Drinking soup before a meal can clean up accumulated waste in the digestive tract and promote digestion and absorption. However, for people with a weak stomach, it is not advisable to drink soup before a meal. So, how should you drink soup correctly? The best way is still to choose according to each person's physical condition.
Four points to note when drinking soup
Only drinking the soup and not the "sediment"—someone has conducted a test: after cooking foods with high protein content like fish, chicken, and beef for 6 hours, the soup may look very rich, but the protein dissolution rate is only 6% to 15%. More than 85% of the protein remains in the "sediment". After being simmered for a long time, the "sediment" may not have the best texture, but the peptides and amino acids in it are more easily digested and absorbed by the human body. Therefore, except for those who can only consume liquids, it is recommended to eat the soup together with the "sediment".
Loving "single-flavor soup"—the nutrients contained in each food are not comprehensive. Even a "rich broth" that is exceptionally savory and rich in amino acids will still lack several "essential amino acids" that the human body cannot synthesize on its own, as well as various minerals and vitamins. Therefore, it is recommended to cook soup with a mixture of several animal and plant-based foods. This not only allows the savory flavors to enhance each other but also makes the nutrition more complete.
Loving to drink scalding hot soup—this is more harmful than beneficial. It is more suitable to drink soup at a temperature below 50°C. Some people enjoy drinking very hot soup. In fact, the oral cavity, esophagus, and gastric mucosa can only tolerate a maximum temperature of 60°C. Exceeding this temperature can cause burns to the mucosa. Although the human body has the ability to self-repair after a burn, repeated damage can easily lead to malignant changes in the upper digestive tract mucosa. Surveys have found that people who frequently eat very hot food have a high incidence of esophageal cancer.
Soaking rice in soup—this is a very bad habit. Over time, it can also lead to a decline in one's digestive function and even cause stomach problems. This is because during the digestion of food, the body needs to chew for a longer time, and saliva secretion is also higher, which is beneficial for lubricating and swallowing food. When soup and rice are eaten together, the food is not chewed thoroughly in the mouth before being swallowed with the soup. This not only makes people "unable to taste the food," but the taste nerves on the tongue are not fully stimulated, resulting in insufficient digestive fluids produced by the stomach and pancreas. These fluids are also diluted by the soup, so the food consumed is not well digested and absorbed. Over time, this can lead to stomach problems.