February is traditionally known as the month of love because it plays host to Valentine’s Day. So many people in the world are wondering how they can find that perfect someone to love. My answer to this question is always the same—stop looking for love, and just give love. The Hebrew word for love is ahava, and the root of this word means to give. When we go searching for love, it can elude us time and again. But by giving to people with whom we want to connect, we are truly loving, and can then more easily become a receptacle for love from others.

A beautiful and healthy way to show someone your love and to give from the heart is to prepare nutritious food for them. The mere act of taking the time to lovingly prepare nourishment for another person infuses the food with that something special. Some say that the attitude of the person preparing the food can affect the energy, and therefore the taste, of the food. If you are feeling angry or upset, turn on music that touches your soul, think about pleasant times and try to get in a good frame of mind before you continue your food preparations.

Eating is a very intimate act, because the food enters our very being and is used to keep our bodies going. The gift of good food is therefore so much more meaningful than jewelry, flowers or other external embellishments.

Think of the way you feel after eating a truly healthful and satisfying meal versus a pizza, Coke and donuts. For many people, there is a certain pleasure that comes from eating rich and unhealthy foods, but they’ll pay for it later by feeling ill, bloated and other unpleasant symptoms. Contrast that with the satisfied, light feeling of eating plenty of sweet, crunchy and tasty vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, seeds and pure beverages.

Another great gift in preparing food is to refrain from cooking it. When food is heated to over 105 degrees, enzymes are destroyed and the vitamins and minerals are compromised. Too much cooked food can create toxicity and deficiency in the body, and that is when illness and disease can thrive.

Take the time in this month of love to show love to yourself by adding more raw and living foods to your daily diet. If going completely raw is too drastic for you, start with one dish per day. This raw soup recipe is a delicious powerhouse that you can enjoy with a loved one at home or pack up into containers to deliver to friends and relatives for a thoughtful gift. Use the freshest, organic produce you can find.

Love Soup

4 cups tomatoes 1 cup red bell pepper 1 cup celery 1 Tbsp garlic 2 Medjool dates 1 Tbsp dried basil 1 Tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp Himalayan salt 1 cup alkaline water

Put all of the ingredients into a Vitamix blender and blend until smooth. If you would like to warm up your soup, keep blending until the mixture is warm. As long as you can hold your finger in the mixture for 15 seconds without burning you have not destroyed the enzymes, vitamins and minerals. Do not cook this soup. Cooking will turn this from alkaline to acid and destroy the enzymes, vitamins and minerals.

Brenda Cobb is author of The Living Foods Lifestyle and founder of The Living Foods Institute, an educational center and therapy spa in Atlanta, offering healthy lifestyle courses on nutrition, cleansing, healing, anti-aging, detoxification, relaxation and cleansing therapies. For more information, call 404-524-4488 or 1-800-844-9876 and visit LivingFoodsInstitute.com.