Healing Soups & Medicinal Broths for Deep Winter Wellness
Long before supplements, superfoods, or wellness trends, there was soup.
Across cultures and centuries, slow-simmered broths and soups were used as the original healing food because they worked. When someone was ill, depleted, postpartum, grieving, or aging, they were given soup. Always.
From a naturopathic perspective, warm, mineral-rich liquids are one of the most powerful (and underrated) tools for deep winter wellness.
Winter isn’t the season for cold smoothies, sad desk salads, or “pushing through.”
Let’s talk about why soups and broths have been used in healing for centuries and how to use them intentionally.
The Magic of Soup
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, bone broths and congee were prescribed to strengthen Qi and Blood, warm the digestive fire, and rebuild after illness or exhaustion. In Ayurvedic medicine, soups and stews were considered sattvic foods: grounding, calming, and easy to digest, which is ideal during times of imbalance or recovery.
In European folk medicine, broths were used to “build the blood,” strengthen the constitution, and restore vitality through long winters. “Jewish penicillin,” chicken soup, earned its reputation honestly, with modern research later confirming its anti-inflammatory and immune-supportive effects.
Indigenous cultures worldwide relied on nose-to-tail cooking, simmering bones, connective tissue, herbs, and roots for days to extract minerals and medicinal compounds. Nothing was wasted, and everything served a purpose: nourishment, healing, and resilience.
What all these traditions understood, intuitively and experientially, is something modern science now confirms: Warm, mineral-rich, collagen-containing liquids are deeply reparative to the gut, immune system, and nervous system.
Soup wasn’t just food. It was care.It was how communities tended to their sick, supported new mothers, strengthened elders, and helped bodies recover from stress and scarcity.
Soups and broths are easy to digest, support gut lining repair, deliver minerals in an absorbable form, warm the body from the inside out and reduce stress on the digestive system. They also provide great hydration alongside
They’re especially helpful if you’re dealing with:
Bloating or constipation
Low appetite or fatigue
Joint stiffness or inflammation
Frequent colds
Post-holiday depletion
Medicinal Broths: Liquid Gold
A good bone broth is rich in collagen, gelatin, minerals, and amino acids.
Bone Broth Benefits
Supports gut lining integrity (“leaky gut” support)
Nourishes joints, ligaments, and fascia
Calms the nervous system
Supports immune resilience
Vegetarian? You can find some benefits in vegetable broth as well:
Mineral-rich
Gentle on digestion
Supports hydration and electrolyte balance
Great base for immune-supportive soups
Immune Support in a Bowl
Many flavourful soup recipes also allow you to layer immune-supportive all-stars:
Garlic – antimicrobial and warming
Onion & leeks – prebiotic support for the gut-immune connection
Ginger – circulatory, anti-inflammatory, digestive
Turmeric – immune-modulating and anti-inflammatory
Mushrooms (shiitake, maitake) – beta-glucans for immune resilience
Warm liquids also help keep mucous membranes hydrated, which is an important defense during cold and flu season.
How to Use Soups Therapeutically
You don’t need to live on soup, just include it regularly.
Try:
A mug of broth mid-morning instead of coffee
Soup as your evening meal 2–3 nights per week
Adding broth when digestion feels heavy or sluggish
Using soup during stress, illness, or recovery
Winter is not the time for extremes. It’s the time for rebuilding reserves.
Simple Healing Soup & Broth Recipes
Use a leftover chicken carcass to get the most out of your budget.
Extra Gelatinous Chicken Bone Broth
Chicken feet make this broth chock full of collagen and gelatin.
Beef bone broth is higher in minerals than chicken.
No need to buy a tetrapack, make this at home!
Totally From Scratch Chicken Noodle Soup
Your cold and flu season BFF. Make a big batch and freeze it in portions for when you need it!
You’ll want to eat this all the time with its delicious flavours, and it’s a good immune boost!
Vegetarian Immunity Boosting Soup
Red lentils, chickpeas, and sweet potatoes make this protein rich and filling as well as immunity boosting!
Healing doesn’t always come from supplements or protocols. Sometimes it comes from a pot on the stove, slowly simmering, filling your home with warmth and your body with exactly what it needs.
If your body is craving warmth, softness, and grounding right now, listen. It knows what season it’s in.