People who are losing weight tend to drink soup before a meal, as it can effectively control their food intake. But from a health perspective, is it better to drink soup before or after a meal?
Folk sayings like "Drink soup before a meal to stay slim and healthy" have made many people prefer drinking soup before a meal, as it can enhance satiety and aid in weight loss. Fan Zhihong, an associate professor at the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at China Agricultural University, states that this saying is not without reason. Foreign research shows that drinking soup before a meal can reduce food intake by about 15%. Additionally, with some water already in the stomach, food will expand upon entering, making the feeling of fullness more pronounced and preventing overeating.
However, the concern that "drinking soup before a meal is not good for digestion" also makes people hesitate, as it is believed to dilute stomach acid and affect digestion. In the view of Lü Bin, a member of the Standing Committee of the Gastroenterology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association and director of Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, this also has merit. For those who already have a severe deficiency in gastric acid secretion, drinking a lot of soup during a meal could indeed dilute the gastric juice. On the other hand, drinking soup after a meal is associated with the idea that it leads to weight gain, because you are already full, and drinking soup easily leads to excess nutrition and obesity, which also has some truth to it.
Drinking soup is such a dilemma! Therefore, the two experts agree that it's meaningless to simply say which is healthier, drinking soup before or after a meal. The key lies in how much soup you drink and what kind of soup it is. For a normal person, drinking a small bowl of soup, whether before or after a meal, makes little difference. If you want to lose weight, drink it within 20 minutes before a meal. Just don't drink too much, otherwise it will inevitably affect digestion. Drinking a large amount before a meal can also lead to not being able to eat much staple food, and doing this consistently will cause the body to lack nutrients, which is得不偿失 (not worth the loss). For people with gastroptosis and insufficient gastric motility, it's even more important to drink less soup, regardless of whether it's before or after a meal.