencies in the UK are of calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, medium-chain fatty acids, and iron. In fact, most modern diets fall short of some trace minerals that have been drained from our soil and that are, accordingly, no longer found in our fruit, vegetables, pulses, and grains. Worse still, a lot of the foods we buy in supermarkets have been processed to enhance their texture or shelf life, and such processing often involves the removal of the most nutritious parts of plants. Consequently, our meals contain more calories but fewer nutrients than ever before.

While it is easier to buy the packets or cubes with which to make soup, the nutritionally superior option is to make your own soup broth and freeze it for future use. In fact, you can also add this home-made broth to other food as sources. Try the following:

• 15 cups filtered alkaline water
• 5 carrots
• 6 medium-size kale leaves
• 2 leeks
• 1 parsnip
• 2 cups broccoli
• 2 cups celery
• 2 fresh tomatoes
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• A few parsley sprigs
• Your choice of red pepper, black pepper, coriander, and or Himalayan Pink Salt

1. You can either cut the vegetables and simmer them in the water for two hours, or you can put them in a food processor, mash them and then simmer them in the water. If you opt for this latter option, you may want to add a sweet potato or butternut squash, half a cup of nutritional yeast or arrowroot, and 1/4 cup of millet flour to thicken it and to help it hold together.
2. After simmering it for two hours, you can either filter it through a strainer and discard the cooked vegetables, or you can manually fish out the larger pieces and let the smaller ones remain for some extra fibre.
3. The filtered alkaline water ensures that the soup is alkaline, that it contains calcium, magnesium, and potassium, and that it is free of unnecessary chemicals like fluoride and chlorine.
4. Through its reliance on root vegetables and green vegetables, it contains most of the vitamins and minerals that your diet may lack, especially if you make it with organic vegetables. To add some of the trace minerals that it might still exclude, add eight drops of the supplement Fulvic Restore to each plate of soup just before your meal. Fulvic Restore contains more than 70 trace minerals together with the fulvic acid that helps your body absorb them.

The tastes of coconut and curry blend perfectly, so why not make a healthy, alkaline soup that contains some medium-chain fatty acids, another nutrient lacking in many diets?

• 2 carrots
• 1 cup broccoli
• 1 cup spinach
• Half an onion
• 2 red bell peppers
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 2 teaspoons tamari
• 1 cup gluten-free whole grain gluten free pasta
• 1-1/2 cups canned coconut milk
• 3 teaspoons organic virgin coconut oil
• 4 cups of your home-made vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons lime juice

Boil the pasta halfway beforehand. Then simmer all the ingredients over medium heat until the pasta and veggies are soft.

If you enjoy your bean or lentil soup, you are lucky as they are especially high in healthy, plant-based proteins. To ensure that it also contains vitamins and minerals, cook it in the home-made vegetable broth described above for a balanced meal of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fibre, and protein. The one vitamin that you cannot obtain in sufficient amounts from your food is vitamin D, which your body normally synthesises from direct sunlight on your skin.

Most people like fruit smoothies more than vegetable smoothies. They are so sweet, refreshing, and they lack the bitterness of vegetable smoothies. While fruits contain vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, and fibre, their protein content is low and the high amount of fructose may make an acidic smoothie if it is not balanced properly.

For a good, alkaline, balanced smoothie, keep the following in mind.

1. Make your smoothie with an alkaline base like almond milk, coconut milk, cashew milk, hemp milk, or the freshly squeezed juice of almost any fruit or vegetable. They are not only alkaline, but also nutritious, and nut milks are protein rich for a more filling smoothie. Almond milk, for example, is packed with protein, magnesium, zinc, vitamin E, omega-6, and fibre. Coconut milk holds vitamins A, C, E, B1, B3, B5, and B6, and many of the minerals on the deficiency list, such as iron, calcium, and magnesium. Milk is not only unhealthier, but also contains substantially fewer nutrients.

2. Mix fruits and vegetables for the tastiest and most nutritional smoothies. Fruits can contribute the sweetness that pure vegetable smoothies lack. In a smoothie that contains pineapple, avocado, kale, and spinach, for example, the taste of the green vegetables blend with the those of the fruits instead of standing out as when they are mixed with other green vegetables. Moreover, green vegetables are more densely packed with nutrients than fruits are, which makes mixed fruit-vegetable smoothies the better nutritional deal.

3. To reduce the acidity of the fructose-laden fruit, to increase its fibre content, and to improve its mineral and vitamin profile, add a scoop of Green Vibrance Powder to your fruit smoothie. It contains more than 70 ingredients from green plants, including those bitter ones that all nutritionists expect us to eat in large amounts. The sweetness of the fruit will help to hide the bitterness of the green vegetables, and the powder provides something close to a complete nutritional profile to make up for the nutrients your diet lacks. There is simply no other way you can consume so many necessary nutrients for breakfast or brunch!

4. If you want a smooth smoothie without the crunchiness of nuts and seeds, but you still want a filling smoothie with enough protein, Pro Matcha should be your protein powder of choice, as it contains only plant derived sources like spirulina and peas.

5. Organic flaxseed oil is a perfect addition to fruit smoothies. It does well in cold temperatures, it adds some richness, and it contains plenty of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Experts recommend that we consume twice as much omega-3 as omega-6 to prevent heart disease, arthritis, and a range of cancers, while most people's vegetable oil-laden diets actually include 20 times more omega-6 than omega-3. Flaxseed oil in your smoothies addresses this deficiency. But be sure to only add this last and never blend the flaxseed oil as you will damage the delicate structure and cause it to become rancid.