It’s fall and the weather is beginning to cool off. While the days may still be warm, the nights are getting colder, and maybe you’ve even had to turn on some heat. I know I did when I awoke to a temperature of 38° a few days ago. We’re also heading into cold and flu season. What better time to start thinking about hearty soups that are loaded with vegetables, whole grains, beans, and legumes! Here’s why:
- Soup has a high water content that fills you up and helps restore your water balance, which in turn helps control blood pressure
- Soup is high in fiber, both soluble and insoluble, which fills you up, helps eliminate fat, and detoxifies.
- Soup is low in fat, which aids in weight loss, helps lower cholesterol, and reduces risk of cardiovascular disease.
- Soup is high in nutrient density, thus it’s high nutrition and low in calories, which helps build immunity and lose weight.
- Soup retains nutrients that are lost from cooking veggies because those nutrients are captured in in the broth.
- Soup helps you get well faster if you’re sick.
- Soup warms you up and makes you feel good.
- Soup is easy to make!
- Carrots – b-carotene found in carrots is an antioxidant that helps protect vision, reduces the risk of heart disease and some cancers, fights infection; destroys bacteria and viruses, and slows aging.
- Tomatos – carotenoids found in tomatoes, including lycopene, are antioxidants that are anti-inflammatory, destroy toxins, help protect against cancer, and reduce risk of cardiovascular disease, asthma, and chronic lung disease.
- Leafy Greens – spinach, kale, cabbage – loaded with antioxidants (vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, manganese, zinc, and selenium) and flavonoids, vitamin K, and other phytonutrients, greens help fight cancer, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and inflammation, helps protect the eyes, bones, and intestinal tract, is good for digestion, eases constipation, flushes toxins out of the colon, and improves skin health.
- Potatoes – filled with vitamin C, B vitamins, potassium, magnesium, and iron, potatoes provide the body with an essential source of fuel, help lower blood pressure, protect against cardiovascular disease, and helps us respond to stress.
- Beans and legumes – rich in soluble fiber, protein, folate, magnesium, iron, potassium, zinc, vitamin C (kidney beans) vitamin B6, calcium (white beans), and other phytonutrients, beans and legumes help lower cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure, reduce the risk of coronary artery disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis, keep skin and hair healthy, help prevent arthritis, help protect eyes and bones, and help manage arthritis.
- Barley – a whole grain that’s loaded with nutrients and antioxidants, is rich in protein, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, selenium, copper, and manganese, barley lowers cholesterol, stabilizes blood glucose levels, protects against some cancers, helps the immune system, and detoxifies.
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