When broth is Better than water as a Nutritional Strategy
It’s common to hear people discuss the benefits of eating soup as part of a nutritional plan towards weight loss. But is there any truth in this? Can soup or blending your food, help with wellness and weight management and assist in achieving the ideal healthy weight? The short answer is yes it can, but there are many aspects to a definitive answer.
Consider a typical lunch of chicken and rice with veg on the side washed down with a glass of water. When it comes to digesting your lunch, the solid food will be held in your stomach so that the digestive acids can get to work breaking it down. Water however, unlike the rest of the meal, passes straight through into the intestines, so it doesn’t contribute to the feeling of fullness.
"..Managing Hunger with healthy choices is the key to nutritional wellness.."
If the water, meat and vegetables are blended together the mixture remains in the stomach, allowing the subject to remain fuller for longer, stopping the hunger pangs that are commonly associated with mid afternoon and encourage snacking. In a recent study, this was found to be true whether or not the soup was chunks of food in a light broth or if it was all pureed together.
The feeling of being full comes initially from the stomach. Specialised cells in the wall release a hormone called ghrelin when the contents begin to swell the stomach, due to being full of food. Ghrelin hormones are transmitted to the hypothalamus within the brain acting as an appetite modulator, letting you know when you are hungry or when you are full.
Ghrelin Suppression
When the stomach wall is stretched the cells stop producing ghrelin, and the hypothalamus responds by turning off the enzymes that produce the signal for appetite. The longer the stomach wall remains distended, the longer the feeling of fullness remains and the less likely you are to feel the need to eat.
Feeling satiated will help you to eat less in the meal but also to snack less in between. This allows your brain more time to receive the ‘full’ message from the stomach. Overall, it has been found in several nutritional studies that people stay satisfied for, on average, ninety minutes longer after blended food than having the same amount of food but separated.
Choose Ingredients wisely in your nutrition plan
While soup can help towards weight loss, it’s important to remember to keep the ingredients healthy and choose your soup wisely to maximise your nutrition goals. A broth-based soup will be better for you than a creamy soup laden with calories. Avoid lots of cheese, creams, and white bread if you trying to lose weigh and watch the calories. A variety of proteins (such as fish, poultry, or beans) and whole grains will also help you to stay satisfied for longer while added vegetables will provide you with the nutrients to keep your soup healthy. So for your next lunch, go for the soup to begin your recipe to weight loss.
Dr Ralph Rogers offer Nutritional strategy and advice at his various Sports medicine Clinics around London.