How to get rid of a virus
Latest in Healthy eating
Fiona Kirk, author of So What The F*** Should I Eat? explains how to cook up a tasty soup that will get you back on your feet fast.
You know a bad cold or a mild bout of flu is not life-threatening. You also know there is no known cure so all you can do is cope the best you can while your body fights the virus, and that takes time - time you probably don’t have. Many food remedies have been providing relief for the symptoms for centuries and some now even have scientific research behind them, suggesting that perhaps ancient healers – and your great granny – might have known a thing or two!
Those that have proven anti-viral, immune-boosting effects and are associated with reducing the duration of colds and flu include garlic, onions, chicken, chilli, peppers, ginger, shiitake mushrooms and fermented soya products.
But no-one wants to drag themselves to the supermarket for these ingredients when they’re feeling rubbish. So here’s a soup you can make ahead of time and freeze in small containers, then all you have to do is crawl out of bed, sling a portion in the microwave and reap the nourishing benefits.
Rescue Me Chicken Soup
Makes 4 portions
Ingredients
2tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2.5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely sliced or crushed
12 spring onions, white part finely chopped, green part cut into 5cm pieces
2 chicken stock cubes dissolved in 900ml of boiling water
2 large or 4 small chicken breasts finely sliced along the grain of the chicken
1 small red pepper, de-seeded and finely sliced
1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely sliced
1 x 100g pack dried shiitake mushrooms
Generous splash of Tamari (fermented soya sauce)
Method
- Soak the shiitake mushrooms in hot water for ten minutes, drain, dry on kitchen paper, remove the stalks and finely slice.
- Warm the oil, add the garlic, ginger and white spring onion and sauté for two minutes.
- Add the stock and bring to a simmer.
- Add the chicken, red pepper, chilli, green part of the spring onion and mushrooms and cook gently for 15 minutes, adding the Tamari five minutes before the end.
- Leave to cool, divide into small containers and freeze.
For more information on Fiona Kirk, go to fatbustforever.com. To read her Men's Fitness piece on exposing fat loss myths, click here.
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