If you find yourself yearning for comforting yet nutritious food or simply desire a warm meal, a delightful bowl of soup could be exactly what you need. Savoring a serving of soup can serve as a quick, convenient, and delicious method to boost the nutrient content of your diet. While soups are undeniably versatile and bursting with flavor, it’s important to note that not all soups are as healthful as one might assume.

This article delves into the essential components that constitute a healthy soup, examines the various health benefits associated with consuming soup, and provides an in-depth look at several diverse varieties.

What Makes Soup Nutritious?

When crafted with the right ingredients, soup can transform into a remarkably nutritious dish, offering a variety of health benefits. For instance, soups made from bone, vegetable, or meat broths are rich sources of essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, including collagen. Not only do they provide an explosion of flavor, but they also keep added fats and calories remarkably low.

Additionally, enjoying a bowl of soup is a delightful and effortless way to boost your vegetable consumption, which is vital for overall health. A higher intake of vegetables is linked to a lower likelihood of weight gain, a significant factor in preventing chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain forms of cancer. Furthermore, vegetables are packed with an array of health benefits due to their abundant vitamins, minerals, fiber, and beneficial plant compounds.

Moreover, soups offer incredible versatility as they can be prepared with nearly any ingredients you have at hand in your kitchen. However, it's essential to be mindful of certain components—like thickeners and condiments—that can inadvertently elevate the calorie and sodium levels in your soup, potentially turning it into a less healthy option. In contrast, vegetable- and broth-based soups can deliver a wealth of nutrients including vitamins, minerals, and fiber while remaining low in calories and fat.

Advantages of Consuming Soup

In addition to boosting your vegetable consumption, indulging in soup comes with a variety of potential health benefits that can enhance your overall well-being. To begin with, it may assist in weight management. Research indicates that individuals who regularly consume soup tend to have a lower daily calorie intake. For instance, an observational study revealed that those who frequently enjoyed soup had a reduced body weight and smaller waist circumference compared to their non-soup-eating counterparts. Moreover, the same study highlighted that soup enthusiasts exhibited superior diet quality, marked by a decrease in fat intake and an increase in protein and fiber consumption.

Further studies have indicated that soup consumption may diminish feelings of hunger while promoting a sense of fullness. This could be attributed, in part, to psychological factors, as many believe that soup contributes to satiety. Additionally, certain soups are rich in fiber.

Fiber is recognized for its ability to enhance feelings of fullness by prolonging gastric emptying — the rate at which food leaves your stomach — as well as increasing stomach volume by absorbing water and swelling when it enters the stomach. By prolonging gastric emptying and enhancing gastric volume, soup helps your stomach feel fuller for a longer time, which effectively curbs hunger.

Finally, enjoying soup can aid in maintaining proper hydration. Water is a vital component for health, and your overall water intake can come from various sources such as drinking water, beverages, or water-rich foods — including soups, fruits, and vegetables. The consumption of soup may yield additional health advantages, including weight reduction and heightened intake of fiber and hydration.

Not All Soups Are Created Equal

While selecting nourishing ingredients is key to crafting a healthful soup, certain components intended to enhance texture or flavor could result in a dish that is less healthy, prompting you to limit its consumption.

Thickening Agents

Among the most frequently utilized ingredients for thickening soups are full-fat milk, heavy cream, coconut cream, cornstarch, bread, cheese, egg yolks, and roux (a blend of butter and flour). In moderation, these ingredients can fit into a balanced diet, but caution is warranted regarding the quantities typically found in cream-based soups. Many thickeners are categorized as high energy density foods, meaning they deliver substantial calories per gram. Regularly consuming large quantities of these energy-dense foods can lead to an intake of more calories than your body actually requires, potentially resulting in unwanted weight gain.

Moreover, several of these ingredients are notable for their elevated levels of saturated fatty acids (SFAs). While some studies indicate that SFAs may not significantly contribute to heart disease risk, other findings suggest that excessive consumption can indeed pose health threats.

