Starting a meal with soup can be a helpful tip for cutting down on mealtime calories. Having a bowl of low-calorie soup prior to a meal may help cut your total mealtime intake in terms of amount of food and calories, a new study suggests. Penn State researchers gave low-calorie soup made of chicken broth, broccoli, potato, cauliflower, carrots and butter to volunteers before they ate a lunch entree. Participants consumed 20 percent fewer calories when they had both the soup and entree compared to when they did not have soup, the researchers found.
However, make sure to choose wisely, by picking low-calorie, broth-based soups that are about 100 to 150 calories per serving. Be careful of higher calorie, cream-based soups that could actually increase the total calories consumed. For example, a bowl of broccoli and cheese can have over 300 calories whereas a broth-based soup like egg drop only has 73 calories per cup.
Here are a few tips for keeping soups and stews easy to prepare and healthy:
- Buy soup stock that is low in sodium, or make your own broth.
- Clear soups have fewer calories than creamed soups.
- Add lots of vegetables. Potatoes, carrots, celery, peas and onions add flavor and healthy nutrition. Tomatoes and mushrooms are good too.
- If you make a noodle soup, use whole grain noodles. Because consumers are becoming aware of the importance of whole grains, it is getting easier to find whole grain pasta with better taste and texture.
- Serve your soup with a salad or some warm whole grain bread. A bread-maker comes in just as handy as a crock pot.
- You can make a large batch of soup and freeze some for later. Keep in mind that cream soups and noodles don't freeze as well as soup with clear broth, meat, vegetables and beans. Of course, you can make the soup without the noodles and prepare a few each time you warm up your frozen soup.
Keep this tip in mind for this holiday season. Plan to eat before going to a party; soup can provide you with a low-calorie option for damage control when you hit the party. Remember, fewer calories for more volume is the way to go to stay full and eat fewer calories.
Rebecca
