Q: Can soup really help you lose weight?
According to researchers from Penn State University, eating soup before a meal can help you eat less and lose weight. In the study, women were served a 270-calorie first course meal before lunch. This first course consisted of 270 calories worth of chicken and rice casserole, the same casserole plus a 10-ounce glass of water, or the casserole with the water cooked into it to make it soup. Only when the women ate the soup, they consumed 100 fewer calories at lunch and didn't report feeling hungrier later.
Another experiment conducted at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston revealed that overweight men and women who were told to eat soup every day as part of a low calorie diet, maintained their weight loss better over the following year than did study participants whose low calorie diet didn't include a daily bowl of soup.
Because soup is water-based it helps you feel satiated with a smaller amount of food. To be most effective, you need to choose a broth based soup that's fairly low in calories.
Q: Which are the best lower calorie soups?
Provided they are made from broth or water, rather than cream or whole milk, most soups are low in fat and calories. Many brands of chicken noodle, vegetable, tomato and bean soups have no more than 1.5 grams of fat and 150 calories per 250 ml.
Many, but not all, cream-based soups are high in fat - one serving (250 ml) of Campbell's Condensed Cream of Celery Soup (made with water) has eight grams of fat compared to 1.5 grams in their Half Fat version. Watch out for many of Campbell's Chunky Soups too. Campbell's Chunky Chicken a la King has 16 grams of fat and 3.5 grams of saturated fat.
Read labels carefully when buying noodle cups and instant ramen soups. Some manufacturers pre-fry their noodles in vegetable oil which increases the fat content. One serving -- half a package -- of Mr. Noodles Instant Noodles delivers six grams of fat and five grams of saturated fat. If you eat the entire package, you'll get double the fat grams.
To save fat, choose soups with no more than one gram of saturated fat per serving.
Q: What about sodium -- how do choose a soup that isn't loaded with salt?
Yes, soups tend to be quite high in sodium. Even homemade soups have a lot of sodium if they're made from canned broth or bouillon cubes. Most soups provide at least 800 milligrams of sodium per serving - one third of a day's worth of sodium in a very small portion of your daily calories.
Some of the worst offenders deliver over 1,000 milligrams of sodium per single serving. President's Choice French Onion Soup packs in 1,520 milligrams of sodium per 250 ml (1 cup). Half a package of Mr. Noodles Instant Noodles has 1,020 milligrams of sodium; eat the entire package and you'll consume 2,040 milligrams of sodium - almost your entire day's worth. The daily upper limit of sodium for adults is 2,300 milligrams of sodium.
It's challenging to find lower sodium soups, but it's not impossible. Ideally, look for a soup that has less than 500 milligrams of sodium per serving. Because the majority of commercial soups are higher than 500 mg, I'll be generous -- look for less than 700 milligrams of sodium. Just avoid the salt mines that pack in more than this.
The lowest sodium soups I found in the grocery store were the fresh varieties sold in jars. Soup's On soups all have less than 100 milligrams of sodium per serving. Many varieties of Summer Fresh soups have less than 300 milligrams per serving. President's Choice Blue Menu soups are also lighter on the sodium, providing 480 milligrams per serving. Amy's Organic, Campbell's Healthy Request and Campbell's 25 per cent Less Sodium soups have lower sodium levels than other brands.
If you find a lower sodium soup lacking in flavour, add fresh or dried herbs such as basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme and pepper to improve taste.
Q: What else should you look for on labels when buying soup?
Look for soups made with beans, vegetables, and whole grains since these will add protein, fibre and vitamins and minerals to your meal. Most split pea, bean, lentil and barley soups have at least 5 grams of fibre per serving, and some bean soups have as many as 13 grams. You'll find whole grains in soups made with wild rice and whole-wheat pasta such as Lipton Soupworks Bowls.
Vegetable-rich soups are a good source of vitamins A and C. Choose soups with at least 15 per cent of the Daily Value for vitamins A and C. Same holds true for fibre, iron and calcium.
If your favourite soup is low in the vegetable department, add your own. Frozen mixed vegetables, baby spinach leaves, and chopped kale are easy ways to boost the nutrient content of commercial soups.
Soups On! Healthier bowls
Per serving:
- No more than 1 gram saturated fat
- No more than 500 milligrams sodium
- 15 per cent Daily Value for fibre, vitamins A, C, or fibre
