Winters have arrived and with them came the season of enjoying piping hot soups in the full swing. But can your beloved winter dish also be your new recipe for fat loss? We tried to find this out with our deep analysis on weight loss soups!
Maybe you do not like the idea of having a cup of soup before your scrumptious meal and would rather enjoy it as a standalone snack for mid meals. But, researchers have shown that having low-calorie soup before your meal can help in expediting your weight loss process. In a research conducted by the Appetite Journal in 2007, 60 average weighing adults were served low-calorie soup before their meal for five weeks consistently. The result showed that they consumed 20 percent fewer calories in their meal. As the soup was of low calorie it not only reduced their calorie intake but also filled their stomach so that they ate less during the meal.
The conclusion of the study was that adding soup in your diet, before your meal, can be effective in curbing your overall calorie intake. Also, having soup before your meal prevents you from eating extra during your meal. This is also another way of reducing your overall calorie intake.
You can also try this technique of having low-calorie weight loss soup before your meal for a week and see the results for yourself. This can be done for any of the meal of your choice, whether it be lunch or dinner. However, you need to ensure that the soup you are taking is of low calories with no cream and other calorie dense ingredients.
For example, a cup of clear vegetable or beef/chicken soup contains about 40 calories, whereas a baked potato in your meal contains approx 290 calories. Replacing potato with soup before your lunch or dinner for a week will mean you have cut down approx 1700 calories in a week. That much calories mean half a kilogram of body weight. Serving soup instead of french fries as an appetizer while eating out can cut down approx 3150 calories. This saving will be even bigger as it is close to 1 kg of body weight.
The diversity of soups allows you to experiment with a wide range of vegetables, legumes, and meat while dieting. You can always try new ingredients that vary the flavoring and keep your soup interesting. The warmth of soup also makes you feel full and you end up eating less food, which reduces your calorie intake.
Just like every other health food, not all soups are meant to be healthy and give the same benefits. Only low-calorie soups made from the broth of vegetables and meat can give the benefit of calorie reduction. Soups which are cream based, loaded with cheese or pasta will only add a significant amount of calories to your body. So, instead of gulping down the cream of tomato or chicken broccoli with cheddar cheese, go for soups made from clear vegetable broth or chicken broth. A normal cup of vegetable soup at any restaurant, without cream and cheese, contains around 90 calories.
Not only your appetizer, soups can also be your excellent main dish. If you can, try swapping your calorie laden pasta or potato dish with soup for at least two weeks. Results will only surprise you in a positive way. While serving your soup, opt for a garden fresh salad without dressing instead of bread to cut on more calories.
Well, this remains a controversial question as it completely depends on what kind of slim soup your are spending on. If you are buying something that is loaded with sugar, preservatives, starch and other calorie dense ingredients then it is of no use. But if you are reading the label carefully then the chances of you buying something unhealthy will be less. A good quality ready to make slim soup should be able to do the following:
- Help you save up to 500 calories per meal
- Ideally be under 250 calories per serving/meal
- Provide 15 to 20 gms of protein
- Provide 7 to 10 gms of dietary fiber
- Contain a rich amount of natural minerals & vitamins
- Low on sodium
- Free from harmful preservatives
Cutting on your regular calorie intake by including soup in your diet can actually help you shed extra kilos. But, unless you keep yourself active and indulge in some sort of regular exercise or cardio you might gain back all the weight you have lost. Regular exercise at home for 15 minutes can improve your metabolism and will also burn more calories.
Bottom line is to include soup and exercise in your daily regimen to get back in the perfect shape that you have always craved for.
