Promote your gut health with this super simple yet nutrient-rich sweet potato soup. Continue reading to discover the benefits of sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts in your gut!
Increase your vegetable intake to maximize your healing. Soups are a great way to eat vegetables that sometimes you'd shun off!
Hi lovely, I'm hoping you are well this Friday. How about a healthy soup that will give you the nutrients that you need right now to heal your gut? I hope you'll love this sweet potato soup recipe with brussels sprouts! I make it with ginger to jazz up the taste.
Lately, I've been on a smoothies and soups diet! It's really amazing how you can feel light and energetic while eating less!
I love eating sweet potatoes like in this sweet potato curry with lentil stew, I can eat them every day without guilt. On the other hand, I'm not a hu-u-ge fan of brussels sprouts! though for their health benefits, I've decided to incorporate them regularly into my diet like in this brussels sprouts salad.
I know some people can hardly taste brussels sprouts, yet these veggies are a powerhouse of essential nutrients that can promote gut health. Incorporating brussels sprouts in a sweet potato soup reduces their bitter taste, offering you a very delicious creamy gut-healing soup.
Now, let's look at how sweet potato and brussels sprouts can promote your gut health!
Brussel sprouts benefits
- Brussel sprouts are a source of antioxidants, chlorophyll, and carotenoids.
- They contain glucosinolate molecules that enhance the detoxification enzymes.
- High consumption of glucosinolates is associated with decreased risk of colorectal cancer.
- Many studies have shown that the intake of cruciferous vegetables like brussels sprouts, cabbages, cauliflower, and broccoli, among others, may protect us against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, several cancers, and hypertension.
- Due to their antioxidants properties, consuming brussels sprouts regularly has been shown in control studies to offer cellular protection against DNA damage by oxidative stress.
Sweet potato health benefits
It's a tuber, but did you know that sweet potato can be classified into 3 food groups?
- Starchy: it's high in starch.
- Fruit: it's a great source of vitamins and pectin.
- Vegetable: it has high vitamin and mineral content.
- Sweet potato is a nutrient-rich food as it offers you a good amount of fiber, healthy carbs, proteins, and minerals like potassium, copper, iron, and magnesium.
- They're a good source of vitamin A, especially the orange and purple sweet potatoes. You'll benefit from their higher amount of vitamins B5 & B6.
- High levels of vitamin A (carotenoids) and vitamin E, together with other phytochemicals in sweet potatoes do offer antidiabetic, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective, and neuroprotective properties.
- Sweet potato dietary fiber is prebiotic, meaning it feeds your gut microbiome. An in vitro culture stimulating a human gut showed that regular consumption of sweet potatoes could increase the number of good gut bacteria while reducing the pathogenic gut microbes.
As you can see, these two veggies are great to include in your diet as they can support your gut healing.
Should sweet potatoes be peeled before cooking?
I love eating my sweet potatoes with their skins. Vegetable skins are a great source of dietary fiber that promotes gut health. Learn how to boil sweet potatoes.
However, sometimes when making soups, I prefer peeling the sweet potatoes. Feel free to peel or leave the skin on.
I used some (Helichrysum italicum) given to me by one of the farmers in the farmers' market. It's known as the curry plant because of its strong sweet smell. It's not popular or common, so don't worry if you can't find it in your market or grocery stores!
Hopefully, this sweet potato soup recipe inspires you into eating brussels sprouts quite often. I guarantee you will not taste their bitter taste!
I send you my love, and always remember,
you've the power to heal yourself. Githu
Get more healthy soups
- A remarkable gut health carrot soup
- Healing watercress soup with green peas
- Simple and hearty chickpea soup with red onions
Promote your gut health with this sweet potato soup
Equipment
- kitchen knife
- saucepan
- Cooking spoon
- Blender
Ingredients
- 3 medium carrots
- a small piece of fresh ginger root
- a fresh turmeric root
- 4 cups boiling water or vegetable broth
- pinch of salt
- cumin plant leaves (optional)
- a handful of brussel sprouts (about 10 pieces)
- 1 medium sweet potato
- a few fresh green onions/scallions
- a handful of fresh parsley/fresh herbs of your choice
- 2 tablespoons cold-pressed olive oil or coconut oil
Instructions
- Clean all the veggies and herbs
- Prepare the brussels sprouts by cutting off their base. Cut the sprouts into small pieces and set aside
- Dice the carrots into pieces.
- Slice both ginger and turmeric. Add these together with carrots in a saucepan and place on a source of heat
- Cover them with boiling water or broth, cover, and bring to boil. Cook for 4mins.
- During that time peel and chop the sweet potato into pieces. You can sprinkle them with some lemon juice or keep them in the fridge to avoid oxidation!
- Add brussel sprouts to the cooking carrots, stir and add salt and cumin leaves. Give a good stir and cover to cook for 3 minutes
- Now add the sweet potatoes. Stir thoroughly and cover again for about 2mins
- Stir everything together. Simmer while covered for about 6 minutes on a high-moderate heat
- Meanwhile, chop the fresh herbs
- Cut off the heat. Uncover to let the dish cool down
- If using curry plant leaves, remove them
- In your blender add the remaining green onions, the fresh herbs, and the cooked dish together with the cooking water.
- Add the oil. Blend into a smooth creamy soup. You might need extra water/broth.
- Serve the sweet potato soup while still hot/warm. Top with some fresh herbs if you want to.
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Notes
- Have extra hot water or broth as sweet potato is thick when blended.
- Always use less water when blending something hot and gradually add the cooking water or hot water depending on the thickness desired!
- The cooking time will depend on the size you cut your veggies. Small pieces will cook quite fast, and in this case, cook the carrots and brussel sprouts together.
- This gut-healing sweet potato soup is very simple with just a few spices and no creams! This is because while on a gut-healing diet, you need to keep things simple and as natural as possible.
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