Introduction: Drinking soup in autumn is very beneficial to the body. Nourishing soups can relieve the dryness of autumn and are also quite good for women's health. But are many traditional soup customs, such as the belief that "long-simmered soup" is more nourishing or that soup should be drunk while it's hot, really good for your health? Let's find out with the editor: how should you drink soup for health benefits?
Is the longer the soup simmers, the better?
Many people believe that simmering soup for a long time will extract the nutrients from the ingredients, so "long-simmered soup" has always been considered a great nourishing food. However, at high temperatures, many nutrients in the ingredients are destroyed. The longer the simmering time, the more severe the protein denaturation and the more vitamins are destroyed. Long-simmered soup contains only a small amount of protein solutes, sugar, and minerals; it can only be said to have a little more nutrition than plain water. Therefore, the simmering time for long-simmered soup should not be too long, generally within 2 hours is appropriate.
If you are making fish soup, the time should be even shorter. Fish meat is relatively tender and should not be simmered for too long. Once the soup turns white, it's ready. Continuing to cook will not only destroy the nutrients but also make the fish meat old and tough, resulting in poor taste.
If you are adding nourishing medicinal herbs like ginseng to the soup, boiling them for too long will cause the beneficial components to break down, losing their nourishing value. In this case, the best simmering time is 40 minutes. Finally, if you are adding vegetables to the soup, they must be added at the end and eaten immediately to minimize vitamin loss.
Is the thicker the soup, the better?
After being boiled in water, meat foods such as pork bones, chicken, and duck can release substances like carnosine, purine bases, and amino acids. These are collectively called "nitrogen extractives". Obviously, the richer the soup looks, the more nitrogen extractives it contains, including more "purines". Long-term excessive intake of "purines" can lead to hyperuricemia, which is the main culprit causing gout.
Therefore, although rich soup may seem more nutritious and delicious, for the sake of your health, you should try to drink less of it, especially for patients with gout or diabetes.
Is the hotter the soup, the better?
When soup is simmered at home, mothers often advise drinking it while it's hot. Should you really drink soup while it's hot? In fact, the maximum temperature the human mouth, esophagus, and stomach mucosa can tolerate is around 60°C. Exceeding this temperature can easily cause mucosal damage.
If you frequently drink scalding hot soup, it can easily damage the esophagus and increase the risk of developing esophageal cancer. Therefore, it is recommended to let the soup cool down a bit before drinking, which is healthier. In addition, besides scalding hot soup, you should also try to eat other hot foods less often, waiting until they are cool enough to be more palatable.