There is perhaps nothing more satisfying in this world than a hot bowl of soup. Especially on an icy winter day, there is no better way to warm up. Whether it’s a thick and creamy bisque or a chicken noodle based on sauce, soup can always provide the winter blues comfortably. But what happens if it regularly becomes your choice and you end up eating soup every day?
So, for all the soup lovers out there, we wanted to find out how healthy or unhealthy this hot food can be. We spoke to some dietitians to clarify what happens if you regularly take soup and choose to eat soup every day. And if you really want to improve your healthy cooking game, here are 100 easy recipes you can make.
If you’ve ever been curious about why people often eat a soup or salad before a main meal, you are not alone. Depending on the type of soup you eat, you may feel more satisfied when you drink a bowl or cup before your main course.
According to Laura Burak MS, RD, CDN, foods with a higher water content can fill you up faster. “If you start a meal with a soup or salad, it will have a high water volume and a low-calorie food, and it will prevent overeating at meals,” she says.
This could mean that if you are someone who enjoys a delicious soup with your dinner, you may be consuming fewer calories while still feeling completely satisfied.
With that said, it is important to note that eating certain types of soup as a main course can sometimes make you feel hungry later. It all has to do with the ingredients you choose and how many nutrients you ingest in the meal.
Lauren Hoover, RD believes that eating soup with a variety of balanced nutrients is the key to feeling satiated.
“Some soups are not very filling if they lack a main nutrient (eg proteins, complex carbohydrates, etc.),” she says. “So, [as a] consequently, soup for a meal later can lead to under-supplementation and an excessive snack. “
Burak also suggests packing soups full of nutritious foods to prevent you from feeling hungry and overeating.
“Stick to soups with a lower sodium sauce that contains nutritious ingredients, such as vegetables, herbs, spices and grains with lots of fiber, beans, split peas and lentils,” says Burak.
The great news is that if you are conscious about what you are throwing into your soup, you can ensure that you get tons of nutrients for fewer calories than most other meals. Studies have shown that soup is actually a contributing factor to losing weight, maintaining weight goals and lowering the risk of obesity.
Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN, FAND award-winning nutritionist, and Wall Street Journal best-selling cookbook author, believes soup has the potential to be a good source of nutrition.
“If it’s a soup on sauce that contains a lot of vegetables and beans, it’s a great way to take in fiber, antioxidants vitamins A and C and get potassium,” she says.
Burak agrees.
“Soup based on sauce is a big hit for your feeding goat,” she says. If we skip the creamy soup and stick to a sauce that contains foods like vegetables, beans or lentils, “we fill our tank with tons of nutrients and fiber, but without a lot of calories.”
And Hoover adds that even the way we prepare soup can help us get our nutrients with fewer calories during the week.
“Soup is easy to prepare, especially if you use a slow cooker or pressure cooker, and can be made in large batches,” says Hoover. “Preparing a large, nutritious soup over the weekends is a great way to ensure you get a healthy, nutritious lunch for the week.”
Looking for more? Look at the easy way to make healthier food.
There is nothing like a bowl o-so cheesy broccoli cheddar soup or a creamy mussel cookie. Unfortunately, this type of soup can pack a bit when it comes to calories and saturated fat. Our dietitians all agreed that it is important to know that the soup based on a cream will be much higher if you choose soup.
Burak suggests that you use soup on sauce instead of cream-based if you want to reduce your fat consumption.
“Soups made with heavy cream instead of gravy can be calorie bombs, and they usually contain a high amount of saturated fat (not the heart-healthy kind),” she says.
Amidor agrees that the butter and other fat-rich ingredients in cream-based soups can increase the consumption of saturated fat. She also reminds us that this increase in saturated fat consumption has been shown to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, especially if you eat it regularly. ‘So you need to make sure you do not eat cream-based soup every day!
Along with a high saturated fat content, soups can also contain abundant sodium. The American Heart Association recommends that the average person consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, but a regular can of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup already contains 890 milligrams of sodium per serving.
“While soup can be a healthy choice, it tends to contain high sodium levels, especially if you buy it at a restaurant, instead of making it yourself,” Burak explains. In order to combat these higher levels, she suggests ‘making homemade bags of easy soup so you can control the sodium.’ And if you fancy a restaurant-made soup for the evening, “then just rinse it off with plenty of water, especially if you are salt-sensitive,” says Burak.
Whether you crave the creamy taste of a bisque or chowder, or the chicken noodle based on sauce, our dietitians all agree that it is always the best option to make soup at home instead of having it at a order restaurant or go to the canned version. for your health.
Hoover suggests choosing a lean source of protein, a complex carbohydrate, vegetables and a sauce base ‘for the perfect home-made soup. And Amidor adds that if you go to the creamier soup base, try some “starchy vegetables like Yukon Gold potato or butternut squash.” If you are striving for the perfect healthy homemade soup, “do not forget to decorate your soup with a few tablespoons of chopped nuts, pumpkin seeds, salsa or Greek yogurt”, says Amidor.