The 5 Worst Soups for Weight Loss (and 5 to Try Instead) (2024)
Alanna Nunez
·2 min read
Soup is the ultimate comfort food. But if you're watching your weight, it can also be an unexpected drain on your calorie and fat bank. This doesn't mean you have to give up your favorite cold-weather soup. Just avoid these five soups listed below, and swap them out for the healthier alternatives we've provided:
1. Clam chowder. Anything with the word "chowder" in it is probably going to be high in cream, fat, and calories. Campbell's Chunky New England Clam Chowder tops the list with 230 calories per serving, 13 grams of fat, and 890 milligrams of sodium. Plus each can contains two servings, so if you eat them at the same time, you're up to 1,780 grams of sodium.
2. Potato soup. Potato soup can be healthy, but it's often made with a cream base instead of a broth base, which means that it, like the chowder, can be loaded with calories and saturated fat.
3. Lobster bisque. With an average of 13.1 grams of fat (that's 20 percent of the daily recommended serving), most of it saturated, and 896 grams of sodium, this is a definite diet don't!
4. Chili. Chili's actually not that bad: It often contains a lot of fiber, protein, and vegetables. However, most of the time it's also accompanied by a huge chunk of cornbread on the side. If you're going to have chili, skip the bread, and have a salad instead.
5. Broccoli and cheese soup. Soup using broccoli as a base? Healthy! Dousing that broccoli in cheese? Not so healthy. Most restaurant versions tend to feature a few tiny broccoli florets drowning in a bowl of cheese, so if you see this one on the menu, skip it.
Try one of these instead:
1. Mushroom and barley soup. This low-cal recipe features plenty of vegetables as well as barley to make a hearty meal that will fill you up, not out.
2. Lumberjackie soup. Vegan-friendly and easy to make, this recipe calls for a hodge-podge of vegetables that's packed with antioxidants and minerals. Just throw the ingredients into your crockpot, let it cook, and you're done!
3. Chilled soups. If you can brave the cold and want to try a chilled soup instead of a hot one, try one of these healthy and slimming chilled soups.
4. Chicken, zucchini and potato soup. For the days when you want more than a snack, this flavor-packed soup's sure to please. The chicken and potatoes will help fill you up, while the zucchinis provide a serving of veggies.
5. Homemade tomato soup. Who doesn't like tomato soup on a cold gray day? Skip the canned versions, which are packed with sodium, and go for this healthy homemade version instead.
The Cabbage Soup Diet is referred to as a rapid weight loss diet. Proponents' anecdotal claims include following the diet for 7 days can lead to weight loss of up to 10 pounds (4.5 kg), which they believe can jump-start a longer-term diet plan.
The Cabbage Soup Diet is referred to as a rapid weight loss diet. Proponents' anecdotal claims include following the diet for 7 days can lead to weight loss of up to 10 pounds (4.5 kg), which they believe can jump-start a longer-term diet plan.
The worst soups are the ones that are cream-based or even cheese-based. These start with a heavy dose of fat that can be compared to the amount in a dessert. Whatever the nutritional value of the other ingredients—from clams and lobster to broccoli and mushroom—it's compromised by the decadence of the base.
May induce weight loss: Though evidence for soup-based diets is lacking, some research has found that eating soup as part of a regular diet may have some health benefits, including weight loss. In a 2011 study, soup intake was associated with lower body mass index (BMI) and smaller waist circumference.
People who follow the diet strictly will likely lose some weight, potentially 10 pounds per week or more. This is because it involves eating so few calories each day. However, in most cases, people quickly regain this lost weight once they return to their regular diet.
As most soup diets are only designed to last for 5 to 10 days, they aren't sustainable weight loss solutions. Furthermore, the severe and rapid reduction in calories and weight can slow your metabolism, making it even harder to maintain your weight loss.
Campbell's condensed chicken noodle soup is a classic and one of the most popular canned soups. But Frost, Gonzalez and Tills all said it's the least-healthy choice because it's so high in sodium: 890 mg per serving, or 39% of your daily value.
A one-cup serving of a cream-based canned soup may contain 7 grams of fat, and fat may account for more than half the calories in the soup. Worse yet, the fat in these soups tends to be saturated fat, which is known to raise total blood cholesterol levels and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels.
Progresso soups are not nutritionally balanced and lack many essential vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy diet. Additionally, relying only on Progresso soups as your source of nutrition can be quite restrictive and lead to deficiencies.
While canned soups can be a convenient meal option, it's important to be mindful of their nutritional aspects. Making healthier choices by selecting low-sodium, low-fat, and organic options, adding fresh or frozen vegetables, and opting for BPA-free cans can enhance the nutritional quality of canned soups.
Canned soups can provide a convenient desk drawer or pantry choice as they do not require refrigeration — but they can also be high in sodium. Plus, large 'man-style' cans of soups are usually meant to be shared between at least two people, so it's easy to consume excess salt and kilojoules without realising.
Along with a high saturated fat content, soup can come with an overload of sodium, as well. The American Heart Association recommends the average person consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, but an ordinary can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup already has 890 milligrams of sodium per serving.
What Experts Say. "The concept of eating soup to lose weight has spanned decades, but experts say an all-soup diet lacks nutrients and is not sustainable. They do agree it can be smart to eat vegetable-packed soups for some meals, though, as these are filling, nutrient-dense, and low in calories."
Introduction: My name is Tyson Zemlak, I am a excited, light, sparkling, super, open, fair, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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