There's a right way and a wrong way to drink soup: 5 methods that are bad for your stomach.

Drinking soup has many benefits for the human body, and modern people seem to have entered a stage of "soup nourishment." However, some believe that drinking soup is merely a personal habit with little science to it. This is not the case. There are many misconceptions about drinking soup, and these misconceptions are precisely the primary cause of the high incidence of stomach problems. What are these misconceptions? Let's go through them one by one.

Health Misconceptions: Five Ways of Drinking Soup That Harm the Stomach

Misconception 1: Liking to drink freshly made hot soup.

Freshly made soup is often very hot, yet many people prefer to drink it this way, believing it warms the stomach and body. In fact, the oral cavity, esophagus, and gastric mucosa can only withstand a maximum temperature of 60°C. Exceeding this temperature can cause mucosal burns and even malignant changes in the digestive tract mucosa. Therefore, soup below 50°C is more suitable.

Misconception 2: Drinking soup without the "sediment."

Some experiments have shown that after cooking foods rich in protein, such as fish, chicken, and beef, for six hours, the soup may look very rich, but the protein dissolution rate is only 6%-15%. This means that over 85% of the protein remains in the "sediment." In other words, no matter how long you simmer the soup, the nutrients from the meat do not completely dissolve into it. Therefore, you should still eat an appropriate amount of meat after drinking the soup.

Mountain Bamboo and Wild Mushroom Chicken Soup

Misconception 3: Soup with rice.

When we chew food, we not only break it down for swallowing but, more importantly, moisten it with saliva. Saliva is produced during chewing and contains many digestive enzymes that aid digestion and absorption, which is very beneficial for health. With soup-soaked rice, the rice is softened, so it can be swallowed without chewing. As a result, the food often enters the stomach without undergoing the digestive process of saliva, which adds a burden to the stomach's digestion. Over time, this can easily lead to stomach discomfort.

Misconception 4: Liking "single-flavor" soup.

The nutrients in each food are not comprehensive. Even a "rich broth" that is exceptionally savory and rich in amino acids will still lack certain "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 animal and plant-based foods. This not only allows their savory flavors to complement each other but also makes the nutrition more complete.

Misconception 5: Drinking soup only after a meal.

This is an unhealthy eating habit. The soup consumed last dilutes the chyme, which has already been well mixed with digestive juices, inevitably affecting the digestion and absorption of food. The correct way is to drink a few sips of soup before a meal. This lubricates the mouth and esophagus, reducing the irritating effect of dry, hard foods on the digestive tract mucosa and promoting the secretion of digestive glands.