Nothing warms the insides better on a frigid winter day than a good soup.
Um, um good!
Whether it's a hearty minestrone, a classic chicken noodle, or some other recipe, a bowl of hot soup sticks to the ribs and seems to thaw the body from head to toe.
Soup Helps Manage Weight
Did you know that soups can help you manage your weight?
Research has shown that when people eat a light soup before a meal, they experience a feeling of fullness that causes them to eat smaller portions and fewer calories in their meal. For example, in one study by Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., author of Volumetrics, participants who ate a bowl of soup before a lunch entrée consumed 20% fewer total calories (soup + entrée) than participants who skipped the soup and went straight to the entrée.
To make this strategy most effective, eat a lighter soup containing no more than 150 calories and wait 10 minutes to start your main meal. This will give the soup time to begin entering your intestine, where it will stimulate the hormones that cause you to feel full. Lighter soup options include vegetable, tomato, chicken barley and sweet potato.
Spoil Your Appetite
Soups are not the only healthy way to "spoil" your appetite. Eating modest amounts of certain proteins—particularly whey proteins—and healthy vegetable fats before a meal is also effective.
Try a handful of raw almonds or a scoop of EnergyFirst ProEnergy Whey Protein with some a glass of water or skim milk – each an ideal healthy "appetite spoiler!"