Souping is the new juicing. And, at first glance, this summertime trend sounds less extreme—and tastier—than its liquid predecessor. C’mon, who doesn’t love a good bowl of soup?
While there’s no one way to get your slurp on, souping (a.k.a. soup cleanses) can range from simply incorporating a bowl of soup into your daily diet to eating, er, drinking, all of your meals in soup-form for days on end.
But will it help you lose weight? And is it even healthy? We turned to Nutritionist Alison Baldwin, to find out.
How does a soup cleanse work?
A soup cleanse, also known as souping, is a detox method where you eat nothing but soups for a set number of days. The theory behind soup cleanses is that by focusing on feeding the body nutrient-rich vegetables and broths in an easy to digest format it may help balance the digestive system.
How does it compare to a juice cleanse?
Juice cleanses tend to recommend only drinking juice, removing food from the diet altogether, while souping involves eating healthy, nourishing and satisfying soup meals.
Most juices lack fibre, while soups include vegetables and many also provide protein from legumes and grains, plus great flavour from herbs and spices.
The ingredients used tend to make soup naturally lower in sugar, plus they’re a source of fibre, quality carbohydrates and can also provide some important vitamins and minerals.
What’s the best way to approach a soup cleanse?
It should be said that there is no scientific evidence to show that the body needs to be ‘detoxed’ or cleansed, as the liver and the kidneys already do an great job in ridding the body of any toxins.
But a ‘cleanse’ can remind us of how much better we feel when we eat a diet packed full of vegetables and limit highly processed foods.
To implement an effective soup cleanse it’s best to commit for a short, set period of time. The greatest benefits will be noticed 3-5 days after resetting your diet on low calorie, vegetable rich eating. At this point your body will have eliminated extra fluid, your appetite will have readjusted to smaller portions, sugar cravings will stop and bloated stomachs begin to ease.
What if you are wanting to really focus on weight-loss?
The role of soup in weight management has been studied for many years. Research shows soups can be an effective strategy for managing weight. Broth and vegetable based soups are not only very low in calories, but the volume and fibre rich vegetable base means you get a filling meal for minimal calories. For this reason basing a couple of meals in your diet each week around soup is proven to enhance weight loss efforts.
Four ways soup can help manage body weight:
• Decrease hunger
• Increase fullness
• Enhance satisfaction
• Reduce calorie intake
What should you avoid during a soup cleanse?
Steer clear of processed food with highly refined carbohydrates, such as pastries, muffins, confectionary and chips.
Choose low calorie, vegetable-rich soups and broths rather than cream or meat-based soups that tend to be higher in saturated fat and sodium.
Replace coffee and caffeine rich drinks with water or herbal teas and avoid alcohol, high sugar fruit juices and smoothies.
What are some great soups to try?
Campbell’s Real Soup has a great offering of ready-to-go soups that can be consumed both hot and cold:
• Pumpkin with Turmeric
• Tomato & Basil with Lentils
• Green Pea with Spinach
• Sweet Potato & Carrot with Coconut
You can also try Campbell’s Bone Broth from Free Range Chicken and Campbell’s Bone Broth from 100% Australian Beef.