Indulging in a rich, creamy soup made with these ingredients occasionally is perfectly acceptable; however, it’s advisable to prioritize healthier options more frequently, particularly if soup is a staple in your diet. If you're looking to enhance your soup's texture without resorting to high-calorie thickeners, consider incorporating yogurt or pureed legumes such as beans, chickpeas (chana), or lentils (dal). This approach not only improves the texture but also boosts the soup's nutritional value.

Sodium Content

Another category of soups that requires scrutiny is instant and canned varieties, which are often excessively high in sodium. Elevated sodium consumption is linked to hypertension, a significant risk factor for heart and kidney ailments as well as strokes.

While adding salt is a common method to enhance flavor, you can also utilize spices like oregano, garlic, basil, or onion powder to elevate your soup's taste while keeping it healthier. It's important to remember that many thickening agents found in cream-based soups can significantly increase both the calorie and fat content. Likewise, instant and canned soups frequently contribute to excessive sodium intake.

Popular Varieties of Nutritious Soups

The health advantages of soups can greatly differ depending on the specific type and the ingredients utilized.

Below, we explore some of the most favored nutritious soup varieties and their potential health benefits.

Tomato Soup

The health benefits associated with tomato soup primarily stem from lycopene, the powerful antioxidant pigment that imparts the characteristic red hue to tomatoes. Lycopene is recognized for its ability to combat the detrimental effects of free radicals within the body. Elevated levels of free radicals have been correlated with the onset of chronic illnesses, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Studies also indicate that lycopene may aid in boosting the immune response, enhancing male fertility and heart health, as well as possibly reducing the risk of certain cancers. While numerous ready-to-eat tomato soups are available on the market, many contain undesirable additives such as thickening agents, extra fats, and sugars. Crafting a homemade version of your preferred tomato soup is quite straightforward and enables you to exclude these additives, likely enhancing its nutritional profile.

Here’s a simple, dairy-free recipe for a delightful tomato and basil soup that you can try.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken noodle soup is a beloved dish in several cultures, often touted as a remedy for colds and flu. An earlier study suggested that it might help alleviate nasal congestion. However, canned varieties can be excessively high in sodium, which poses a risk for individuals sensitive to dietary salt and may contribute to hypertension. For instance, a single serving (approximately 100 grams) of canned chicken noodle soup could contain nearly 80% of the suggested daily allowance for sodium. Opting for a homemade version of this timeless classic allows you to reap various health benefits.

Chicken, being a rich source of protein, enhances the overall protein content of your meal—an essential nutrient often overlooked in vegetable soups. Boosting your protein intake can assist in appetite regulation, elevate your metabolism, and potentially aid in reducing body fat. Moreover, preparing this soup at home grants you the liberty to incorporate more vegetables and select whole-grain noodles or pasta, thereby increasing its fiber content.

Check out this wholesome recipe for a nourishing chicken noodle soup.

Bone Broth-Based Soups

  • Bone broth has seen a resurgence in popularity owing to its highly nutritious profile.
  • It is prepared by simmering animal bones, resulting in a broth rich in various nutrients extracted from the bones, including calcium, magnesium, and collagen—the most prevalent protein found in the human body.
  • Being abundant in collagen, bone broth may contribute to the health of joints, bones, and skin.
  • While bone broth serves as a foundational ingredient in many soups, it can also be savored on its own.
  • If you're interested in trying a homemade version, here are two chicken bone broth recipes you can follow. 
  • Homemade iterations of popular soups, such as bone broth, tomato, and chicken noodle soup, can offer numerous health benefits.
  • On the other hand, commercially available options may contain unwanted additives.

The Bottom Line

Soups are typically simple to prepare and can be a fantastic way to incorporate a wealth of nutrients into your daily meals. Selecting the right kind of soup largely depends on its ingredients. Soups crafted from nutrient-dense components like fresh vegetables and lean proteins can offer a variety of health advantages. However, it is wise to be cautious with cream-based soups, as well as canned and instant varieties, since they often contain elevated levels of calories and sodium.