Disqus for Where Are My Knees

Why soup is super!

Friday 25 November 2011


If you’re struggling to find an easy low-fat, low-cost lunch that’s going to be comforting and warming in the cold winter months, then may I suggest soup?

I used to think I hated soup, and then had a moment last winter when I really fancied it, so bought some and realised that I don’t hate it at ALL. I’m not that keen on how my mother makes it, sure, and I've got incredibly lazy and hardly cook any more, but the fresh pots that you can buy from supermarkets, Covent Garden Soup Co and Marks & Spencer are brilliant. They’re also an AMAZING lunch if you’re dieting, so if you work somewhere with access to a microwave, get some soup down you!

Here are some of the benefits of soup…

It keeps you fuller for longer.
Science has spoken! Tests were carried out on two groups of people – the first ate a meal with water, the second ate the same meal & water turned into soup. The second group took twice the time to get hungry.

This is because when you eat a meal with water, the water leaves your system first, taking your stomach from full to half-full. When you eat soup – which has a lot of water in it – your system is forced to process it differently. Because the water is combined it can’t just remove that instantly, so the body has to work harder to digest the entire meal at once – meaning that your stomach physically does stay fuller for longer. Here is an article about it!

It’s REALLY low calorie and low fat.
There are very few soups on offer in the supermarkets that are over 5% fat, and most are under 200 calories for half the carton. There are even some that are 200 calories for the whole carton – such as Covent Garden Leek & Potato which is really filling. So if you know you’re going to have a naughty dinner, or are making up for overeating the day before, it’s a brilliant, saintly lunch that still tastes good. It even has CREAM in it – and it still under 5% fat.

There are loads of varieties.
Flipping LOADS. My favourites are the soups with lots of bits in them – I love M&S Moroccan Chicken, Covent Garden’s Thai Chicken & Rice, Sainsbury’s Chicken Laksa. Look out for ones that include potatoes or other carbs as they’ll be thicker and more filling – Leek & Potato, Sweet Potato & Butternut Squash, etc.

It’s cheap!
A carton of soup typically costs around £2-3 which should cover lunch for two days. A lot of places do offers at this time of year – Covent Garden is £1 in some places, or 3 for 2. This basically means you can get lunch for the week sorted for less than a fiver. Bargain!


Soup is even cheaper to make, of course! Check out some of the recipes we've posted here in the past...

7 comments:

  1. I love soup for lunches, been so bad lately with sorting some, but slim a soup cup soups are good as well, and for anyone doing weightwatchers most sachets are 1propoint but some veggie ones are free :)

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  2. I highly recommend Sainsbury's fresh soups - particularly the Creamy Veg one. So yum and so filling - especially with a cheeky side of bread ;)

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  3. I love the glorious skinny soups, the butternut squash one tastes amazing! :) x

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  4. I love soup! I've always thought that it's super filling, so I'm quite glad there's some science to back me up on that. I love Glorious New England butternut squash, and Covent Garden did one that was curried cauliflower and spinach or something like that, which was divine.

    I like making soup for friends as well, partly because everyone acts really impressed that I made it myself, even though it's so easy. This one - http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/333614/red-lentil-chickpea-and-chilli-soup - is really easy to make, it's delicious, and it's so filling it's unreal. I used to eat it before a day of lectures, and I wouldn't get hungry for about 7 hours.

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  5. Love soup & it's the perfect winter meal. Nothing beats a good homemade soup.

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  6. I go through phases of having it for a couple of weeks then I want something with crunch! BUT the weeks I do have soup for lunch I do feel lighter and I definitely lose weight.

    My faves are NCG Spicy Sweet Pot & Butternut Squash, Lentil and smoked bacon and their minestrone is great too!

    NSG actually have a diet plan on their website. x

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  7. You dont need access to a microwave either, I have a thermos food flask that has a little built in spoon which I take to work! xx

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