Tip Of The Week: Do You Know What The Healthiest Food Is? I Do
Why You Should Eat Soup
It Increases Vegetable Consumption
Many Americans don’t get the recommended amount of vegetables. Adding soup to your diet can help you increase your vegetable intake, especially if you choose a vegetarian soup, such as gazpacho, a tomato-based soup that is served cold. A study published in “The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry” in March 2006 found that eating gazpacho every day for two weeks helped increase vitamin C levels in study participants. Cooked soups, however, aren’t usually high in vitamin C because it is a heat-sensitive vitamin. They do provide other nutrients. For example, ready-to-serve vegetable soup and chicken noodle soup each have almost 50 percent of the daily value for vitamin A and more than 10 percent of the DV for selenium and potassium.
It’s Filling
Unlike many liquids, soups can be about as filling as solid foods, according to a study published in “Physiology & Behavior” in January 2005. This means you can serve soup as a meal without worrying you’ll be hungry again shortly after you finish eating. If you make a meal out of soup, however, be sure to choose one that contains protein.
Choosing the Right Soup
Cream-based soups can be high in fat and calories, so they are less healthy than broth-based soups. For example, New England clam chowder has 201 calories and 10 grams of fat per cup, compared to 90 calories and 0.8 grams of fat in vegetable soup. Regularly eating canned soup can increase your levels of bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical that may increase your risk for heart disease and diabetes, notes a study published in “The Journal of the American Medical Association” in November 2011. Canned soups are also one of the major sources of sodium in the American diet. Even reduced-sodium soups can have almost 20 percent of the DV for sodium. Make your own soup at home using fresh ingredients, and you can avoid the BPA and limit sodium in the final dish.
Beef Barley Recipe
- 1 pound beef top round steak, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 3 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) beef broth
- 2 cups of water
- 1/3 cup medium pearl barley
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
- Load it up with Veggies. You can use fresh or frozen
- Brown beef in oil; drain. Stir in the broth, water, barley, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour.
- Add the carrots, celery, onion and parsley and any fresh veggies you want to add, cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until meat and vegetables are tender. If you use frozen veggies add them at the end and let them simmer 15 minutes.
