**Moro's Carrot Soup, also known as Moro Soup, can be used as a natural remedy for diarrhoea. It is used in both human and veterinary medicine and requires only carrots, water and salt to prepare.
Archie had a mild bout of diarrhoea recently. Murphy upset his stomach this week and had to vomit several times in one night. Since I've now made this soup for the second time and it worked a treat, I'd like to share the recipe with you today.
How Did Moro's Carrot Soup Become Famous?
The Austrian paediatrician Ernst Moro drew on this old home remedy in 1908. While working at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, many children were dying from diarrhoeal illnesses, and with this carrot soup recipe he was able to achieve results and save lives.
Why Does Moro Soup Help with Diarrhoea?
It wasn't until 2008 (100 years later) that the mechanism of action of carrot soup was uncovered by Prof. Guggenbichler (University Hospital Erlangen) and Prof. Jurenitsch (pharmacologist from Vienna). The long cooking of the carrots produces what are known as "acidic oligogalacturonides". These so closely resemble the receptors of the intestinal mucosa that the "bad germs" dock onto them instead of attaching to the intestinal wall. This means pathogens are excreted via the natural route and do not settle in the gut.
Moro's Carrot Soup - the Recipe:
What Do You Need?
- 500 g carrots
- 1 litre of water
- 1-3 g salt
- Peeler
- Knife
- Pot
- Sieve
- Blender or fork
- Approximately 2 hours of time
- Take the half kilo of carrots, peel the vegetables and cut them into smaller pieces. Place the carrots in the pot, fill it with 1 litre of water and bring everything to the boil.
Then turn down to a low heat and let the vegetable broth simmer for at least 90 minutes. Once the time is up, separate the carrots from the cooking water. But keep the water!
Now purée the carrots as finely as possible — this makes the soup more effective. If you don't have a blender, mash the cooked carrots as well as you can with a fork. Add about 1 tsp (1-3 grams) of salt to the carrot purée. If your dog has kidney problems, be sure to discuss this with your vet first!
Next, pour the vegetable broth into the purée and mix everything together. I only use part of the liquid, as Murphy & Archie prefer a thicker consistency. I keep the remaining carrot water separately and add it fresh the next day.
For severe diarrhoea, give the Moro Soup in small portions plain throughout the day. For milder stomach or diarrhoea complaints, you can mix in a little chicken or turkey. And just like that, the healthy bland diet is ready to serve.
Practical Tips!
- Make sure the soup isn't too hot when serving.
- Cook ahead and freeze! While the preparation itself is straightforward, the long cooking time does take a while — so it's worth having a portion ready in the freezer.
- For dogs who really won't take to the Moro Soup, it helps to add a little of the meat cooking water.
- We've had great results with the soup for both diarrhoea and stomach upsets. But this recipe is no substitute for a vet visit!
We hope you never need to use this recipe!
But just in case, you'll find it here — it really isn't difficult and easy to remember:
0.5 kg carrots - 1 litre water - 1.5 hours
+ 1 pinch of salt ;)
We wish your furry loved ones a speedy recovery.
