Winter is the perfect time to put soup on your weekly menu plan. Soup is not only a healthy and delicious way to boost your immune system during the cold months, it can also help you meet your daily need for 5 vegetables and fruit and enhance weight loss.
Nutrients to go
You can add almost any vegetable to a soup, making it easy to get a variety of vegetables and nutrients, in just one meal!
Vegetables contain a range of vitamins and minerals, including vitamins A, B, C and K. The dietary fibre in vegetables helps to regulate the digestive tract, improving gut health. Leeks, onions and celery, excellent sources of mineral potassium, help to bind sodium and reduce excess fluid in the body. Lycopene, an antioxidant found in tomato-based soups, may help to reduce cancers, especially of the prostate. Creamy soups are a source of calcium and vitamin D.
Vegetables cooked in soup, rather than baked or fried, keep more of their nutrients. Soups are easy to digest and so less taxing on the digestive system. This ensures your body absorbs the key nutrients it needs. Soups can also jump start your immune system and keep you hydrated, which could make you less prone to colds and flu during the winter months. Even the steam produced during cooking and eating soup, helps to humidify your kitchen, and moisturise your nose and throat.
Soup on the Go
Many good takeaway companies will provide a soup option over the colder months. This can be a great option for lunch or early dinners. The soup will come in a takeaway cup or bowl making it easy to take back to work with you or to a location of your choosing where you can sit down, relax and enjoy it. Takeaway cups or bowls will also keep your food warm as they are insulated to retain the heat. Making this an ideal choice for any takeaway meal.
Helping you meet your weight loss goals
Frost and snow are not cheerleaders for an active lifestyle and many people tend hibernate during winter and lead more sedate lifestyles. It doesn’t help that the season includes Christmas and New Year which involves lots of eating and drinking. After both these events you may find yourself a couple of pounds heavier so soup included in your weekly diet will help you loose those extra few pounds.
Although nothing can replace exercise soup can certainly help you as they are lower in calories than a plate of hot chips or sandwiches plus they are fulled with nutrients to keep you healthy over the colder months.
Studies show that there are benefits to eating soup before your main meal, as you will reduces the amount you want to eat, but without compromising on valuable vitamins and minerals.
Low cost and Easy to Carry
Soups can be inexpensive to make, and stored in the fridge or frozen. The time and cost saving benefits of soup make it a lifesaver during the busy winter period. They also make soups a sensible and simple lunchtime choice. Almost everyone agrees that soup tastes even better the day after when it has had a chance to settle.