By Sara Butler
If there’s one good thing about fall and winter, it’s soup. It tastes good, it’s warming, and it’s soothing -- what’s not to love? Well, it turns out there are several things in soup not to love. Many soups can be full of saturated fat, sodium, and MSG. Yes, some soups can be soothing but not great for your overall health and wellness. Here are some of the worst soup ingredients that you should avoid.
Heavy Cream
Heavy cream creates an inviting texture for soups but that’s where its positive contributions end. Soups that are cream based are often full of fat and calories. It’s best to choose soups and recipes for soups you make at home that have broth as a base. Just make sure to keep an eye on the sodium!
Juice
You may not think of juice as an ingredient for soup, but there are plenty of soups that use fruit juices to raise their flavor profiles. Fruit juice is often full of sugar and calories, so it’s not a great addition to the soup.
Turkey Bacon
Bacon makes a soup taste good -- there’s really no denying it. But if you think you’re helping to make a soup healthier by using turkey bacon instead of regular bacon, then you might want to rethink it. Turkey bacon, while lower in saturated fat and calories, has a lot more sodium. If you have high blood pressure, then that’s a no-no. You’re actually better off with regular bacon in this case because it has monounsaturated fats as well as more protein than turkey bacon. Just be careful how much you add -- you don’t want to pig out.
Cheese
Most soups already tip the scales when it comes to fat and salt but adding cheese will only make that worse. Cheese-based soups are definitely not good for your health since a small bowl can have more than its fair share of fat and calories.
Croutons
Sometimes it’s nice to add a little crunch to your soup in the form of croutons, but it’s probably not a good idea. Croutons usually lack any fiber or whole grains and only add calories to your soup. Plus, they’re high in sodium. So, skip the crouton and have a slice of homemade whole grain bread with your soup instead.
Soup can be a healthy and satisfying meal as long as you steer clear of the pitfalls!
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Memphis, Tenn.
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FAQs
Women are twice as likely to order soup for lunch as men. Americans eat more than 10 billion bowls of soup each year. How about the hippo variety? The earliest archaeological evidence for the consumption of soup dates back to 6000 BC, and it was hippopotamus soup.
What are some weird facts about soup? ›
Women are twice as likely to order soup for lunch as men. Americans eat more than 10 billion bowls of soup each year. How about the hippo variety? The earliest archaeological evidence for the consumption of soup dates back to 6000 BC, and it was hippopotamus soup.
What makes soup unhealthy? ›
Other types of soup you should watch out for are instant and canned soups, which are often loaded with sodium. High sodium intakes are associated with high blood pressure, a risk factor for heart and kidney disease, and stroke ( 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ).
What is the least healthiest soup? ›
Clam chowder nutrition
And Walsh agrees, “Clam chowder is one of the worst soups a person can eat. It's high in fat, calories and sodium.” There is 180 calories in a cup of clam chowder. The macronutrient breakdown in a cup of clam chowder is 20 grams of carbohydrates, 8 grams of fat and 6 grams of protein.
Why put butter in soup? ›
A bit of fat, usually in the form of butter and olive oil, is essential to making a robust soup. Fat is also a vehicle for flavor, and helps to brown vegetables.
Does boiling destroy nutrients in soup? ›
The nutritionist explains that when we boil the vegetables for the soup, the nutrients get lost in the water. When we make the soup using the same water, the process ensures that there is no loss of nutrients.
What is a soup that never ends? ›
With a perpetual stew, you've always got it simmering, meaning it can last for literal years. While in the medieval tradition, the cauldron would be drained and cleaned every year around Lent (to observe 40 days without meat), there are some places where a single pot of stew can be constantly replenished for years.
What are the 7 things soup does? ›
There is an Italian saying: “La zuppa fa sette cose.” It means “Soup does seven things.” Soup quenches thirst, satisfies hunger, fills your stomach, aids digestion, makes teeth sparkle, adds color to cheeks and aids sleep. In other words, soup cures most, if not all human ills.
What is the number one soup in the world? ›
According to the Taste Atlas Awards, the international food database, the Filipino favorite, Sinigang, is hailed as the best soup in the world.
What's a fancy word for soup? ›
Synonyms: broth , stew , chowder, consommé, potage.
After a linguistic long jump across the English Channel in the 17th century (and a concurrent vogue for breadless broths), the word came to us, and we started making "soups" instead of "pottages" or "broths." "Sop," just the piece of bread, had been hanging out in English since the at least the 11th century, but it ...
What is the No 1 soup in the world? ›
According to the Taste Atlas Awards, the international food database, the Filipino favorite, Sinigang, is hailed as the best soup in the world.
What is the healthiest soup to eat when sick? ›
Chicken and wild rice may be the best soup for a cold as each ingredient provides a number of health benefits. Chicken and rice are a great source of protein, onions are known to have antiviral properties, carrots support antibody production, and research has shown that garlic may reduce the severity of cold symptoms.
Are Chinese soups bad for you? ›
Healthy Ingredients
While traditional Western soups are usually loaded with heavy meat with creams, but Healthy Chinese soup items are usually clear and the ingredients are most often light. Ingredients in many famous healthy Chinese soups are carefully combined together to make a number of conditions.
