At the dining table, a meal is not complete without both dishes and soup. However, people often overlook the fact that as we consume more rich, heavy foods with stronger flavors, drinking too much high-sodium soup can pose health risks.
According to the latest data, the sodium content in instant soups and restaurant soups is generally between 1.2% and 2%, meaning there are 1.2 to 2 grams of salt in every 100 milliliters of soup. While this makes the soup more savory, it's easy to consume 5 grams of salt just by drinking two bowls. The World Health Organization recommends that a person's daily salt intake should not exceed 5 grams. Even if we adopt China's more lenient limit of 6 grams, drinking two bowls of soup, plus the salt in the dishes, would far exceed the daily recommended amount.
Therefore, in restaurants, it's best to avoid meat-based soups like pork rib soup, chicken soup, and old duck soup, as they are also high in fat and cholesterol. Furthermore, for individuals with gout, the purine content in these meat soups is particularly high and requires extra caution.
Consequently, nutrition experts advise that when dining out, it's best to limit soup consumption. At home, however, you can prepare low-sodium or even salt-free soups yourself. On one hand, if the goal is to nourish the body, omitting salt is ideal. Excessive salt intake not only leads to conditions like hypertension but also interferes with the absorption of essential minerals such as calcium. On the other hand, it's perfectly fine to make meat soup without salt. Ingredients like pork ribs and chicken are naturally high in sodium. After prolonged simmering, proteins break down into smaller molecules like amino acids and peptides, releasing their own natural savory flavors, making additional salt unnecessary to enhance the taste.
For vegetarian soups, experts recommend a mixed mushroom soup: simply small mushrooms like enoki, cremini, and shiitake in water and cook without any salt or MSG for a delicious and healthy broth. For vegetable-based soups like tofu and vegetable soup or tomato and egg soup, a tiny amount of salt is sufficient; typically, 2 grams of salt is enough for a large pot.