The Ultimate Soup Cleanse 1 Why Cleanse? For us, a cleanse is a way to bring ourselves back into balance. You know the feeling you get when you have been overindulging for too long, or you wish you could get up in the morning with a little more spring in your step and feeling more energized? Or when you know your digestive system is struggling--you might feel bloated or sluggish, or perhaps intolerant to foods that you can enjoy with no problems when you''re on vacation. When we''re willing to listen, our bodies give us the signs we need to know that a few days of simple eating and simple living are a good idea. In today''s fast-paced world, it''s not always easy to slow down; many of us tend to get away with constantly running on empty, with the occasional vacation here and there to top off our reserves. Taking the time to restore, replenish, and look after your body feels like a luxury, but when you do give yourself this gift, the benefits will last. Signs that you might benefit from a cleanse: * Decreased energy * Feeling tired after eating * Suffering from constipation, loose stools, or irregular bowel movements * Having a foggy brain * Having trouble sleeping or finding it hard to wake up * Feeling anxious or stressed * Craving specific foods or feeling a dependence on certain foods * Feeling bloated * Experiencing weight gain * Feeling generally "off" your game A cleanse aims for: * A renewed sense of vitality and clarity * Supporting a sustained healthy weight * Promoting deep and restorative sleep * Regular, healthy bowel movements * Energy throughout the day * A positive, balanced relationship with food * Feeling revitalized and enthusiastic about life Why Go on a Soup Cleanse? "The transformation that occurs in the cauldron is quintessential and wondrous, subtle and delicate." I YIN (239 BC) Soup came into being about five millennia ago when humans began to farm and cultivate food in addition to hunting and gathering it; this marked a crucial stage in human development. When people began to put different ingredients into a pot with water over the heat of the fire, they created broths and stews.

The discovery of boiling and simmering foods together meant that a much greater variety of plants and grains could be combined and eaten. Meat provided even more nutrition when the bones were boiled. These bone broths became the basis of the first restaurants, which appeared in Paris in the eighteenth century. Their name came from the fact that they served restaurants, which were usually meat consommés or bouillons that would help "restore" a person''s strength and vitality--or cure a hangover. Bone-based broths have been used across cultures for centuries as healing remedies. Soup has long been a healing centerpiece used by various traditional medicines. In Ayurveda, a soup (kitchari) cleanse is undertaken to help restore digestive "fire," which is not only related to how our body digests the food we eat but also to all our thoughts and emotions. Supporting the health of this fire, or agni, is a way of supporting our overall health.

In Chinese medicine, it has been thought for thousands of years that consuming a bowl of soup before each meal is beneficial to one''s health. Contemporary research suggests that this practice leads to eating fewer calories over the course of the day. So soups are not just restorative, they''re also a great choice if you want to lose weight healthily. In fact, when it comes to eating well, variety has been shown to be a crucial factor for making positive long-term changes and choices. We enjoy a food trend as much as anyone--our cupboards and refrigerator are filled with coconut oil, kale, and various seeds--but we also love the simplicity and the purpose of soup. It is restoring; it is clean and comforting. It also turns out that soup has even more than the test of time on its side when it comes to weight-loss benefits. Soup has been shown by researchers to keep us fuller for longer per calorie compared when eating the same ingredients in a "dry" dish, like a salad.

This is because soup takes up more room in the stomach, which turns off ghrelin, the appetite or "hunger" hormone, quicker than a salad does. Specific cells in the stomach wall release ghrelin when the stomach is empty. Ghrelin then travels via the bloodstream to the brain''s appetite center, the hypothalamus, and tells you that you are hungry. When your stomach is full, ghrelin is no longer released and so the appetite signal is turned off. Soup takes more time to leave the stomach, which is why you stay satisfied for longer. Why cooking is good for you When you cook from scratch, you tend to eat more natural foods that have undergone less processing. You also know exactly what you are putting into your body. You become more aware of how certain foods make you feel.

Despite scientists'' best efforts, there really is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to knowing which diet is best for everyone. Some people have no problem digesting dairy products, for example, while others have an adverse reaction to milk or butter. Wheat isn''t the evil enemy it''s made out to be for all of us. For some people, it''s the industrial, processed ingredients that cause bloating or a stomachache. When we bake our own bread, using locally grown and milled flours from grains other than just wheat, we discover that we don''t have to go through life without bread or pastries. A key to keeping up healthy habits beyond just a few days is to be adventurous and explore new foods and ways of cooking. Nicole has recently become obsessed with sea spaghetti (seaweed shaped like spaghetti). She uses it alongside noodles, in salads, combined with lentils--and more.

It just so happens to be mineral rich and wonderfully good for you, too. The art of preparing food to take care of your inner temple is soul replenishing. Feeling good about treating yourself well, to present your food to yourself with those little touches like a sprinkle of toasted nuts and seeds or a drizzle of herb-infused oil, makes the cleanse a gift rather than a sacrifice. Take time out of your day to sit down to eat, and be mindful of what you are eating and how you are feeling. This will help you enjoy the journey as much as the end result. Eat natural Bircher muesli, a mixture of grains, dried fruit, nuts, and seeds, gets its name from Dr. Maximilian Bircher-Benner, who was a Swiss physician and pioneer in nutritional research. In 1904, Dr.

Bircher-Benner set up a sanatorium called Vital Force, based on the German lifestyle reform movement that espouses the idea of living in harmony with nature. Instead of the standard diet of meat and potatoes, Bircher-Benner recommended eating more fruit, vegetables, and nuts. The more we can live with an awareness of nature, the better it is for our bodies, too. This is what the healthiest cultures in the world have been doing for thousands of years. The Mediterranean diet is based on what''s available and grown in the region--olive oil, fish, grains, and vegetables. For the people of Japan, it''s fish, rice, and seaweed. A Korean meal wouldn''t be complete without kimchi, a traditional condiment made from fermented vegetables and spices. The people of these cultures eat what is naturally available to them.

We feel just as passionate about all the amazing foods grown in our own countries--for Kate that''s the United Kingdom and for Nicole it''s the island of Malta. In the United Kingdom, berries, game, fish, wild mushrooms, nuts, and herbs have been consumed for centuries. Malta is an island of sunshine, a land with an abundance of ripe tomatoes, figs, olives, fish, and local sourdough bread. We have an abundance of foods available to us year round, and as soon as you tap into choosing as many unprocessed foods as possible, you begin to notice and experience the vibrancy and vitality of these foods. Eat with the seasons Nature has a way of providing us with foods that are especially good for us at certain times of the year. During the autumn and winter months, there are plenty of ingredients that are perfect for warming soups and stews: carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, parsnips. In spring, nutrient-rich leafy greens are found in abundance, and in summer, when we need cooling foods, there are cucumbers and lettuces. If you eat what is seasonally available in your own region and climate, you will naturally eat much of what your body needs and wants at a particular time of year.

Autumn and Winter Cleansing Autumn and winter are not times when the body instinctively wants to cleanse, but with so many of us enjoying the holiday season and all the treats that come with it, it is a time when we need to balance out our overindulgences. We tend to feel hungrier in cold weather to keep warm and take care of our immune systems, so going on a 100% raw-food diet at this time might be a little more than our already strained digestive system can handle. This is why eating soup is such a great way to cleanse; it''s the ideal solution for eating a little less, eating natural ingredients, and eating foods that nourish our digestion back to optimum function.