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THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF EATING SOUPS
Health | October 02, 2017
Soup.
Warm, comforting, easy to prepare…soup not only makes for a great meal and can be very filling but it can also be helpful to our bodies when it comes to obtaining various nutrients and other health-promoting compounds.
Today soups are full of beans, meats, and vegetables, with the exception of some cream-based soups. These ingredients are known for their low-fat and high-fiber composition, making soups a healthy meal option.
Say Goodbye to that Cold: Take a look at the all-time classic favorite, chicken noodle. While this soup doesn’t exactly make an illness go away, there is a reason that it is such a well-known home remedy during cold and flu season. The Mayo Clinic stated that not only does chicken soup works as an anti-inflammatory but it can help clear up mucus too.
Vitamins and Proteins: Eating soup is perhaps the easiest way to add vegetables to your daily meals. The American Heart Association recommends adults to consume eight or more servings of fruits and vegetables every day. That’s around 4 ½ cups and soups can help contribute to that total. Vegetables also contain many vitamins, such as A and C. Add some fresh or even frozen vegetables to your canned soups (canned soups are generally unhealthy as I mentioned in the comment below, however there are some companies that make a good quality product without harmful ingredients. Example: https://www.pacificfoods.com)to increase the servings of vegetables and add a little extra flavor to plain broths.
Soups which are made with beans and lean meats (like fish) provide the body with lean protein. Beans give you fiber, and other veggies like tomatoes are a great source of an antioxidant called lycopene, which according to Penn State University, can help reduce the risk of cancers.
Counting Calories: Because it can take a relatively long time to consume, eating soup can slow your rate of calorie consumption, and by adding them to your diet, can therefore help you lose weight. As long as you follow a weight-loss plan and exercise of course. Soups made with lean means are low in fats which makes them a perfect choice for someone watching the fat intake in their diet. By using fat-free broths, you can reduce the fat content of some soups.
In conclusion, years of research have linked an increased vegetable intake with health benefits.
Although soup consumption has not been investigated extensively, the research available to the public does in fact suggests that soup isn’t a bad dish to add to your dinner table.
Have yourself a bowl of soup today, you can try some of my favorite recipes:
Private Member |
michigan, usa
Soups are my favorite food. I could eat soups every day! I drink a mug of bone broth with collagen protein powder for a snack almost daily. So good.
Private Member |
ft. lauderdale, fl, usa
What? Since when do you promote things like Canned soups and Fat free broth? What happened to the whole foods only approach? Was this article even written by Zuzka?
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
Canned soups are known to be generally really unhealthy, however you can nowadays find good quality products that are free of MSG and low in sodium and other unhealthy ingredients. Here’s an example: https://www.pacificfoods.com
As for the fat free broth. I do not avoid fat from any animal products, however there are a lot people including nutritionists, and doctors who do believe that fat from animal products is bad. I try to be open minded and just give information objectively, instead of pushing my own believes.
Private Member |
ft. lauderdale, fl, usa
Thanks for the reaction Zuzka. It’s good to see that the base stones of your approach aren’t moving.
Private Member |
Yay! For soups.
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
Love this article, Z. Soups made with bones and animals parts, veggies (esp root veggies), and herbs are some of the healthiest food, and really good for our digestion. In TCM, soups “tonify the Spleen and Stomach/Earth”, which translated into English (lol) means that they strengthen the whole digestive tract for proper digestion and assimilation. So anyone who is weak due to stress or a medical condition should consider eating soups as the bulk of their diet. Like during stressful time periods, our digestion weakens, and soups are an excellent choice to stay healthy. In TCM the Earth element (digestion) is the center. Without a healthy center/Earth, all other elements/physiological functions will begin to fail. So it’s important to keep the digestive function healthy.
I see parsnips in your picture of soup. MMMMMM I’ve been obsessing over parsnips lately. They’re SO GOOD.
Quick fun fact: Pho (Vietnamese soup) is super duper healthy and traditionally made with bones, pho spices (which strengthen digestion, immune system, and are antimicrobial), thin slices of meat, some veggies (greens and onions), and of course those delicious noodles). In Vietnam it is a breakfast food, and sometimes late breakfast or early lunch food. I have been to Vietnam and I ate pho every morning for breakfast. In Vietnam, Oriental Medicine energetics are a part of every day cuisine and totally part of the culture of food there. If you ask anyone why certain spices or herbs are used, they will describe the energetics of the foods that I’ve studied in TCM. Pho is eaten in the morning because it strengthens the digestive/assimilative functions and “primes the body” to absorb whatever else is eaten the rest of the day. Also, by strengthening Earth in the beginning of the day, people have more energy for the rest of the day (because strengthening Earth Qi also strengthens the Qi of the whole body, as it is foundational).
I just thought that was fun, because it is a living cultural example of how soup is important for total health.
Private Member |
What kind of beans do you recommend? I have been paleo for many years and I am interested in switching to a vegan diet, but I don’t know what kind of beans/protein to add instead of meat everyday.
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
You can experiment and see what works for you. All beans including black beans, navy beans, pinto beans, and other legumes are whole foods with a lot of health benefits.
Private Member |
Hello zuzka wondering if you can add any soups and stews to recipe content? Your recipes are so good would love to try some soups!