Soup is both nutritious and relatively easy to digest. A survey by American nutritionists showed that among over 60,000 people who underwent nutritional surveys, those with good nutrition were precisely those who frequently drank soup. However, if you don't drink it at the right time, it can make you gain weight.
Many people think that drinking soup is a very simple matter, but what they don't realize is that only by drinking soup scientifically can you absorb nutrients while avoiding fat accumulation. In this regard, what do we need to pay attention to?
The difference between drinking soup before and after a meal is huge: The timing of drinking soup is very important. As the saying goes, "Soup before a meal keeps you slim and healthy; soup after a meal makes you fatter and fatter." There is some truth to this. Drinking a few sips of soup before a meal can lubricate the mouth and esophagus, preventing dry and hard food from irritating the digestive tract mucosa. It also helps to dilute and mix food, promoting digestion and absorption. Most importantly, drinking soup before a meal allows the food in the stomach to fully press against the stomach wall, enhancing the feeling of fullness, thereby suppressing the feeding center and reducing a person's appetite.
Studies have shown: Drinking a bowl of soup before a meal can reduce the absorption of 100-190 kilocalories of heat. In contrast, drinking soup after a meal is an unhealthy way to eat. On one hand, you are already full after the meal, and drinking soup more easily leads to excess nutrients and causes obesity. On the other hand, the soup you drink last will dilute the chyme that has already been well mixed with digestive juices, affecting the digestion and absorption of food.
Drinking soup at noon is less likely to cause weight gain: Which meal is more suitable for drinking soup—breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Experts point out, "The least amount of heat is absorbed when drinking soup at lunch." Therefore, to prevent weight gain, you might as well choose to drink soup at noon. Dinner, however, should not have too much soup, otherwise, the rapidly absorbed nutrients will accumulate in the body, easily leading to weight gain.
It is best to choose low-fat ingredients for your soup: To prevent weight gain from drinking soup, you should try to use low-fat, low-calorie ingredients for your soup, such as old hens, fatty ducks, etc. Even if you use them, it's best to skim off the excess fat during the stewing process. Lean meat, fresh fish, dried shrimp, skinless chicken or duck, rabbit, winter melon, loofah, radish, konjac, tomato, seaweed, kelp, and mung bean sprouts are all excellent low-fat soup ingredients, so you might want to use more of them.
The slower you drink soup, the less likely you are to gain weight: American nutritionists point out that if you extend your meal time, you can fully enjoy the taste of the food and feel full earlier. The same goes for drinking soup. Drinking soup slowly gives the digestive system ample time to process the food; when you feel full, it's the perfect amount. Drinking soup quickly, by the time you realize you're full, you may have already consumed more than your body needs.