Fallon Reyes always looked forward to winter—but not the way her body reacted to it. “My joints would ache more. I’d feel puffy, heavy, and slow,” she says. As someone managing mild arthritis and seasonal inflammation, she knew diet could make a difference—but she didn’t want to live off bland salads in freezing weather.
So she turned to soup.
“There’s something inherently healing about a warm bowl of soup,” Fallon says. “But I didn’t want canned sodium bombs or cream-heavy chowders. I wanted something comforting and clean.”
She began experimenting with anti-inflammatory ingredients: ginger, turmeric, garlic, leafy greens, and deeply colored vegetables like carrots, beets, and purple cabbage. Her goal was flavor without added sugar, fillers, or heavy dairy. “Soup became my therapy,” she says with a smile. “It was warm, it was cozy, and it made me feel better from the inside out.”
One favorite? A sweet potato and red lentil soup, spiced with cumin and finished with lemon. Another: a golden broth packed with turmeric, chickpeas, and kale. And when she felt a cold coming on, her go-to was garlic-ginger miso with tofu and bok choy.
Beyond the ingredients, the act of making soup became part of her winter routine. “I’d put on music, chop vegetables slowly, let things simmer,” Fallon says. “It wasn’t just about the food—it was a way to slow down.”
Over time, the changes showed. She had fewer flare-ups, more energy, and a deeper appreciation for what food could do. “It doesn’t take a radical diet,” she says. “Sometimes it’s just a pot of soup made with care.”
