How healthy is soup?

As the weather turns colder, we think of enjoying a hot cup of soup.  Last week, we enjoyed tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.  True comfort food.  How healthy is soup?  Have you tried making your own soup?  Some recipes are actually pretty easy to make and taste oh so good.

 Livestrong asks “Why is Soup Healthy?”

• Vegetables – soup is a great way to add some vegetables to your day.  A relative hates tomatoes but enjoys a bowl of tomato soup.  Tomatoes are loaded with good nutrition – vitamins A and C and the healthy antioxidant, lycopene, which is so good for your eyes.  An interesting fact:  about 80% of our dietary lycopene comes from tomato products like tomato soup.  And, the lycopene from cooked products, like tomato soup, is even more bioavailable than lycopene in raw tomatoes.   Vegetable soup, pea soup, bean soup – so many choices that add some veggies to your day.  Kids often shun some vegetables but may eat those vegetables in soup.
• Soup fills you up and helps you stay hydrated. Some people think only water is good for hydration, not true.  (See Hydration.) All liquids count.  “Since soups are mostly liquid, they’re a great way to stay hydrated and full.”  Eating some soup may also help lower one’s risk of type 2 diabetes.  Research shows that diets rich in foods that fill you up with fewer calories, like soup, are associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
•  Soup is usually low in calories and packed with good nutrition.  Soup will not add to weight gain according to a study in “Obesity Research”.  Researchers found that those who ate soup twice a day and enjoyed a low-calorie diet, lost more weight than others who ate more energy-dense foods containing the same number of calories.  Other researchers have found:  Epidemiological studies have revealed that soup consumption is associated with a lower risk of obesity.
• What soups to choose and which to avoid:
  

• Choose – Choose broth-based soups.  Good choices include: vegetable soup, tomato soup, pea soup, and bean soup. 
• Avoid cream soups or choose lower calorie cream soups.

Soup improves the quality of your diet.  Iowa State University found that people who ate soup had higher-diet quality scores than people who did not.  Soup-eaters had higher intakes of fiber, vitamin A, magnesium, iron, and potassium.

• Soup concerns: 

• Sodium - most soups are high in sodium.  Livestrong notes, “Canned soups are also one of the major sources of sodium in the American diet.”  However, many soups also provide potassium, a mineral that helps your body get rid of sodium.  So, while too much sodium can raise blood pressure, potassium can help bring it down.  Enjoy a bowl of vegetable soup and you may get 640 mg of sodium, but you also get 718 mg of potassium.
•  BPA - The lining of some soup cans also contains the chemical bisphenol A, or BPA.  This chemical has been linked to increasing the risk of heart disease and diabetes.  The good news is that companies like Campbell’s soup have moved away from BPA packaging.  Campbell states: “Campbell has transitioned to non-BPA lining in all of our aluminum and steel cans in the United States and Canada.” 

Soup is inexpensive and easy to make.   Food prices have risen so much that people may forget how affordable a bowl of soup is.  Enjoy a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich and you have added a vegetable to your day and some healthy protein and calcium from the cheese. 

Make your own soup.  My husband and I were looking for a simple turkey soup recipe.  It was after Thanksgiving and we wanted to use up some turkey leftovers.  It was hard to find an easy to make recipe but we found it. Now, when we have left over turkey or chicken, we make up some delicious home-made soup.  Making your own soup allows you to control the amount of salt and no worries about BPA in the lining of a soup can. 

One cold day this week, enjoy a bowl of soup.  Have kids?  Find a soup they enjoy and add some vegetables and nutrition to their day. 

Sensational Turkey Noodle Soup  from Swanson    (A recipe with more spices can be found at Easy 30-Minute Turkey Noodle Soup)

4 cups Swanson Chicken Broth or Organic Free-Range Chicken Broth
1 medium carrot, peeled and sliced (about ½ cup)
1 stalk celery, sliced (about ½ cup)
½ cup uncooked extra wide egg noodles
1 cup shredded cooked chicken or turkey

Directions:  Heat the broth, carrot, and celery in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat to a boil.  Stir in the noodles and the chicken.  Reduce the heat to medium.  Cook for 10 minutes or until the noodles are done, stirring occasionally.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  (Note: Some recipes add onion and sauté the carrots, celery, and onion until softened.  Some recipes add some dried oregano, garlic and fresh herbs when making the soup.)  

  

Sources:  Livestrong , fact , lycopene , count , full , diabetes , researchers , notes , potassium , bowl , Campbell , Swanson    , Easy 30-Minute Turkey Noodle Soup   Image Sources:  Chicken Noodle Soup , Tomato soup benefits , Soup