By Crissy Joshua

A healthy gut impacts virtually every aspect of our body by improving our immune system and supporting the health of organs such as the heart. This has important knock-on effects on our daily lives by promoting healthy sleep and a better mood.

Our gut microbiome is made up of hundreds of different types of bacteria, some necessary and good (or friendly) and others that can be detrimental to our health. For that reason, it’s important to look after your gut and keep everything working in harmony. Certain factors can contribute to gut issues such as lack of sleep, too much stress, taking antibiotics, eating processed foods, or having too much sugar in your diet.

Some signs that your gut may be in trouble include:

• An upset stomach e.g. bloating or gas
• Losing or gaining weight without changing your diet or exercise routine
• Poor sleep or insomnia
• Food intolerances

Let’s look at how to improve your gut health by making a simple but healing vegetable broth. First, I’ll explain how the different ingredients support a healthy gut and then share how to make the recipe.

Gut-Healing Properties of Vegetable Broth

I’ve used the following ingredients in this recipe: cabbage, mushrooms, carrots, garlic, miso paste, ginger, coconut oil, and turmeric.

• Gut-Healing Properties of Cabbage: Cabbage is probably one of the best-known vegetables for being gut healing. The soluble fiber it contains is great for feeding the friendly gut bacteria and the insoluble fiber helps to maintain the digestive system by promoting regular bowel movements. Cabbage is also high in L-glutamine, a building block of protein, that helps to heal the lining of the gut.
• Gut-Healing Properties of Mushrooms: Mushrooms have been used in medicinal remedies for thousands of years. In terms of gut healing, mushrooms help fight bacteria which helps to keep a healthy microbiome. They are also good prebiotics that stimulates probiotics in the gut.
• Gut-Healing Properties of Carrots: Carrots contain pectin which is a soluble fiber. This slows down your digestion of starch and sugar. It also feeds the good bacteria in your gut helping your gut cells to stay healthy. Consuming carrots regularly can even prevent the formation of a gastric ulcer and other digestive issues.
• Gut-Healing Properties of Garlic: Garlic has been used in medicine for over 5,000 years and it is a superfood on many levels but is especially good for the gut. That’s partly because garlic is high in a non-digestible carbohydrate called inulin that feeds good bacteria in the gut. This helps your gut function better overall and stops the growth of disease-promoting bacteria.
• Gut-Healing Properties of Miso Paste: Miso paste is made from fermented soybeans making it full of probiotics that improve your gut health. One particular probiotic in miso paste, Aspergillus Oryzae, naturally helps maintain a good-bad bacteria balance.
• Gut-Healing Properties of Ginger: Ginger has a calming effect on the stomach and has gut-healing properties. It also aids digestion and stops food from sitting and fermenting in the intestine by helping your gut move it along. Ginger has over 100 bioactive compounds with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiemetic properties and it’s many of these that aid digestion. It also stimulates digestive acids and supports the absorption of nutrients.
• Gut-Healing Properties of Coconut Oil: Coconut oil helps to absorb the other nutrients in this broth and also has properties that destroy bad bacteria and lower stomach acid. It also works to restore a healthy balance when there is an imbalance in the gut.
• Gut-Healing Properties of Turmeric: Turmeric has long been used to treat digestive issues in ayurvedic medicine. Turmeric is beneficial to the gut in several ways: it helps the stomach lining, promotes the growth of good gut bacteria, and can prevent bloating or gas while food is being digested.

However, turmeric does negatively affect some people’s digestion, especially where they already have issues. If you know that turmeric doesn’t sit well in your stomach then leave this ingredient out of the broth.

How to Make This Gut-Healing Vegetable Broth

This is a very simple recipe to prepare and should only take five minutes or less. It will then take one hour to cook, roughly 20 minutes to cool, then you need to strain it at the end. You should take this three times a day if you are experiencing gut problems or once a day or every few days if you are looking to maintain your gut health. You can make larger batches if you are going to be taking this regularly to save yourself time. If you divide the quantities below into four serving sizes each portion will have approximately 40 calories.

Ingredients

• 4 Cloves of garlic
• 1 inch knob of ginger
• 6 Mushrooms
• 10 oz. (250 grams) of cabbage
• 4 Carrots
• A Pinch of black pepper
• 1 Teaspoon of ground turmeric
• 1 Tablespoon of organic virgin coconut oil
• 1 Tablespoon of miso paste
• 8 Cups of filtered water

Utensils

• Large pot
• Chopping board
• Sharp knife
• Strainer
• Large bowl

Method

Slice 10 oz. of cabbage up into strips and place them in your pot.

Cut 4 carrots and 6 mushrooms into quarters and add them to your pot.

1. Bruise 4 garlic cloves with the side of a knife then throw these in.
2. Roughly chop your piece of ginger (you can leave the skin on if it’s organic, otherwise peel it first) then add this too.

1. Add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil, 1 teaspoon of ground turmeric, and a pinch of black pepper.
2. Cover all of your vegetables with water (about 8 cups) and put the lid on your pot.
3. Bring it to a boil then turn down the heat so the water is simmering and leave it for 1 hour.

1. Take it off the heat and allow it to cool somewhat before the next step so you aren’t dealing with hot liquid.
2. Wait until the soup has been taken off the heat and then stir or whisk in the miso paste. It will melt into the soup thanks to the residual heat of the stock

1. ***Miso is a fermented food, meaning it contains live, active cultures of bacteria. Adding it to boiling water will kill the probiotics in the miso, nixing the health benefits it typically offers, like better digestive health.
2. Strain the liquid into a large bowl.

You can take some straight away or put it in the fridge. It will also keep in the freezer for a couple of months if you store it in airtight containers.

Takeaway:

The gut microbiome is host to an abundance of intestinal flora that can make (or break) your physical and mental health depending on if it is balanced. From immunity to nutrient absorption, anxiety and depression to weight loss, the gut microflora plays a crucial role in our overall well-being. Many don’t give a second thought to gut health until an issue develops. However, this is a mistake. If you would like to truly thrive, caring for your gut should be a top priority. And one of the best ways to do this is through diet and medicinal herbs.