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player ready...Soups are nutrient rich, and because of their high liquid content soups are coming into focus as an important and tasty tool in weight control. They fill you up without filling you out.
Dr. Barbara Rolls, author of “The Volumetrics Eating Plan,” found that eating soup as a first course helped study participants lose weight because they consumed fewer total calories in the rest of the meal. But, that doesn’t mean you can gorge on New England clam chowder made with heavy cream.
The broth-based soups they consumed, even though they were lower in fat and calories than other foods choices, helped to increase feelings of satiety. Rolls’ theory is that the more water a food contains the more full we feel. “If you don’t like soup, start your meal with a salad, a piece of fruit or a glass of vegetable juice,” Rolls says in her book.
Soup savvy
80-120 calories per cup
Vegetable soups, minestrone, Manhattan clam chowder and gazpacho are tomato-based and therefore lower in fat than milk or cream-based soups. And since they’re usually chock-full of vegetables, they add healthy fiber to the soup mix, which makes them an even healthier choice.
50-80 calories per cup
From Japanese miso soup (above) to classic French beef bouillon, broth-based soups (chicken, beef or vegetable) are among the lowest in calories.
360 calories a cup
French onion soup starts off as an onion broth, then they pile on bread and cheese; maybe just eat half of the cheesy topping.
180-200 calories per cup
Cream of broccoli or cream of asparagus soup sound like a good way to eat your vegetables, but cream of anything soup will bump the calories up by 100 calories a cup. If a restaurant uses milk and pureed veggies to make their “cream soups,” that lowers the fat and ups the veggie quotient.
260 calories a cup
Flour-thickened soups such as seafood gumbo are thickened with a mixture of flour and fat called a roux. Many cream-based soups are made this way too.
WHAT’S IN YOUR SOUP?
* Watch the garnishes as they pile up on top. Shredded cheddar cheese, bacon crumbles, fried croutons, a dollop of sour cream or chunks of avocado in tortilla soup add an extra 50 calories per tablespoon.
* Yes, it is really hard to find lower sodium restaurant soups. But generally, if chefs make their own soups they rely on other ingredients besides salt for flavor. For your home pantry, happily, there are more good tasting canned soups that are lower in sodium too.